Sadly, yes, I have tried to find Palmer in the MO State Archives with no clear result. This makes me wonder if perhaps LTC Thornton commissioned the man and he was subsequently killed, but that is conjecture.

Thank you also for mentioning the Secretary of State's online newspapers. Yes, I was thrilled some months back to find the "Liberty Weekly Tribune" copies for the Civil War period in that file. I wonder if the MO State Archives will shoot some more Civil War era newspapers for us in the near future.

Bruce