[2] He was born in Antwerp, First French Empire, in what is now Belgium December 13, 1809 and relocated to Detroit with his parents and siblings in 1833.

[3] He married his second wife, Catherine Campau, daughter of Joseph, who was a large landowner in early Detroit.

Selling this business, he became a partner in the wholesale grocery firm of Franklin Moore & Co.[4] Palms made considerable capital as a grocer and purchased 40,000 acres Macomb and St. Clair Counties[1] during the panic years of 1836-1837.

He invested in the white pine areas near the Jump River in Wisconsin along with other successful businessmen including Ezra Cornell, Frederick Weyerhauser and Henry Sage,[7] and in 1875, the men paid between $10 an acre up to $23.59.

He was the president and largest stockholder in the Peoples Savings Bank as well as the Michigan Marine and Fire Insurance Company.

[10] He died November 4, 1886,[3] and was laid to rest in the Palms Mausoleum built by George D. Mason in the Mt.

[14] His children Francis Frederick and Clotilde fought about the Palms estate,[15] so that they were estranged for twenty years before coming to an agreement.