Palmer's wife Joanna was the stepdaughter of Benjamin Laker, who emigrated to the Carolinas in the 1680s from England where he had been an associate of English General Baptist theologian Thomas Grantham, a signer of the 1663 General Baptists' Standard Confession of Faith.
According to Elder John T. Albritton: [Palmer] was said to have been a native of Maryland, was baptized in Delaware, and ordained in Connecticut.
He was some time in New Jersey, and removed thence to Maryland, and thence to Perquimans County, N. C. He belonged to the General Baptists, and was actively engaged in the work of the ministry for many years in this State, traveling over a large portion of Eastern Carolina, winning converts wherever he went.
[2] Around 1727, Palmer founded North Carolina's first Baptist church at Perquimans (present day Shiloh) in Camden County.
[3] Palmer and his wife Joanna were indicted by the North Carolina provincial courts for their ministry.