In Memory

 Dr. Lynn Palmer was born July 9, 1922. He, his brother and 2 sisters were all raised in the same house they were born at, in Natural Bridge NY. His mother was a teacher, a graduate of Oneonta Normal School. She taught in New Berlin and Warrensburg before being married. She never taught after marrying and moving to Carthage. His father was employed by Carthage Paper Makers as a 'stationary engineer'. He was responsible for running the engine that ran the paper machines.

As the oldest boy in the family,  Dr. Lynn had to help get the stove wood into the house for heating. He also had to bring the water into the house. During a summer vacation while in college he installed the plumbing for running water. His family's house had electricity installed around his senior year of high school. While in high school Dr. Lynn had 300 - 400 chickens. The roosters were raised as broilers. He sold eggs for around 25cents a dozen. His family owned a sugar bush which they rented out to the neighbors. Dr. Lynn helped them make syrup. They had 800 - 1000 taps and produced up to 400 gallons of syrup a year. During a good year they might be able to sell it for $1 a gallon. 

He attended a one room school house, " the Keyes School House" for grades 1 - 8. He had to walk less than 1 mile to reach the school. During 8th grade he transferred to Carthage High School. He was able to take a bus to high school. He graduated from high school in 1940. There were 40 - 50 in his graduating class. He estimates less than 1/3 went on to college. After high school he worked on a Guernsey dairy farm for one year, owned by Leeward Hirshey, in Castorland, NY. He earned $35 a month and lived with the family. Mr. Hirshey's brother was a veterinarian who had just graduated from Michigan State University. He lived in Boonville. Dr. Hirshey tested the herd for Brucellosis. Nearly all herds were infected at that time. The dairy had 25 milking cows, (milked with Surge milkers of course!), a team of horses, and an early farm tractor (a Farmall F- 12).

 At the urging of a high school Ag teacher, who made all the arrangements, Dr. Lynn enrolled in the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in the fall of 1941. He lived on the top floor of Rice Hall, which was then the poultry building. There were 3 rooms, 1 student per room, and they did their own cooking. As a 2nd year ag student he lived in the same building as a veterinary student who got him interested in veterinary medicine.

 Dr. Lynn remembers studying for a physics test the day of Pearl Harbor. He did not hear the news till the next morning. In September of 1942, at the beginning of his second year of college he enlisted in the Army, he already was in the Army Air Corp ROTC program. He was not supposed to go active duty until after his graduation from college. Due to the manpower shortage he was called to active duty as soon as the college granted the class full academic credit for the year which was in April of 1943. He had his basic training in Greensboro, North Carolina. From there he was transferred to the University of Illinois for 2 full semesters and took courses as calculus, English, history, etc. while in the active duty military. He then went to Truax Field, Madison Wisconsin for training as a radar mechanic. He then taught radar mechanics in Boco Raton, Florida. After the first atomic bomb was used he left for the Pacific Theater. While he was in the Philippines the Japanese surrendered. By November of 1945 he was in Tokyo storing away wartime equipment. He was discharged in March of 1946.

Dr. Lynn returned and took classes in the Ag School and applied to the Vet School for the fall Semester. He was one of only 40 students (39 male, 1 female) accepted out of the 1700 applicants. About 10 other students from earlier classes also were in his class that started in the fall of 1946. After graduation Dr. Lynn took a job with Dr. Robert Brown in Plattsburgh. Why? "Because he was hiring" and Dr. Stevens, a professor at the vet college, (who was Dr. Brown's wife's uncle), suggested it would be a good place to work. Dr. Brown previously had 3 or 4 other vets who had stayed 1 or 2 years, but Dr. Lynn stayed in the area 50 years! Dr. Brown had a typical mixed animal practice that took care of any and every animal that came along. Ether, morphine and pentobarbital were the common anesthetic of the day. Dr. Brown also owned a herd of Aryshire cows.

 By 1953 Dr. Lynn was a partner with Dr. Brown in both the veterinary practice and the dairy farm. They had 15 -20 milking cows. They built an addition to the existing barn the still stands today along with the poured cement silo. In 1956 or 1957 Mr. Leiberthal bought the farm land to build the North Country Shopping Center. Thus they had a dispersal auction in 1958. Dr. Brown continued as a small animal veterinarian only and the practice, Plattsburgh Animal Hospital, is still being run by his grandson, Dr. Tom Brown. In January 1958 he purchased the present 6350 Rt 22 building in Beekmantown. It opened as his mixed animal clinic in that same year and continued as home of the Palmer Veterinary Clinic until December,1990. With a tremendous amount of help from his wife, Alice, they ran a busy practice and raised 3 children in that house until 1967. In 1967 they moved to the farm on the corner of the Ashley Rd and Route 22. At its peak it was the home of 33 milk cows (Aryshires, Holsteins and a few Guernseys), 20 Black Angus, youngstock, chickens, 3 kids and lots of friends. The cows left the farm in 1980.

In the fall of 1972 he accepted a position with NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Animal Industry as a supervising veterinarian in charge of Clinton and Essex counties. By the time he retired in 1989 he was covering Clinton, Franklin, Essex, and Warren counties. Dr. Lynn remained active in Palmer Veterinary Clinic helping during small animal office hours. Dr. Lynn was active in many local and state groups. He was always very active in the local Aryshire Breeders Club. He recalled in the early years 100 -125 people would attend the Aryshire club meetings. They were commonly held at the Grange Hall in Ellenburgh. He was also very active in the Holstein Club. He also was on the Beekmantown School Board from 1970 -1979, and was vice president for several years. He served on many local and state veterinary boards. He was state regional director for the Northern New York Veterinary Medical Society from 1966 -1976. He was a deputy examiner for several years with the NYS board of veterinary medicine. He was active in 4-H for many years as a leader and as committeeperson. He transported 4-Hers to the state fair in Syracuse for many years. He served on the Clinton County Senior Council for 5 years. He was active in the local VFW for many years. He served on the Clinton County Fair Board, and was president for 3 years, and the St. Joseph Finance Council. Dr. Lynn practiced on a part time basis in the small animal clinic until January 2001. He retired after over 50 years of caring service to the pet owning and livestock industry of Northern New York! He passed away on July 31, 2001.

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