Gustaf Palmquist
Palmquist was born on the farm Pilabo in Norra Solberga parish, Småland, Sweden, on 26 May 1812 to Sven Larsson, a kyrkvärd, similar to a churchwarden, and Helena Nilsdotter.[1] The children were raised in a Pietist environment and visited influential revivalist preachers such as Pehr Nyman [sv], Peter Lorenz Sellergren, and Jacob Otto Hoof.At Esbjörn's request, Palmquist served briefly as its priest,[8] "but being a Baptist at heart, although not a confessed one, his work was not calculated to strengthen, but rather to disrupt and weaken the church, whose members were already wavering between the Methodist and the Congregational faith.[10] At one point he was a missionary in Swede Bend, Iowa, whose views on believers' baptism drew converts from the local Lutheran church – the preacher nearly included – upsetting some in the community.[16] Palmquist faced legal troubles after performing a wedding and also found that one of his meetings was planned to be disrupted by wild youths, instigated by local priests.