|
ABIEL G. PLUMMER
Abiel G. Plummer has been a citizen of
Lake county since the years 1852, for over half a century, and he
thus belongs to the pioneer class of the citizens of the county and
state. It was a matter of great pleasure to his many friends
throughout the county that he was able
recently to celebrate his eightieth
birthday, and he has lived this long life so usefully and worthily
that he is venerated and held in the highest esteem by all who know
him.
He is a native of New England, and was
born in the state of New Hampshire, May 24, 1824. He is of true
colonial stock, and it is related that the earliest progenitor of
the Plummer family was Francis Plummer, who came from England in the
year 1633, only thirteen years
after the advent of the Pilgrim Fathers
upon the shores of New England. Abiel G. is the only son and the
second of the five children born to Ephraim and Lucy (Gerrish)
Plummer. His sisters are all living. Mary, the oldest, is the widow
of Henry Dodge, a former agriculturist at Webster, New Hampshire, and she has
three daughters living: Priscilla, the widow of Luther Gage, is a
resident of Pennicoke, New Hampshire. Helen is also a resident of
Pennicoke; and Frances, widow of Albert Reed, lives in Jersey City.
Ephraim Plummer, the father of this
long-lived family of children, was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire,
August 29, 1793, and died July 20, 1872, his birth having occurred
six years before the death of George Washington. He was a farmer and
received a meager education. His home was near that of the
celebrated Daniel Webster. He espoused the cause of the Whig party until it was merged
with the stronger Republican organization, which he supported until
his death. Both he and his wife were members of the Congregational
society of which the Rev. Dr. Wood was pastor for half a century.
His wife was also a native of the same part of New Hampshire as her
husband, and at her death on March 29, 1879, she was seventy-five
and six months old. Mr. Abiel G. Plummer was reared in his native
state and had only a common school education, which was much
supplemented and rounded off by the subsequent practical experience
of life. He had early become acquainted with farming in all its
phases, and when he reached his majority he began on his own account
with only his energy and industry as his capital. When he was
twenty-four years old he concluded to come west and lay the foundation of his
substantial career, and he made the journey to Niles, Michigan,
partly by rail, partly through the Erie canal and partly by the
lakes. His first wages in Michigan were a dollar a day for hard
manual labor, and while he was getting started he was always willing to do any work
that would afford him an honest living. In 1852 he came to locate
permanently in West Creek township, Lake county. In the preceding
year he had bargained for three quarter sections of land in this
township, and this was the land upon which he worked and wrought so
as to bring him his present easy circumstances.
Mr. Plummer has some old parchment deeds
which are valuable souvenirs in his household and interesting relics
of the past. One was executed April , 1843, and signed by President
Tyler, another was signed by President Polk and executed December 1,
1848, and of the same date and signature are two other.
There are only a few of these documents in the county, and they are
therefore the more precious as heirlooms and antiquities.
When Mr. Plummer came to this township
Lowell contained but two houses, and there was not a railroad in the
entire county, now so crossed and recrossed by great trunk lines.
His first home was a little plank house, and in the early days he
has seen as many as fifteen deer at one time on his
premises. The old Indian trail led across his land, and wolves were
still plentiful. He has thus witnessed all the great development
that has transformed this county so wondrously in the past half
century. He used to drive into the city of Chicago when the
stockyards were located on the Lake shore. One of his greatest
pioneer accomplishments in this county was the breaking of three
hundred and twenty acres of virgin prairie with ox teams.
June 5, 1855, he was united in marriage
with Miss Kate Baughman, and three sons were born to them, Frank and
Edwin living at the present time, and elsewhere in these pages will
be found the personal history of Mr. Frank Plummer, who manages the
old homestead. Mrs. Plummer was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, June
9, 1932, being one of the ten children, five sons and five
daughters, born to Jacob and Sallie (Ritter) Baughman. She has a
sister and three brothers still living: Barbara, who is the widow of
Edward Knisely, of Lowell; John, who is a carpenter and joiner by
occupation and a resident of Arlington, Washington; Jacob, a retired
farmer of Lowell; and Jay D., who is a farmer at Jackson, Minnesota.
Jacob Baughman, Mrs. Plummer's father was born in Pennsylvania of
old Pennsylvania German stock, on February 9, 1798, and died October
4, 1853, in Lake Prairie, this county. He was a farmer by
occupation. His wife was born in Pennsylvania, April 30, 1799, and
died in West Creek township of this county. She was a member of the
Evangelical church. Mrs. Plummer was reared in Ohio until she was
seventeen years old, and received her education in that state. She
came with her parents to Porter county, Indiana, in 1849. She is a kind-hearted and genial lady, and in
many ways has smoothed out the rough places where family and friends were
treading. She and her husband have together traveled life's journey for
forty-nine years, and it is the hope of all their numerous friends that they
will the next year celebrate their golden wedding.
Mr. and Mrs. Plummer began their wedded
life in West Creek township and continued in the pursuits of
agriculture there for many years. In 1901 they moved into the town
of Lowell, and there live a retired and peaceful life. Mr. Plummer
owns about seven hundred acres of land in West Creek township, and his career of
industry and honest dealing has brought him comfortable
circumstances. He is a stanch Republican, and began casting his
ballot for president when the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor, ran
for the office. He has voted for all the Republican nominees from
Lincoln down, and has served as a delegate to the county
convention. Mrs. Plummer is a member of
the Evangelical church.
[Encyclopedia of Genealogy and Biography
of Lake County, Indiana.
Rev T.H.Ball editor-in-chief, Lewis,
Chicago, 1904, pp.488-91]
Submitted by Philip Ritter
E-Mail philr@leland.Stanford.EDU
|