PLUMMER, Jacob Callendar - Putnam

The subject of this sketch enjoys the distinction of being the leading contractor and builder in the southern part of Putnam county and in the pursuance of his trade has doubtless contributed more to the material prosperity of his section of the county than any other man. He is a native of Massac county, Illinois, where his birth occurred on the first day of January, 1842, and where his parents, Jacob and Eliza (Summers) Plummer, of Kentucky, had settled in the year 1837. When Jacob was an infant, these parents returned .to. Kentucky and remained in Kenton county, that state, until 186o, when they removed to Greencastle, Indiana, where the father lived in retirement about eight years, at the end of which time he changed his residence to Washington township, where he made his home until his removal to Vigo county, where his death occurred in 1902, at the age of seventy-nine years, his wife dying sometime previous to that date in Clay county. Jacob C. Plummer was about eighteen years old when his parents came to Indiana and since 186o he has been an honored resident of Putnam county and closely identified with the interests of the people among whom he has lived. While still a youth he manifested a decided preference for mechanical work and it was not long until he turned his talent to good account by taking up the trade of carpentry, at which he soon became quite proficient and to which his energies have since been devoted.

In i868 he came to Washington township, Putnam county, where he at once took high rank as a mechanic and in the month of March, 188o, he moved to his present farm, fifty acres of which are in cultivation, the remainder consisting of woodland and meadow. Mr. Plummer devotes little time to the cultivation of the soil, being, as already indicated, the leading contractor and builder of his part of the county, with enterprises on hand which call him from home and demand all his attention. The majority of the better farm dwellings, barns and other buildings in Washington township were erected under his management and elsewhere throughout the county in both towns and rural districts are numerous edifices which bear the stamp of his workmanship.

Among the many country residences which he has built from time to time are those belonging to George Rissler, John Rightsell, Jack Huffman, James Rightsell, George Zeener, Vincent McCollough, John Rissler and many others, all of which rank among the best structures of the kind in the county and speak volumes in his praise as a master of his vocation. He has also erected a number of school houses, churches and other public edifices, the demands for his services being such as to call for a number of additional helpers. Of recent years he has carried on several buildings at the same time and given employment to from eight to fifteen mechanics and at intervals has conducted his business in partnership with R. E, Ozment, a master workman who learned the trade under his direction. Mr. Plummer, on May 1, 1864, was happily married to Luella Shoptaugh, sister of George Shoptaugh, ex-superintendent of the Putnam county poor asylum. Mrs. Plummer was born on the old Shoptaugh farm, in Marion township, August 26, 1834, and belongs to one of the earliest and best known pioneer families of that part of the county. Three children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Plummer, the oldest being Arthur, who lives near Putnamville, in Warren township, and who for. four years served the county as official surveyor. Laura Ethel, the second in order of birth, taught for a number of years in the public schools and achieved marked distinction in that profession. She began her educational work before becoming the wife of Prof. John R. Starr, of Winamac, and also spent a part of her married life in the school room, her husband being principal of the commercial college at -Marshalltown, Iowa. Mrs. Starr was a woman of fine mind and her lamented death, four years after her marriage, terminated what promised to be an unusually brilliant career. Bessie Lee, the youngest of the subject's family, married Jack Huffman and lives in Washington township, a sketch of her husband appearing on another page of this work. Early in life Mir. Plummer resolved to master the vocation to which his energies have been directed and that he has done so is apparent to those at all familiar with his work. He easily stands in the front rank among the builders of his part of Indiana, and since engaging in his life work he has instructed quite a number of young men in carpentry, among whom Rufus E. Ozment and Ernest Matthews are perhaps the best known and most proficient. Mr. Plummer has a pleasant home and is well situated as far as material wealth is concerned, being in comfortable circumstances with sufficient means to insure his future against the proverbial "rainy day" which overtakes so many men in their old age. He has been a life-long Democrat in politics and with his wife belongs to the Christian church, the house in which the congregation worships having been erected some years ago. – thanks so very much to the Indiana State Library Digital Collection