USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 19
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CHARLES AVERILL PLUMMER - The Plummer family, which was founded in America at Newbury, State of Massachusetts, in the early
Colonial period, was of English origin, the name being conspicuous in England since the period of the Baron's wars. The Plummers of the United States, which now include branches of the original family in many different parts of the country, are all descended from the original immigrant ancestor, Francis Plummer, whose descendants removed from their original New England home and settled in such widely separated communities as the two Carolinas, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Mis- sissippi, and also Maine, New Hampshire, and the other New England States. The coat of arms of the Plummer family is as follows :
Arms-Azure, on a chevron wavy between three lions' heads erased or, guttee de sang, as many mullets of the field.
Crest-A demi-lion argent, holding in its dexter paw a branch of palm proper.
Motto-Consulto et audacter.
(I) Francis Plummer, the founder of the Amer- ican family, was born in England in the year 1594, and came either from Woolwich, in that country, or Wales, about 1633, and settled at Newbury in 1635. The two intervening years were spent hy him in Boston, where he took the oath of freeman, May 14, 1634. He was a descendant of the ancient English family, and was a man of some prominence in the colony of Newbury. The land upon which he settled, and where his death occurred in the year 1673, is still in the possession of his descend- ants, now of the eighth generation. He married (first) Ruth -, who died August 18, 1647; (second) March 31, 1648-49, Ann Palmer, died October 18, 1665: (third) November 29, 1666, Beatrice, widow of William Cantlebury, of Salem, Massachusetts. Francis Plummer was the father of four children, all born to his first wife, as follows: Samuel, mentioned below; Joseph, born in 1630, married Sarah Cheney; Hannah, born in 1632, mar- ried, May 3, 1653, Samuel Moores; Mary, born in 1634, married, May 20, 1660, John Cheney, and settled on the north side of Parker river.
(II) Samuel Plummer, eldest son of Francis and Ruth Plummer, was born in the year 1619, and died in 1702. He married, about 1646, Mary Bid- field, and they were the parents of the following children : I. Samuel, born April 20, 1647, married Joanna Woodbury. 2. Mary, born February 3, 1650, married, December 6, 1670, John Swett. 3. John, born May 3, 1652, was killed at Bloody Creek while serving against the Indians with Cap- tain Lathrop, September 8, 1675. 4. Ephraim, born September 16, 1655, married Hannah Jaques. 5. Hannah, born February 16, 1657, married David Bacheldor. 6. Sylvanus, mentioned below. 7. Ruth, born August 7, 1660, married, January 18, 1682,
6.4. Plummer-
Che Molhummer
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Richard Jaques. 8. Elizabeth, born October 19, 1662, married, June 26, 1682, Richard Jacqman. 9. Deborah, born March 16, 1665, married, May 13, 1684, Stephen Jaques. 10. Josiah, born July 2, 1668, married, November 16, 1699, Elizabeth Dole. 11. Lydia, a twin of Josiah, married Joseph Mors. 12. Bathshua, born July 31, 1670, died in early youth.
(III) Sylvanus Plummer, fourth son and sixth child of Samuel and Mary (Bidfield) Plummer, was born February 22, 1658. He married, January 18, 1682, Sarah Moody. They were the parents of the following children: 1. Mary, born October 22, 1683. 2. Samuel, born November 12, 1684, died August 2, 1685. 3. Samuel, mentioned below. 4. Lydia, married, May 18, 1717, Timothy Noyes. 5. Sarah, married Titcomb. 6. Benjamin, married, in 1720, Keziah Storer.
(IV) Samnel (2) Plummer, third child and second son of Sylvanus and Sarah (Moody) Plummer, was born in the year 1686. He mar- ried, August 1, 1717, Hannah Woodman. They were the parents of the following children: 1. Abigail, born February 7, 1718, married, in 1744, James Bailey. 2. Sylvanus, born April 13, 1720, married, December 7, 1749, Rebecca Plummer. 3. Samuel, born January 14, 1722, married Mary Dole. 4. Mary, born November 26, 1723, mar- ried Daniel Barbour. 5. Hannah, born October 25, 1725, married, November 27, 1753, John Chase. 6. Sarah, born March 30, 1727, married, March 6, 1746, John Dole. 7. Elizabeth, born May 10, 1729, married Thomas Merritt. 8. Jonathan, born April 9, 1731, married, November 27, 1760, Abigail Greenleaf. 9. Anna, born December 6, 1734, married Isaac Pearson. 10. Joseph, born De- cember 25, 1735, married, in 1776, Mary Foster, and died September 30, 1812. II. Eunice, born June 5, 1738, married June 30, 1771, William Alex- ander. 12. Moses, mentioned below.
(V) Moses Plummer, youngest child of Sam- nel (2) and Hannah (Woodman) Plummer, was born August 6, 1740. As a young man he came to Falmouth, the original name of Portland, Maine, and purchased the property on the corner of King (now India) and Fore streets. This was burnt by the British, October 18, 1776, and rebuilt in 1784. Moses Plummer was a dealer in shoes and leather. He died October 17, 1824. He married, September 9, 1765, at Boston, Esther Hersey, of the same place, who died July 29, 1815, and they were the parents of the fol- lowing children: I. Dorcas, born June 20, 1766, married Asa Fickett. 2. Hannah, born Septem- ber 29, 1767, married Theophilus Boynton. 3.
Samuel, born June 28, 1769, died July 23, 1769. 4. Joseph, born September 10, 1770, died Septem- ber 27, 1770. 5. Moses, born Jannary 3, 1772, inarried Abigail Smith. 6. William, mentioned below. 7. John, born November 18, 1778, mar- ried Eleanor Haskell. 8. Samuel, born March 2, 1782, died October 13, 1782.
(VI) William Plummer, sixth child and fourth son of Moses and Esther (Hersey) Plummer, was born November 17, 1774, at Falmouth, Maine, and died February 1, 1808. He was a blacksmith in Portland. He married, April 12, 1798, Mar- garet Morrill. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children: William, mentioned below. 2. Esther, married John Thomas. 3. Margaret, married William Coffin.
(VII) William (2) Plummer, son of William (1) and Margaret (Morrill) Plummer, was born February 5, 1801. He married, April 20, 1824, Abigail Tobin, of Gorhanı, Maine, where she was born October 2, 1800. They were the par- ents of the following children: 1. Sarah Tobin, born November 14, 1824, died March 28, 1827. 2. Mary Crockett, born June 17, 1826, married Thomas Osborn, and died September 3, 1870. 3. Charles Moulton, mentioned below. 4. Ellen Moulton, born January 9, 1837, became the wife of Charles H. Fickett. 5. Esther, born February 23, 1839, died September 11, 1839. 6. Hiram Tobin, mentioned below. 7. Esther Thomas, born March 16, 1843, married Joseph H. Steele.
(VIII) Charles Moulton Plummer, third child and oldest son of William (2) and Abigail (Tobin) Plummer, was born March 11, 1828, at the old family homestead on India street, Port- land. His childhood was passed in his native place, and his education obtained at the local public schools, which he attended until he had completed the grammar grades. His father had established a plumbing, heating and gas fitting business in Portland many years before, and when he had completed his studies he entered this establishment and there lcarned the details of the work. He was an apt pupil and was soon capable of giving the elder man material aid, and with the latter's gradual withdrawal from ac- tive life the management of the concern devolved more and more upon the young man's shoulders, a responsibility that he quickly proved himself quite capable of handling. Under the manage- ment of Mr. Plummer, the business rapidly 'grew to great proportions and in the course of time became one of the largest and most successful concerns of its kind in the United States. Mr. Plummer during his business career handled
HISTORY OF MAINE
many contracts for the equipment of the largest and most important buildings in Portland and also did a large business in adjacent regions. One of his most successful undertakings was that in which he was associated with Mr. George P. Wescott, in the installation of the plant of the Portland Water Company. A number of cap- italists from Haverhill had already attempted to accomplish this difficult matter and failed, but Mr. Plummer was entirely successful in his ef- fort and still further increased his already great reputation as a man of high resourcefulness and ability. He was also one of the prime movers in the building of the Portland and Rochester Railroad and was associated with a number of other prominent enterprises in this section of the country. In the management of the great business his brother, Hiram T. Plummer, who is mentioned elsewhere in this sketch, was a part- ner, and the firm was known as C. M. & H. T. Plummer, with Charles Moulton Plummer as president. Later he admitted his son, Charles Averill Plummer, who is mentioned elsewhere in this sketch, into the concern. In politics Mr. Plummer was a staunch supporter of the prin- ciples and policies of the Republican party, but, although he was keenly interested in all public issues, whether local or national, he was quite without personal ambition in the matter and never took an active part in public affairs.
On June 18, 1848, at Saco, Maine, Charles Moulton Plummer was united in marriage with Miranda Snow Ridlou, a native of that place, and a daughter of Charles and Mehitable (Snow) Ridlou. They were the parents of the follow- ing children: I. Mary Isabel, born June 15, 1849. 2. William, born July 2, 1851, died No- vember 1, 1851. 3. Charles Averill, mentioned below. 4. Minnie Snow, adopted, born December 19, 1866.
Charles Moulton Plummer deserves a place among the successful business men whosc ca- reers have contributed to the growth of the ma- terial interest of the State of Maine. Of this distinguished group he was a prominent figure, a man whose achievements were not only the instruments of his personal success, but an in- tegral part of the life of the community and one of the most important factors in the upbuilding of the prosperity of this region of the Statc. Mr. Plummer's death removed from the city of Portland one who had reached a place high in the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens, and one who throughout a long life had always at- tained the highest standard of ethics in his busi-
ness as in every other relation with his fellows. He had reached the ripe old age of seventy-six years when his death occurred, August 16, 1904, yet so entirely liad he retained his mental powers, as well as a certain fresh and youthful out- look upon life, that his friends and associates found his demise a matter for surprise as well as grief, as that of one whose work was yet in the being and for whom the future held out still other opportunities for achievement. Mr. Plummer resided for many years in the family homestead where he was born, but later removed to the property on which had stood the old Swan House, which had been destroyed in the great fire of Portland, but which he immediately rebuilt. From this property which stood on Middle street he finally removed to a honse at No. 10 Deering street, where he continued to make his home until the close of his life. He was a man of very strong domestic instincts and unusually powerful affections for those with whom he was intimately related. There was an especially strong affinity between him and his brother. Hiram T. Plummer, and it is thought that the latter's death in Arizona, December 25, 1902, greatly hastened Mr. Plummer's own end. The energy and force of Mr. Plummer's character have already been commented upon, and these qualities he truly possessed in a marked degree. His business acumen was also of the highest type, and there were many other sides to his character which, though less conspicuous, were equally worthy of praise. He was a man of very broad sympathy, to whom the misfortunes of others made a strong appeal, and though his charities were unostentatious, they were none the less large. His many activities, based as they were upon the best and most disinterested mo- tives, were a valuable factor in the life of Port- land, and particularly in the matter of its busi- ness development. His sterling good qualities were very generally recognized, his honor, can- dor, and the democratic attitude which he held towards all men won for him an enviable repu- tation, and the admiration and affection of a host of friends. The uniform happiness of his fan- ily relations and his life generally were the merited result of his own strong and fine per- sonality.
(VIII) Hiram Tobin Plummer, sixth child and second son of William (2) and Abigail (Tobin) Plummer, was born July 26, 1840. His child- hood was passed in his native city of Portland, and upon reaching man's estate he became asso- ciated with his brother, Charles Monlton Plum-
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mer, in the conduct in his large contracting business. Mr. Plummer's health, however, suf- fered a serious failure and he went West to Arizona, where his death occurred December 25, 1902. He married, March 6, 1870, Louisa Sturgis Drew, who was born November 25, 1837, and they were the parents of two children, as follows: Edna Mabel, born December 14, 1872. 2. Jolin Mussey, born July 3, 1875.
(IX) Charles Averill Plummer, third child and second son of Charles Moulton and Miranda Snow (Ridlou) Plummer, was born March 20, 1856, and died at Portland, Maine, January 14, 1919, where for a number of years he had been in active management and the president of the great plumbing and contracting concern of C. M. & H. T. Plummer, founded nearly a century ago by his grandfather. As a lad he attended the local public school and later became a student at the Westbrook Seminary. Upon completing his studies at the latter institution he entered the establishment of his father, and there worked in a clerical capacity for a number of years. This old firm, which was engaged in the plumbing, heating and gas fitting business, was established about ninety years ago by William Plummer, who began business on a small scale, but throughi patient, industrious work and good business judg- ment gradually built up a prosperous concern. Under the management of its next head, Charles Moulton Plummer, this development was carried on with increased rapidity until the com- pany had grown to be one of the strongest of its kind in the United States. It was during the period of rapid growth that Charles Averill Plummer was employed as a clerk in its office, and there he quickly gained a wide knowledge of the particular trade as well as of business metli- ods generally. After a few years thus spent he was admitted into partnership by his father, and from that time on gradually assumed a greater and greater share of the responsibility in the con- cern's management. His father and uncle, Hiram T. Plummer, who were at the head of the business, died, the latter in 1902, and the former in 1904, and the management of the entire estab- lishment fell upon the young man's shoulders. From that time until the close of his life Mr. Plummer was its active head, holding the double office of president and treasurer, and showing himself the worthy successor to his predecessors. Under his leadership the company was reor- ganized, a new and larger building erected for its accommodation, and it was started upon a new career of growth and expansion. Throughout
his active career Mr. Plummer mingled with his personal success a broad-minded and commend- able public spirit that prevented him from ever embarking upon an enterprise likely to prove to the detriment of the community, and which won for him the warm and admiring praise of his fellow citizens. He kept the welfare of the com- munity continually at heart and one of his great- est ambitions was the establishment of a plant which would insure the purification of the waters of Lake Sebago, from which Portland draws its water supply.
Mr. Plummer was a member of the Portland Board of Trade and in that and other capacities took an active part in promoting the general welfare of the city, particularly in its material" aspect. In addition to the conduct of his ownl great business he was a director of the United States Trust Company of Portland, and was also interested in other business and financial enter- prises. He was a Republican in politics, but al- though deeply interested in the issues of the day was quite without personal ambition, and with the exception of his candidacy as trustee of the Water District avoided rather than sought polit- ical preferment. He was, however, active in local military affairs, was a member of Portland Mechanic Blues, and served as quartermaster on the staff of Colonel John Marshall Brown, com- manding officer of First Regiment Infantry, Maine National Guard. He was also affiliated with the Lodge and Encampment of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Portland Athletic Club, also Portland Yacht Club, and the Old Gymnasium. In his religious belief Mr. Plummer was a Universalist, and attended the Congress Square Church of that denomination.
Charles Averill Plummer was united in mar- riage, October 16, 1878, at Portland, with Mary Rosabel Brackett, a native of Portland, and a daughter of Seth Higgins Brackett (who is men- tioned at length below) and Elizabeth Ann (Libby) Brackett, his wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Plummer one child was born, Marion Snow, who became the wife of Clifford Coburn Emerson, of Boston. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Emerson, as follows: Charles, Alden Clifford and Mary Rosabel. Mrs. Charles A. Plummer is a delightful and entertaining hostess and a devoted mother. The married life of her husband and herself was an ideal one and their home, No. 148 State street, Portland, enjoyed an enviable reputation for open-handed hospitality, which was typical of the old school New Eng- land families.
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HISTORY OF MAINE
Charles Averill Plummer was a typical man of business of the kind that has made New England famous and has placed this region so high among the industrial centers of the world. He should not be classed with the type that is becoming more and more dominant in contemporary busi- ness life, whose interests in their own achieve- ments are so strong that they forget the general welfare of the community, but with that more gracious type that appear unfortunately to be growing less, whose operations never dulled their public spirit and who aimed at the advancement of the entire community quite as much as their own. He was the kind of man at whom the community can and does point with gratitude and admiration for the benefits which his activities have conferred on it. Not less conspicuous than these semi-public virtues were his private ones, which rendered him a beloved husband, father and friend, and won him a host of companions with whom his relations were of the warmest and most cordial. Through the many years which he and his wife have been conspicuous figures in the social life of the community, they have stood as types of cultivation and refinement as well as of those more fundamental and homely virtues that form the only stable foundation of domestic life.
SETH HIGGINS BRACKETT, for many years a successful business man of Portland, Maine, and proprietor of the celebrated Peak's Island House on the island of that name, was until his death, November 10, 1877, a member of one of the oldest families in New England, which has been identified with the affairs of this State since the early period of its history. The coat- of-arms of the Brackett family is as follows:
Aring-Sable, three garbs or within a bordure argent. Crest-A goat's head erased or.
(I) The Brackett family was founded in Amer- ica by one Anthony Brackett, who according to tradition, may have been a Scotchman, but there is evidence also that he may have come from England, according to early records, as shown in the Brackett genealogy. He located at the mouth of the Piscataqua river, where it empties into the ocean and which now divides New Hampshire and Maine. He came in company with the Scot, David Thompson, as early as 1623. He is supposed to have made his home prior to 1649 in the vicinity of Little Harbor and the "Piscatawa" House on what is known as Odi- orne's Point, and after that date is known to have resided about a mile south of the Harbor,
west of Sandy Beach on Salt Water Brook, on Brackett Lane, now Brackett Road. He was the recipient of several grants of land in the com- munity, and was the purchaser of other tracts. so that he became a large land owner and one of the wealthy members of the colony. He was also active in public affairs, and held a number of offices in the gift of his fellow citizens. He was an Episcopalian in his religion, and was re- markable for his charity and public spirit. He married, about 1635, but the name of his wife is not known. His children were as follows: Anthony, Eleanor, Thomas, mentioned below; Janc and John. Anthony Brackett met his death at the hands of the Indians.
(II) Thomas Brackett, son of Anthony Brackett, was born about 1635, near Sandy Beach, then a part of Strawberry Bank, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and now a part of the town of Rye. He removed from that place to Casco, now Portland, Maine, shortly after 1662. He became very prominent in the community, served in a number of public posts, and was a success- ful and active merchant. Like his father he met his death at the hands of Indians, August 11. 1676, who captured his wife and children and car- ried them away in captivity. This was, however, while his father was still living and the latter subsequently ransomed his son's wife and chil- dren. Thomas Brackett married Mary Milton, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Cleeves) Milton, and they were the parents of the fol- lowing children: Josiah, mentioned below; Sarah; (Samuel probably) and Mary.
(III) Lieutenant Josiah Brackett, eldest child of Thomas and Mary (Milton) Brackett, was born at Falmouth, now Portland, Maine. He was left an orphan at an early age by the slay- ing of his father by the Indians and the death of his mother, while a captive in their hands. He was himself a prisoner of the Indians until re- deemed by his grandfather, with whom he made his home for some time thereafter. The destruc- tion of his father's property and other damages done by the savages left him in a state of pov- erty, yet so energetic was he and so excellent was his judgment that he eventually became one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of the province. When the trouble with the Indians began in 1688 he joined his uncle, Anthony Brackett, and was with him when he fell in bat- tlc. He took part in most of the fighting, that lasted in all somewhat more than a quarter of a century, and was chosen the leader of the mili- tary band with the commission of lieutenant. He
Sett De. Brackett
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BIOGRAPHICAL
was probably engaged in the coast trade and the lumber business, and was the owner of several saw mills in various places. He was a large land owner, and became the possessor of Peak's Island and other tracts originally forming parts of the Milton estate. He was also very promi- nent in the public affairs of the colony, and was universally regarded with respect and admira- tion. From an inscription on his gravestone we learn that he died June 19, 1749, at the age of seventy-seven years. He married Mary Weeks, a daughter of Leonard and Mary (Haines) Weeks, and they were the parents of the follow- ing children: John, Josiah, Thomas, Samuel, An- thony, mentioned below; Mary, who died in in- fancy; Abigail, Eleanor, Jane, Mary, Keziah, Margaret and Nathaniel.
(IV) Anthony (2) Brackett, fifth son of Lieu- tenant Josiah and Mary (Weeks) Brackett, was born January 25, 1708, at Greenland, New Hamp- shire. He came to Maine when eleven years of age, and made his home at Falmouth. He and his brother Josiah took possession of a large tract of land claimed by their father on "the Neck" and this they divided between them, each taking a portioin for his own. Anthony Brackett, besides this property, also owned the greater and more valuable portion of Peak's Island, and was this one of the largest landed proprietors in the entire region. He was promi- nent in the business and social affairs of Fal- mouth or Portland, and his house was built at the corner of Danforth and Brackett streets there. His death occurred September 10, 1784, at the age of seventy-seven years. Anthony Brackett married (first) February 14, 1734, Sarah Knight; (second) in 1756, Karen Happuck Hicks. By the first union six children were born, as fol- lows: John, Sarah, Thomas, mentioned below; James, Elizabeth and Anthony. The following children were born of the second union: Meri- bah, Josiah, Keziah, Samuel and Nathaniel.
(V) Thomas (2) Brackett, son of Anthony (2) and Sarah (Knight) Brackett, was born in May, 1744, at Falmouth and died December 13, 1815. He inherited from his father much valuable prop- erty in and about Portland, including a large proportion of the Peak's Island tract, where he made his home, probably from before the Revo- lution to the close of his life. When Thomas Brackett first went to that place, there were but three houses on the entire island, and when, on October 16, 1775, Captain Henry Mowatt, with the British fleet, anchored in Hog's Roads, it was in sight of Mr. Brackett's house. Thomas
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