History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 76

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

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After Mr. Buchanan's election there was a general expectation and de- sire on the part of Mr. Plumer's friends throughout the state that he should be honored with a seat in the cabinet. The intimate and cordial relations which had so long existed between him and Mr. Buchanan; the confidence reposed in him by the latter; his prominence in the councils of the party; his party services, and, above all, his high character and his fit- ness for the place which was assigned to him by the consensus of his friends, that of postmaster-general, all pointed to him as one worthy of this farther honor and likely to be equally acceptable to the president-elect, and to the people. A large number of Democratic newspapers, recognizing these considerations, and reflecting public sentiment in their respective localities, recommended his appointment; and many leading Democrats who believed that Pennsylvania should be represented in the cabinet, united without his knowledge or consent in asking that the portfolio of the postoffice department be tendered to him. To the delegation that presented this request, Mr. Buchanan replied: " If I am to have a member of my cabinet from Pennsylvania there is no one more worthy than Mr. Plumer." And the same morning that Mr. Buchanan left Wheatland for Washington a newspaper published at his home, and supposed to speak by his authority, announced that Mr. Plumer had been selected as the head of the postoffice department. At this time Mr. Plumer was in Washington, and there learning the unauthorized use that had been made of his name, called upon the president immediately after his arrival in the city, and after referring to what he had learned, peremptorily declined to be considered in connec- tion with a cabinet appointment. The condition of his health, which at that time was so far impaired as to forbid his undertaking any continuous and exacting labors, was understood to be the controlling reason of his un- willingness to take office under Mr. Buchanan.

Had the environment of Mr. Plumer's youth been such as that of his later years it is improbable that he would ever have held office or occupied so con- spicuous a place as he did in the politics of the county and commonwealth. As in ancient and in medieval times, when wars for plunder and for conquest and for the advancement of religion discouraged everything like industrial progress, the army and the church presented almost the only avenue of dis-

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tinction; so, in the earlier period of our national life, when the establishment of republican institutions was the paramount thought, and later, in the poorer and more sparsely settled portions of the country, where the sterility of the soil and the difficulties of intercommunication have been unfriendly to pri- vate enterprise, the chief attractions for men of the higher order of intellect were found in the business of government and the business of politics. But as population and wealth increase, the competitions of the whole range of industrial activities and of the learned professions for talent of the highest order become so great that few men of character and ability are willing to turn aside from them for the honors and emoluments of official life. And just in proportion as private pursuits become more attractive by reason of their fruits, and the prestige which success therein gives, so does the morale of politics suffer, not by comparison merely, but absolutely; and it comes to pass that methods are employed for producing results from which self-re- specting men instinctively recoil. When Mr. Plumer entered politics public discussion was the potent agency employed in political contests. The stir- ring eloquence of Clay, the keener dialectics of Calhoun, and the all but resistless logic of Webster, swayed multitudes and at the same time inspired in the minds of the people a sense of the high character of public trusts, and led them to seek men worthy to execute such trusts rather than suffer the unworthy to obtrude themselves as candidates for public favor. It was a noble ambition that led men to take part in the contests in which the giants named and others of only less stature were leaders; and Mr. Plumer was naturally attracted to the arena in which they shone so resplendently. But, with the passing away of the generation of statesmen who were in the full maturity of their great powers when he came upon the stage, there gradually came those changed circumstances which, as already pointed out, naturally result in flooding the domain of politics with a class of self-seekers whose methods are born of their necessities-necessities springing from their want of those qualifications which alone should recommend to public favor. Mr. . Plumer was too modest to propose himself for office, too self-respecting to solicit votes, and utterly incapable of employing those other methods by which personal solicitation has been supplemented since the modern regime has been in vogue. Moreover he had an aptitude for private affairs which, if it had been cultivated in early life, would have secured for him, under favorable circumstances, a position in financial and industrial circles more enviable than can ordinarily be attained in the public service. Hence it was that after twenty-six years of nearly continuous public service he drifted into private pursuits of varied character, such as commercial, manufacturing, mining, and banking enterprises, in all of which he was so uniformly suc- cessful during a period of twenty years that he left the largest estate which up to the time of his death had been accumulated by one man in Venango county.

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

In person Mr. Plumer was tall and of a majestic presence in keeping with the simple dignity of his character and deportment. The humblest people approached him easily and confidently, neither high nor low, otherwise than respectfully. Although he modestly protested that he was not a public speaker, he was in much demand as such, and whenever he spoke, though he practiced none of the arts of oratory as commonly, understood, he was sure of an attentive audience, and always spoke impressively and forcibly; he talked earnestly and directly to the point. A communicant in the Method- ist Episcopal church, he exemplified his profession by his life and conversa- tion, which were so pure that the one might have been reflected from a mirror and the other repeated in any presence without causing a blush.

He was married on the 6th of February, 1827, to Margaret, daughter of the late George McClelland of Franklin, who bore him six children, viz: Elvira A., now the widow of the late Judge Gilmore of Uniontown, Penn- sylvania; Samuel; Margaret, wife of H. W. Lamberton of Winona, Minne- sota; Arnold A .; Ann Eliza, wife of Reverend R. H. Austin of Philadelphia, and Henry B. He died on the 28th of April, 1869, leaving a family circle unbroken except by his own death. Upon the records of the courts of Venango county, which were then in session, is contained the following minute under date of Wednesday April 28, 1869: "At four o'clock, P. M., the courts on motion adjourned in respect to the memory of Hon. A. Plumer this day deceased." The next evening the citizens of Franklin assembled in the court room to do farther honor to his memory, at which meeting the late Judge Trunkey presided, assisted by the late Judge Irwin and Thomas Hoge, and a minute was adopted expressive of the estimation in which Mr. Plumer was held by his neighbors, and their sense of the loss which the community had sustained in his death .- C. H.

BENJAMIN ADAMS PLUMER, the second son of Samuel and Patty Plumer, was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1803, his parents hav- ing settled in what is now Jackson township, prior to his birth. On the 8th of May, 1831, Mr. Plumer married Eliza, daughter of George Power, the first white settler in Franklin. The fruits of this union were eight chil- dren, four sons and four daughters. Eliza and Mary, two of the daughters, died in infancy. The eldest son, D. C. Plumer, died January 10, 1865, and the youngest, Frederick Crary Plumer, died July 28, 1878. The surviving children are M. A. Plumer, of Johnson county, Missouri; Laura, wife of the late John P. Park; George W. Plumer, of Akron, Ohio, and Patty, wife of the late James S. Austin, of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Eliza Power Plumer died in Franklin November 17, 1850, in the forty-first year of her age. Judge Plumer died in Franklin, March 22, 1856, in the fifty- third year of his age.

He held the office of county treasurer during 1836-38, and was post- master during those years. In 1843 he was appointed by Governor Porter

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BIOGRAPHIES OF FRANKLIN.

an associate judge for Venango county, re-appointed by Governor Shunk in 1848, and elected by the people in 1851. He served in that capacity nearly thirteen years, and up to the time of his death. Almost his entire life was passed in Franklin. He was one of her enterprising merchants, and ex- hibited great interest in all things connected with her prosperity and prog- ress. For several years he was the colonel of Venango's regiment of militia, reaching that rank through service in the several subordinate grades, and retaining his interest in military affairs to the last. In his youthful days he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was through- out his whole life a faithful and consistent Christian. He left to his chil- dren the legacy of an honorable career, marked by the faithful perform- ance of every duty, and he died regretted and esteemed by all who knew him .- A. P. W.

JUDGE RICHARD IRWIN, up to the time of his death, was perhaps as well known in Venango county generally as any of its citizens. His calling in life, that of surveyor, had made him a familiar figure in all parts of the county from the time its active settlement began. Mr. Irwin was of Penn- sylvania ancestry on both sides, his father, Samuel Irwin, being a native of the Chester valley, and his mother of Northampton county. He was born May 6, 1798, in Buffalo valley, White Deer township, Northumberland (now Union) county, about three miles northwest of Lewisburg. In May, 1802, his parents migrated to Sugar Creek (now Cherry Tree) township, Venango county, where they made a settlement and reared a large family. The children received only the elementary instruction afforded by the lim- ited educational facilities of that time and place. Richard, the eldest, had however, the advantage of a home teacher in the person of his uncle, John Irwin, who subsequently filled the office of associate judge in Venango county for thirty years, and was also deputy surveyor for six years-a gentleman well versed in the sound literature of his day, and proficient in the science of civil engineering and land surveying. Under his correct tutelage his nephew acquired the elements of a fair English education, and mastered the principles and practice of surveying. The pupil's first work in that line was to assist his uncle, in 1818, in locating and grading that portion of the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike lying between Frank- lin and Meadville.

In July, 1824, he succeeded his uncle as deputy surveyor of the county, and held the office continuously for fifteen years. His first official survey was that of the Foster farm on the Allegheny river below Franklin, Sep- tember 9, 1824, and his last official survey was for Silas Watson, in same township, July 6, 1839. In the meantime he served a term as county com- missioner, from October, 1828, to October, 1831. In September, 1834, he settled in Franklin, where he thenceforth resided.

In December, 1838, he was appointed by Governor Ritner an associate

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

judge, serving until February, 1843. In 1848 he was chosen a presidential elector on the Whig ticket, and cast his vote in the college for Taylor and Fillmore. In 1851 he was appointed by Governor Johnston a member of the board of revenue commissioners which convened at Harrisburg in Feb- ruary of that year. Judge Irwin was a stanch and active adherent of the Whig party, and he gave his voice and vote for the Republican party up to 1872, when he supported Horace Greeley for president.

Up to the time when the infirmities of age retired him from active work, Judge Irwin devoted himself mainly to his regular business of surveyor, land agent, and scrivener. Land surveying was to him a congenial pursuit, and to this fact may be attributed his accuracy and proficiency in it. His field notes, carefully kept and methodically arranged, extending over a space of more than fifty years, covering a large portion of our county, and reaching into the counties adjacent, attest the fidelity and thoroughness with which he pursued his calling. It was largely from his notes and drafts of survey that a map of Venango county was compiled in 1857, which in accuracy and excellence still remains the standard map of the county. Concerning his aptitude for his calling, as well as his remarkable memory for the details of it, we quote a paragraph written four years before his death by one who knew him intimately:

Those who know Judge Irwin, or for whom he has done business in his line, do not need to be informed of his scrupulous exactness and remarkable accuracy of detail in matters of surveying. These peculiarities are supplemented by a memory which, while it is unusually retentive of general literature and passing events, is strangely tenacious of all the dry details of work done by compass and chain. He can recall those details and perplexing minutiæ as if they were passages of eloquence. He has often been heard to give from memory day and date, and even courses and distances, of surveys made more than a generation ago. This singular faculty, which in his eighty-first year he still retains, has been repeatedly put to the test in courts of law, and the result has generally been to establish his correctness and to excite surprise at so striking an evidence of devotion to all the requirements of his calling.

At a meeting of the members of the bar of Venango county, held a few days after his death, at which due tribute was paid to Judge Irwin's unim- peachable integrity and moral worth, the chairman, John S. McCalmont, thus referred to his work as a surveyor: "He was an excellent surveyor, often called into courts of justice to assist, by his evidence, in settling land titles. He was consulted by the old lawyers and judges, such as Shippen, Thompson, Eldred, Banks, and Pearson, in determining the correctness of surveys; and his opinions and deductions, in conflicting claims, from the 'marks on the ground' were eagerly sought."

Judge Irwin died at his home in Franklin on Saturday, November 18, 1882, in his eighty-fifth year. With no special disease, he yielded to the weight of years. His mind was clear to the last, realizing his oft expressed wish that his "mental faculties might be spared the last of all."

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In his daily life, conversation, and practice, Judge Irwin was the soul of honor, truth, and rectitude. He was singularly pure in life and speech. At the funeral services, held in the Presbyterian church, his old friend, Doctor Eaton, in a feeling tribute declared that in all the thirty years of his friendship he "had never known Judge Irwin to utter a harsh criticism of a neighbor, or to speak a word that savored in the slightest of impurity or impiety." While Mr. Irwin talked little of the mysteries of religion, he had a profound respect for Christian practice. The corner-stones of his creed were the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount.

On the 5th of March, 1834, he married Hannah White May, a lady of New England birth, daughter of Reverend Hezekiah May, then a resident of Tionesta. She died August 27, 1845, in the fortieth year of her age. She was one of the most amiable of women, and was beloved by all who knew her. She left six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Samuel D .; Frances Helen, wife of C. Heydrick; H. May; Margaret Jane, who married W. B. Benedict, and died April 14, 1877; Hannah Gertrude, and Richard L., who died March 13, 1878. Their father married again in February, 1855, Miss Mary A. Lamberton, of Erie, Pennsylvania, who died July 23, 1887 .- H. M. I.

WILLIAM MOORE, the first prothonotary of Venango county, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1772, and died in Franklin, December 24, 1837. He was a son of Doctor Robert Moore, a well-known physician of Lancaster. He was reared and educated in his native city, and there read medicine. He removed to Meadville in the last decade of the eigh- teenth century, where he married Margaret, eldest daughter of General Da- vid Mead, founder of Meadville. She was born in June, 1781, and died in Franklin June 19, 1829. They reared the following children: Sarah Mead, who married Jacob Mayes, and with three children resides in Franklin; George R. and William, of Kenton, Ohio, and David M., who died in Sugar Creek township, Venango county, in 1865. William Moore was at Mead's settlement during the Indian troubles and acted as assistant surgeon to the force protecting that point. Upon the organization of Crawford county in March, 1800, he was appointed clerk and prothonotary of that county and served in that capacity until 1805, when he removed to Franklin and was appointed prothonotary and register and recorder of Venango county-the first imcumbent of those offices, which he filled with satisfaction to the peo- ple and credit to himself for many years. The well kept records of his day bear testimony to his good, plain penmanship and careful business methods. After retiring from office he engaged in merchandising, and also worked in the different county offices from time to time, assisting inexperienced offi- cials in their duties. He was a clerk in the offices of the French Creek Canal Company at Meadville for two years. Mr. Moore was a Democrat and a warm admirer of Andrew Jackson. Though reared an Episcopalian he was not

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

connected with any religious body during the later portion of his life. He accumulated considerable property in Franklin along French creek, which he disposed of ere his death. His daughter, Mrs. Mayes, and three children; four children of David M., deceased, and his grandson, Doctor E. W. Moore, are his only descendants in Venango county. +

WILLIAM CONNELY, deceased, was born at Philadelphia July 22, 1777, son of Isaac and Phoebe (Garrigues Robinson) Connely, with whom he removed from Centre county to the vicinity of Titusville in 1803. In 1806 he came to Franklin and was actively identified with the early religious and social life of that town. He was a local preacher in the Methodist church and one of the first members of the organization at Franklin. His principal occupation was surveying; he was county surveyor in 1817 and in 1840-44. He also served as justice of the peace and associate judge. In politics he was a Whig. He married Elizabeth Allender of Allegheny township, who bore him the following children: William, a printer, who died in South Af- rica; Isaac, who removed to Cincinnati and there died; Finley, now a resi- dent of Forest county; Elizabeth H., who married Judge Alexander McCal- mont; Mrs. John Evans, whose husband printed the first newspaper in the county, and Mrs. Arthur Robison. Mrs. Connely died December 1, 1842, the judge surviving her until May 23, 1871. He is one of the best remem- bered pioneers of Venango county.

JOHN MCCALMONT was one of the early settlers of Venango county, whither he removed with his parents, John and Elizabeth (Conard) McCalmont, in 1803. The family located in the forest of Sugar Creek township, where Thomas and Robert McCalmont, two older brothers of our subject, had erected a log cabin the previous year. The father was a veteran of the Revolutionary war, and a sketch of him and his family will be found in the pioneer history of Sugar Creek township. His son John was born in Centre county, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1788, and after coming to this county remained under the parental roof several years, assisting in clearing and tilling the homestead farm. He obtained a very fair education for those days, and was engaged for a short time in teaching one of the pioneer schools. On reaching his majority he removed to Franklin and went into the milling business, and many years afterward was engaged in manufactur- ing iron. He was one of the most active and successful business men in the county during that period, but reverses at last overtook him and swept away the accumulations of years of unflagging industry. Nevertheless he con- tinued in business life up to a few years of his death. He always took a very active interest in politics, was county commissioner in 1814, and treas- urer of Venango county from 1816 to 1818.

Mr. McCalmont was twice married, his first wife, Maria, dying without issue in 1814. On the 18th of January. 1818, he married Miss Mary H., daughter of Samuel Plumer, who bore him five children: Patty, who mar-

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ried Reverend A. G. Miller and died in Louisiana in 1854; John, who died at the age of twenty-seven; Samuel Plumer, a well-known lawyer of Frank- lin; Julia, who died in 1862, and Margaret, now head of a seminary near Jackson, Louisiana. The mother died September 3, 1848. Her husband survived her twenty nine years, and died August 27, 1877. Mr. McCalmont is one of the well remembered pioneers of Franklin, where he spent the greater portion of his life. He was an open-hearted, generous giver, and often cramped himself to assist his neighbor. He was kind and affectionate in his family relations, and an upright, honorable citizen.

SAMUEL PLUMER MCCALMONT, one of the oldest lawyers of the Venango bar, was born in Sugar Creek township, Venango county, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1823. He is a son of John and Mary (Plumer) McCalmont, and grandson of John and Elizabeth (Conard) McCalmont, pioneers of Sugar Creek. His mother was a daughter of Samuel Plumer, and sister of the late Arnold Plumer of Franklin. His boyhood days were passed in the hardy and laborious occupation of pioneer farming, and his educational advantages consisted of what the early-day subscription schools afforded, afterward supplemented by a few months at college. He then entered the. law office of his uncle, Judge Alexander McCalmont, and Edwin C. Wilson, and was admitted to practice November 25, 1847. In April, 1850, he went to California where he spent three years, and then returned to Franklin and resumed the duties of his profession. For the past thirty-seven years Mr. McCalmont has continued in active practice, and is to-day one of the best known members of the Venango bar.

Politically he was originally a Democrat, and afterward one of the men who organized the Republican party in this county. In 1855 he was elected to the legislature and twice re-elected to the same position. In 1874 he identified himself with the temperance movement, and assisted in organiz- ing the Prohibition party. Since that date he has been an ardent supporter and advocate of prohibition measures and principles. He established a news- paper at Franklin to help fight the battles of temperance, and gives liberal financial aid to the cause. In fact he is one of the most pronounced and prominent Prohibitionists in this section of the state.

Mr. McCalmont was married in April, 1859, to Miss Harriet, daughter of Platt Osborn, of Chautauqua county, New York. They are the parents of six living children: Samuel Plumer, Jr., a physician of New York city; John O., attorney, of Franklin; Harriet; James D .; Constance, and David.

For several years past Mr. McCalmont has been extensively engaged in the producing and refining of petroleum, and also financially interested in several enterprises of great public benefit. Inured to hard work and fru- gality during his youth, he learned well the lesson of economy ere reaching manhood, which, coupled with the most rigid industry and the closest per- sonal supervision of all his business affairs, has enabled him to accumulate through the passing years a handsome competence.

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

SAMUEL BAILEY was born in England April 10, 1795, and there learned the carpenter trade. In 1817 he immigrated to the United States, coming to Venango county the same year. Soon afterward he located in Franklin, where he was married November 4, 1819, to Mary, eldest daughter of Will- iam and Mary (Allender) Kinnear, early settlers of Venango county. She was born in Centre county, Pennsylvania, and bore him a family of three sons and three daughters: William K. (deceased), Mary A. (deceased wife of James M. Plant), Almira S. (wife of Miles Beatty, of Franklin), Morti- mer D. (deceased), Melissa J. (wife of W. M. Epley, of Franklin), and Samuel F. (deceased). Mr. Bailey followed his trade a few years after locating in Franklin, and then engaged in general merchandising on the old Bailey corner, opposite the court house, which business he continued up to his death, September 14, 1855. His widow survived him nearly nineteen years, and died July 27, 1874. Mr. Bailey was reared a member of the Church of England, but after his marriage he attended the Methodist Epis- copal church, to which denomination his wife adhered. Politically he was a Democrat, but took no active part in public affairs. He was of a quiet and retiring disposition, courteous and dignified to friend and stranger alike, and greatly respected by the community wherein nearly forty years of his life were passed.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 76

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323