Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 82

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 82

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Digitized by Google

Henry B. Plommer

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by

Google

417

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

up to his full height should give public serv- ice. His attitude toward the bar, his clients, and, more important still, his country at large and the community in which he lived, as exem- plified in his actions, presented high ideals of what a lawyer's life should be.

Developing a deep interest in public affairs, Mr. Plumer became a leader of Democratic thought in Venango county at a very early age, but office holding had little allurement for him. In 1881, without his consent, his name was brought forward as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for State treas- urer, and his friends and supporters generally made a strong campaign for him, although he did not receive the nomination. In the fol- lowing year he was nominated for Congress in the Twenty-sixth district of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Venango, Erie and Warren, and although the district was strongly Republican reduced the normal ma- jority very largely, carrying some sections, notably his own county, by a handsome ma- jority. When Robert E. Pattison was inau- gurated as governor of Pennsylvania, Mr. Plumer was appointed aide-de-camp, with the rank of Colonel. During the first adminis- tration of President Cleveland he was ap- pointed Naval Officer of the Port of Phila- delphia, and at the time he received this ap- pointment removed to Philadelphia, making his home in Germantown. As Naval Officer he proved a faithful and competent official, conducting the business of the office to the entire satisfaction of the Treasury Depart- ment in Washington, as well as to those who transacted business with the Port of Phila- delphia.

Mr. Plumer was a delightful host. He was a most effective conversationalist, having ac- cumulated a rich store of information and kept in close touch with the events of the day and with prominent men of all professions and callings. With unusual professional abil- ity he united a charm of manner, a buoyant optimism and a capacity for enduring friend- ship that will surely keep his memory green in the hearts of all who knew him well. His was one of those personalities whose recollec- tion remains so vivid that it seems fadeless, whose memory lingers undimmed in the hearts of those that loved him. He was a liberal giver to charity, and took a great interest in young men in whom he recognized ambition and ability.

On Nov. 4, 1866, Mr. Plumer married Ma- rilla P. Davenport, daughter of William and Phylanca (Tracy) Davenport, of Erie, Pa. 27

By this marriage Mr. Plumer gained the life companionship of a charming and congenial woman, one fitted in all ways to be his help- mate. She survives him, making her home in Philadelphia. They had the following chil- dren: (1) Henry Adams Plumer, born Dec. II, 1867, was educated in the Berkeley School, New York City, and in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. He married Edith Rankin, daughter of Dr. David Rankin, of Allegheny. (2) Fanny Galbraith Plumer was married in June, 1898, to John Dexter Mc- Ilhenny, and has had four children, John Dex- ter, Jr. (born in April, 1899), Frances Plumer (who died when three years old), Bernice M. and Henry Plumer. (3) Elvira Gilmore Plumer. (4) Margaret Plumer married Carl Augustus Zeigler, of Philadelphia, and has two children, Marilla Davenport and Margaret Plumer. (5) Davenport Plumer, born Oct. 12, 1879, was educated in the Penn Charter School and then studied abroad, was gradu- ated from the law school of Pennsylvania Uni- versity in 1902, and began the practice of his profession with Owen J. Roberts, Esq., sub- sequently engaging independently in law pur -. suits. On Jan. 26, 1905. he married Carolyn Eugenia Heberton, daughter of Rev. Edward Payson and Caroline (Vogdes) Heberton, and they have two children, Davenport, Jr. (born Nov. 18, 1906), and Caroline Heberton (born May 9. 1909).

Henry B. Plumer was removed from the scene of his activities in the prime of life and in the full maturity of all his powers. This gifted and lovable man passed away Dec. 10, 1903, leaving to those who knew him the inspiration of a noble memory. Honorable in purpose, fearless in conduct, he stood for many years as one of the most eminent and valued sons of Pennsylvania, and one of the brightest ornaments of her bar, whose annals- are enriched by the record of his achievements. Actuated both in public and private life by the highest motives and the loftiest principles, he irradiated the ever-widening circle of his influence with a brightness of spirit that ex- pressed the pure gold of his character. The story of the life of Henry Baldwin Plumer is one of honor. As lawyer and citizen he served ably and faithfully his day and generation.

BENJAMIN F. BRUNDRED (deceased), a resident of Oil City for almost half a cen- tury. made his name a synonym for success- ful oil operations in a long-continued associa- tion with the refining and production of oil.

Digitized by Google

418

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

At the time of his death he was classed with the largest individual producers in the country.

The Brundred family moved to this section from New Jersey, where Benjamin Brundred, the grandfather of Benjamin F. Brundred, settled in 1819. The great-grandfather, James Brundred, was a native of Winkhill, near Man- chester, in the parish of Ipstones, Stafford- shire, England. He owned valuable landed property, with mills, houses and other build- ings. He was survived by his wife, Anne ( Ber- esford), also a native of England, by whom he had the following children : Benjamin, William, James and Joseph. The mother remarried, be- coming the wife of a Mr. Yates, and coming to America to visit her sons at Oldham, N. J., died there soon after her arrival.

Benjamin Brundred, son of James and Anne (Beresford) Brundred, was born in 1792 at Winkhill, and coming to America in . 1819 bought a large estate near Paterson, N. J., with a number of slaves whom he soon freed. His place was at Oldham (now Haledon, near Paterson ), where he built iron mills for the manufacture of cotton machinery which are still in use, employing a number of inventors to help perfect his machinery, some of which was exported to Russia. Evidently he was much esteemed by his employes, who in 1836 presented him with a large silver pitcher and two goblets as tokens of their regard. He was a man of ambitious nature and wide vision, and in building up his foreign trade acquired connections in Mexico which necessitated fre- quent visits to that country. During the Mexi- can war he made large contracts with the Mexicans for cotton machinery which was never paid for, with the effect of practically ruining his business. He died at Oldham in 1853, of apoplexy, and was buried in the old Episcopal cemetery there. whence his remains were removed in 1901 to Cedar Lawn cemetery. In 1842 he had made a visit to England with his son William James.

Mr. Brundred married Elizabeth Godden, who was born Oct. 3, 1791, daughter of Wil- liam and Mary (Rogers) Godden, and died April 14, 1877. She. too, was interred in the Episcopal cemetery, the remains being removed to Cedar Lawn in 1901. Of their children, the first four (three of whom were named Wil- liam) died in infancy, in England; Louisa, born in England, married Josiah Shippy, and died in America; Mary Anne, born in 1820, married Dr. Otto Rottan; Jane died in infancy ; Jane (2), born in 1822, married Isaac Van Wagoner ; William James was the father of Benjamin F. Brundred; Charlotte, born in

August, 1826, died Dec. 25, 1842; Eliza died in infancy ; Eliza (2), born in 1834, married Charles Scrivin; Emma married Thomas Shar- rock; Harriet married John A. Vanderveer.

William James Brundred was born in 1825 at Oldham ( now Haledon), N. J., where he was reared, learning his father's business, which he attempted to rehabilitate and continue after his father's death. But it was so in- volved owing to the failure of the Mexican government to pay its obligations that he could not get it on a profitable basis again, and he turned to other lines, going to Greenport, L. I., and Woods Holl, Mass., where he be- came interested in the manufacture of fish oils. Accordingly he was attracted to Pennsylvania with the discovery of oil in this region, where he sank what capital he still possessed in eighteen dry holes which failed to yield the . expected returns. He became agent for the Green Line, and later for the Empire Trans- portation Company, in connection with the Pennsylvania railroad, holding that position until his death, which occurred Aug. 12, 1889, of apoplexy, when he was sixty-four years old. He made his home in Oil City, where he was a vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church for a number of years, and he and his wife were among the most highly esteemed residents of the town, exerting a beneficial influence in all their associations.

On Sept. 21. 1848, William J. Brundred mar- ried Rachel Magee, who was born June 26. 1826, daughter of Dr. William C. Magee, and died Feb. 27, 1901. Six children were born to this union: (1) Benjamin F. is mentioned be- low. (2) William Magee, born in 1851, died in 1856. (3) Mary Elizabeth, born in 1853, died in 1855. (4) Charlotte Louise was mar- ried Oct. 8, 1873, to Stanley Loomis, and died in 1887, the mother of five children : Wil- liam, born Oct. 13, 1874, who married Josephine Drake Goettel and has one son Wil- liam Goettel, born March 9, 1905; Charlotte Louise, born in 1877, who married Frank Ed- ward Spencer and has two children, Stanley 1 .. (born in 1899) and Frank E. (bor. in 1902) : Stanley, born in 1879, who died in infancy : Lucile, born in 1881, who married Dr. Raffaele Bastianelli: and DeWitt, born in 1882, who married Mildred Goettel and has one son, DeWitt, Jr. (5) Lizzie, born in 1857, died in 1869. (6) Kate, born in 1860, died the same year.

Dr. William C. Magee, Mrs. Brundred's father. was born April 28, 1792. son of Dr. John Magee, who lived near Belfast, Ireland, and who had a brother that fought on the

Digitized by Google

419

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

American side in the Revolutionary war. John Magee married Jean Campbell, whose mother was Jean Chambers, and according to family tradition the latter's brothers, William and Robert Chambers, lived to be one hundred and four and one hundred and five years old, respectively ; they fought in the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690, and their swords are still treasured in the family. Dr. Magee practiced in Belfast, where he lived and died. His son William C. Magee was named after his uncle, Sir William Chambers, was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was one of the most prominent physicians of his day in New Jersey. On July 17, 1816, he married Mary Anne Breadin, daughter of Tully Breadin, professor of astronomy in Trinity College, Dublin. Her mother dying when she was an infant, Mrs. Magee went to live with her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Anne ( Dobbin ) Wade, who died shortly afterward, when she was taken into the family of her guardian, Mr. Eccles, in Roan, Ireland, re- maining there until her marriage.

Benjamin F. Brundred was born June 28, 1849, at Paterson, N. J., and was educated in the East, attending public school in Brooklyn, the Highland Military Academy at Worcester, Mass., from which he was graduated in 1865, and Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College in New York City, coming to Oil City with his parents in July, 1866. Here he immediately took a position as clerk for the Empire Trans- portation Company and Green Line under his father, becoming chief clerk of the Empire Line in 1868, with charge of all the shipments of crude and refined oil made by that line from points on the railroad between Tidioute and Titusville. His duties included a vast amount of detail work because of the large number of refineries and loading racks located between those points, from which the shipments were made, but he handled them capably, and in 1870 received the appointment of chief clerk of the Green Line also, at that time the crude oil line of the Pennsylvania railroad, with loading racks at Parkers Landing, Foxburg, and many other points on the Allegheny Valley road. He continued to fill both positions until 1877, when he resigned to devote himself to the production of oil, having acquired valuable interests in Clarion and Mckean counties, in the famous Edenburg district and Bradford fields. His first venture as a producer was made in partnership with his mother, and he took much satisfaction in its success, which enabled him to make a partial return to his parents to offset the large investments they had lost. In the fall of 1879, in association

with Marcus Hulings and Dr. Harding, he built the Emerald Oil Works, a small refinery at the mouth of the Cornplanter river, which, later, remodeled and greatly enlarged, was well known as the Union Refinery, with its large barrel and paraffin works, all of which passed into the hands of the Standard Oil Company in October, 1882. Meantime it had been owned and successfully operated by Mar- cus Hulings, Gen. John A. Wiley, Wesley Chambers and Mr. Brundred, who was man- ager. When the transfer was made he went on with the Standard Oil Company in the same capacity, and when these works were aban- doned, in the early eighties, he was appointed treasurer of the Eclipse Lubricating Oil Works, at Franklin. He then became president and general manager of the Imperial Refining Companies, having two refineries and barrel works at Oil City, holding that position until 1894. when on account of the transfer of the refining business to the seaboard the works were dismantled. From that time on he occu- pied himself with oil production, in which he was notably prosperous.

Mr. Brundred's tireless energy and progres- sive tendencies were as valuable to his home city as to the advancement of his own interests. He could conceive large undertakings and had the courage to develop his ideas and put them into practical application. He was one of the first to see how much Oil City might be bene- fited by an electric railway system and light and power plant, and was one of the earliest pro- moters of such enterprises locally, becoming a stockholder and director of the Oil City Rail- way Company (later merged with the Citi- zens' Traction Company and Light & Power Company ) and one of the original directors of the Oil City Electric Light Company, being its first secretary and serving a term as president. For fourteen years he was president of the Oil City board of health, in which association he gave public-spirited service which conferred permanent benefits upon the city. He was a prominent member of Christ Church, and for thirty-four years vestryman and secretary of the vestry, at the end of that period becoming senior warden. His death occurred March 28, 1914.

On April 3, 1878, Mr. Brundred was mar- ried, in Pittsburgh, to Elizabeth Dilworth Loomis, daughter of Moses DeWitt and Eliza- beth Scott (Dilworth) Loomis, and she sur- vives him, occupying the old residence on West First street which Mr. Brundred built thirty- five years ago. Though a club member and en- joying many agreeable social connections Mr. Brundred found his chief enjoyment in the

Digitized by Google

420

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

domestic circle. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brundred: (1) Elizabeth Dil- worth, born May 17, 1879, married Harold Douglas Brown and has two children, Eliza- beth Dilworth (born Oct. 11, 1905) and Harold Douglas (born April 14, 1908). Mr. Brown is now president of the Crystal Spring Poultry Co., whose farm was started by Mr. Brundred, after his retirement from the Standard, owing to ill health, the property, which is a few miles out from Oil City, having been developed as a duck farm with the same energy which he put into all his undertakings. It is the largest farm of its kind in Pennsylvania, and from the beginning has been conducted on a strictly business basis, as many as eighty-four thousand ducks having been raised for the mar- ket in one season. (2) Rachel, born Aug. 6, 1881, married John McCalmont Wilson, of the National Supply Company, Pittsburgh. (3) William James, born Dec. 24, 1883, attended Dr. Earp's private school in Oil City until fourteen years old, was later a student in St. Paul's School at Concord, N. H., entered Yale in 1901 and was graduated B. S. in 1904. He has since been operating in oil with consider- able success, making his first ventures in the Pennsylvania fields and later entering the busi- ness in Oklahoma, his principal interests hav- ing been in the Mid-Continent except for a short experience in Canada. He is a member of Brundred Brothers, a trustee of the B. F. Brundred Estate, vice president of the Crystal Spring Poultry Company, and a director of the Clarendon Refining Company. (4) Ruth, born Oct. 14, 1887, is the wife of James Lynn Mitchell, vice president of the Capital Na- tional Bank of St. Paul, Minn. She has three children : Ruth, born Sept. 17, 1909, Benjamin Brundred, born March 25, 1912, and Mary Lida, born June 30, 1916. (5) Lois, born Dec. 24, 1889, is now in France as a volunteer Red Cross canteen worker. (6) Benjamin Ford, born Nov. 7, 1891, was also educated in Dr. Earp's school, at St. Paul's, Concord, N. H., graduating in 1909, and at Yale, from which he was graduated B. A. in 1913. The same year he commenced oil operations with his brother William as Brundred Brothers, oper- ating in the Pennsylvania and Oklahoma fields : is a trustee of the B. F. Brundred Estate : and secretary-treasurer of the Crystal Spring Poul- trv Company. After a month's training at Plattsburg he entered an Officers' Reserve Training Corps when war was declared. was given a captain's commission in the United States field artillery service, and is now sta- tioned at Des Moines, Iowa. (7) Latham

Loomis, born Oct. 2, 1893, is a captain and adjutant in the regular army, having graduated at West Point in 1916, since when he has seen service on the Mexican border and is now sta- tioned at San Diego, California. On Dec. 18, 1917, he married Jean Elenor Miller, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Leverett Miller, of San Diego, California.

Mrs. Brundred is a descendant of Joseph Loomis, who was probably born before 1590 and was a son of John and Agnes Loomis. On June 30, 1614, he married, in Messing, Essex, England, Mary White, daughter of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White; came to America in 1638; and after a short stay in Dorchester removed to Windsor.

Lieut. Samuel Loomis, son of Joseph, born about 1628 in the county of Essex, England, died Oct. 1. 1689. He was a freeman in 1654, and admitted to the church Nov. 26, 1661 ; removed to Westfield, Mass., between 1672 and 1675 : sold his house in Windsor in 1679. He was a lieutenant. On Dec. 27. 1653, he mar- ried Elizabeth Judd, daughter of Thomas, and she was living in Westfield in 1716.

William Loomis, son of Lieut. Samuel, was born March 13. 1672, and died in 1738 at West- field. Mass. On Jan. 13, 1703. he married Martha Morley, who was born Sept. 7, 1682, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Wright) Morley. and died Feb. 22, 1753. They had ten children, all born at Westfield, Mass., as follows: Martha, born Feb. 24. 1704. died April 30. 1804. married July 16, 1729. Jonathan Phelps. ( second ) Feb. 15, 1758, Jonathan But- tles or Buttolph, and (third ) Zebulon Hoskins. Joshua, born Aug. 24, 1706, died 1779, married May 22. 1735. Abigail Langdon. Benjamin. born Aug. 30. 1708. died 1787. married in March. 1734. Elizabeth Mosley. and (second) in 1776 Rachel Phelps. Ann, born Aug. 27, 1710. married Dec. 13. 1733, John Root. Wil- liam, born Sept. 15, 1712, married in October. 1739. Experience Smith. James, born Nov. 15. 1714. died Sept. 7. 1778, was married in September, 1739, to Eunice Strickland. Thankful, born Nov. 19, 1716, married Sept. 21. 1747. Ebenezer Winchell. Jonathan. born Jan. 23. 1719. died in 1798, married May II, 1747. Hannah Selden. Hezekiah was born March 14, 1721. Noah was born May 12. 1724.

Capt. Noah Loomis, born in Westfield. Mass .. May 12, 1724, died Aug. 9. 1808, in Southwick, Mass. He commanded a company of minute-men at the Lexington Alarm, and afterward enlisted in Capt. Lebbeus Ball's company. Col. Timothy Danielson's regiment.

Digitized by Google

421

VENANGO COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

He was second on the list of early settlers of Southwick, Mass., and was many times select- man. On Nov. 5, 1747, he married Rhoda Clark, daughter of William and Abigail (Bush) Clark, and she died Nov. 30, 1806, aged eighty-one years. Their children were: Rhoda, born Jan. 13, 1749, married May 25, 1769, Lieut. Benjamin Dewey, and died March 13, 1821. Mercy, born March 12, 1750, mar- ried in September, 1771, Zur Root. Tirzah, born Feb. 20, 1752, married in August, 1772,' Martin Stiles. Noah, born April 11, 1754, died July 3, 1819, married in November, 1775, Mary Dewey, and (second) Aug. 7, 1814, Eunice Noble. Shem, born Sept. 13, 1756, married Rebeca Phelps in 1777, and died Aug. 15, 1841. Ham was born Nov. 28, 1758. Japhet, born July 14, 1761, died July 31, 1777. Grace, born Nov. 5, 1763, married Martin Holcomb.

Ham Loomis, son of Capt. Noah, was born at Westfield, Mass., Nov. 28, 1758, and died in Southwick Aug. 3, 1827. He was selectman for Westfield in 1803. In 1782 he married Elizabeth McCollach, who died March 21, 1829, the mother of twelve children, namely: Ham, born Dec. 5, 1782, married in 1804 Anne Bur- ritt, and died March 23, 1825. James, born Sept. 25, 1784, died June 24, 1845; married Oct. 10, 1814, Sarah Pelton. Rowland, born Sept. 4. 1786, died Feb. 27, 1829; in 1808 he married Mary Johnson. Elizabeth, born July 23, 1788. died March 4, 1853, married in April, 1808, William Brown. Riley, born Oct. 18, 1790, married Nov. 15, 1815, Rosanna Atwater, and died June 3, 1866. Parkes, born Oct. 4, 1792, married Dec. 15, 1814, Emily Hathaway, and died Aug. 30, 1869. Allen, born April 6, 1795, died Oct. 25, 1864, married Dec. 9, 1819, Eliza Hathaway, and (second) Oct. 4, 1840, Mrs. Hulda (Root) Stiles. Fanny, born Feb. 4, 1797, died Feb. 27, 1844; she married Dec. 3, 1816, Winthrop Laflin. Kneeland, born April 1, 1799, died April 27, 1860; married May 21, 1823, Clarissa Hathaway. Moses is mentioned below. Aaron, born Dec. 30, 1802, died June 19, 1863; married Dec. 6, 1821, Sarah Maria Root. John Welles, born May 23, 1805, died Nov. 28, 1879; on Aug. 19, 1828, he married Eliza Whitney, and (second) Sept. 6, 1871, Mrs. Lucy A. (Strong) Loomis, widow of his brother Moses.

Moses Loomis, son of Ham Loomis, was born at Southwick, Mass., March 10, 1801, and died there Nov. 8, 1862. About 1821 he married Harriet Pelton, who was born Aug. 24. 1804. daughter of Stephen and Alice ( Whitney ) Pelton, and died Oct. 20, 1822. On April 26, 1824, he married (second) Dency

(Prudence) Smith, who died Jan. 7, 1843. His third marriage, March 25, 1855, was to Lucy A. Strong, who was born May 24, 1819, daughter of Ralph and Rhoda Strong, and sur- vived him, marrying (second) his brother John W. Loomis and dying May 12, 1898. Moses Loomis was the father of seven chil- dren: Moses DeWitt, father of Mrs. Brun- dred; Charles Smith, born July 17, 1826; Har- riet Elizabeth, born Nov. 12, 1827, who mar- ried Oct. 15, 1854, Sidney Birge, and died May II, 1877; Solomon, born April 22, 1829, who married Nancy Hobson, and died in 1855; Sarah Jane, born Nov. 30, 1830, who married April 25, 1861, Gen. James Grafton Carlton Lee, and died Dec. 13, 1900; Moses B., born July 7, 1838, who married June 23, 1868, Frances Mungford; and Albert Augustus, born Nov. 29, 1840, who married Aug. 3, 1866, Annie E. Berry.

Capt. Moses DeWitt Loomis, born Oct. 11, 1822, in Southwick, Mass., was a captain of volunteers in the Civil war from 1861 to 1862, and at the time of his death, which occurred Oct. 24, 1863, at Fairfax Court House, Va., was a quartermaster in the United States army. Originally a Whig in politics, he later became a Republican, and his religious connection was with the Presbyterian Church. On March 17, 1847, he was married, at Mount Washington, Pa., to Elizabeth Scott Dilworth, who was born at that place, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Scott) Dilworth, and died Feb. 23, 1880. The seven children of this union were born in Cincinnati, Ohio, as follows: Hazard, Jan. 5, 1848 (died May 21, 1849) ; Stanley, March 4, 1849 (married Charlotte Louise Brundred and-second-Oct. 12, 1893, Mary Jane Moore ) ; Moses DeWitt, Jr., Oct. 10, 1850 (married May 22, 1889, Anne W. Wal- lace-his name was changed by the Probate court of Wayne county, Mich., to DeWitt Loomis) ; Harry, July 21, 1852 (married Sept. 2, 1880, Henrietta Virginia Vandergrift, and died Nov. 1, 1883) ; Hazard (2), Nov. 21, 1854 (died March 9, 1858) ; Elizabeth Dil- worth, Nov. 13, 1858 (widow of Benjamin F. Brundred) ; Milton Latham, Oct. 1, 1860 (died April 25, 1878).

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 82

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: