By Muriel Bristol | July 10, 2022
Beard Plummer was born in Rochester, NH, August 12, 1754, son of John and Elizabeth (Titcomb) Plummer.
Beard Plummer, son of John and Elizabeth Titcomb Plummer, was born in Rochester, N.H., to which place his father had moved from Newbury [MA] (Scales, 1914).
(His surname was usually rendered as “Plumer” in these early years, and “Plummer” only later. His unusual Christian name, and those of the many namesakes that would follow him, is rendered in the records as “Beard” and, later, “Bard.” It originated as “Beard,” which was the surname of his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Beard, wife of Richard Plumer, as well as her relatives, i.e., his Beard uncles, aunts, and cousins).
(His known siblings were Elizabeth Plummer (1750–1841), Joseph Plumer (1752–1821), and John Plumer (1761–1824)).
Mother Elizabeth (Titcomb) Plummer died in Rochester, NH, January 28, 1770, aged forty-one years.
Father John Plumer married (2nd), circa 1770, Lydia ((Waterhouse) Colby) Dennett, he of Rochester, NH, and she of Portsmouth, NH. She was born in Portsmouth, NH, circa 1727-28, daughter of Timothy and Ruth (Moses) Waterhouse. She had married (1st) in Portsmouth, NH, August 23, 1747, Spencer Colby (1725-1751); (2nd) in Kittery, ME, February 24, 1751, Ephraim Dennett (1718-1770); and (3rd) John Plumer (1719-1815). She had a son, Jeremiah Dennett (1752-1818), who became a stepbrother to Beard Plumer and his siblings.
One of the ship masters employed by Sir Wm. Pepperell was Capt. [Spencer] Colby, who married Lydia Waterhouse. More than ninety years ago she became a widow, and afterwards was married to Ephraim Dennett, and resided at the above old mansion on Christian-shore [in Portsmouth, NH].
Years rolled on, and she again found herself a widow. Like a good housewife, in those days when no factories were in operation, she kept her flock of sheep, and attended to the various processes of converting their product into cloth; and her fame extended beyond the limits of the town. Near the house is a good spring which still flows on as of old. It was a time for wool washing. Laying aside the widow’s weeds, dressed in a leather apron, a man’s broad-brim hat, and other apparel to match she was washing her wool at the spring, when a stranger on horseback approached, and inquired for the residence of the widow Dennett. Nothing daunted, she pointed to the house, directed him to the front door, while she stepped round and entered the back way. He was not long in waiting before the lady of the house in comely apparel appeared.
The gentleman introduced himself as John Plummer of Rochester. He had heard of her good reputation, said perhaps it was too soon to come a courting, but would ask the privilege in proper time of proposing himself to her favorable consideration. In due time Judge Plummer came again, and they were married. They lived happily together many years, and their grave stones in Rochester record the ages of each at about ninety years.
Whether he ever inquired who it was he found washing wool at the spring, we have never been informed. If the events at the well where Rebecca was found were sufficient importance to be perpetuated, there is certainly enough of the primitive simplicity in the meeting at that spring to keep it in lasting remembrance by the descendants of that respectable family. To us, whenever we pass the premises – or are reminded of its history by seeing the elevated old mansion even across the millpond – there ever appears the vision of the Judge on his horse, and the industrious widow disguised under her broad-brim and leathern apron (Brewster, 1878).
Sister Elizabeth Plumer married December 25, 1770, Aaron Wingate, she of Rochester, NH. He was born in Dover, NH, November 23, 1744, [twin] son of John and Sarah (Ricker) Wingate.
The Hon. Aaron Wingate settled in Farmington when it was almost a wilderness. He was a gentleman of distinguished ability, a sober, grave, judicious, man; for many years a member of the legislature; a counselor from 1797 to 1803; and for a succession of years, chief justice of the common pleas in Strafford county (Mitchell-Cony, 1908).
Beard and Joseph Plumer, sons of John Plumer of Rochester, also settled at the [Plummer’s] Ridge, and may have been residents here even prior to the [c1771-72] arrival of Mr. [Benjamin] Scates (Mitchell-Cony, 1908).
He [Beard Plumer] himself moved from Rochester to the town of Milton and located on what has since been the Plummer homestead. The old house, still standing, was remodeled in 1848, the clapboards and the nails all being hand-made. At the time Beard Plummer arrived there were but few families in the town, the accommodations were primitive and their hardships many.
New Hampshire’s last Royal Governor, John Wentworth (1737-1820), appointed father John Plumer as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1773. They were said to have been friends. (Gov. Wentworth fled the province in 1775).
Hon. John Plumer was the first magistrate in the town [of Rochester, NH]. Governor Wentworth appointed him Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Strafford county in 1773; the Provincial Congress reappointed him in 1776, and he held the office until 1795, when he resigned; during the later years of his service he was Chief Justice (Scales, 1914).
Beard Plummer was among the one hundred ninety-eight men who signed the revolutionary Association Test in Rochester, NH, June 1, 1776. (Brother Joseph and their father, Barnabas Plummer, signed also, as did Samuel Plummer, and Thomas Plummer).
WE, the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage, and promise, that we will, to the utmost of our Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with ARMS, oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets, and Armies, against the United American COLONIES (Batchellor, 1910).
Twenty-two Rochester men “refused” to sign. Another twenty-two Rochester Friends, i.e., “Quakers,” did not “choose” to sign, i.e., they were conscientious objectors.
Beard Plummer received £12 19s 7d for his service in Capt. John Hill’s company, in Col. Joshua Wingate’s Regiment, when it served with the Continental army in Rhode Island, in August 1778. Col. Wingate’s regiment was a part of Gen. John Sullivan’s Rhode Island expedition.
In the Summer of 1778, the French fleet, France having become our ally, was to attack, in concert with Gen. Sullivan, the British forces at Newport, R.I. A call upon the militia of New England to take part in the “Rhode Island Expedition” brought to the standard of Sullivan an army of 10,000 men. Col. Wingate led a regiment, partly of Madbury men, to the expedition, they going as Volunteers. A storm dispersed the fleets, both of British and of French, and Gen. Sullivan, thus left alone and finding it unsafe to remain longer, retreated, was pursued and attacked, but, gallantly resisting, repulsed the British. Then with face to the foe he beat a safe and discreet retreat (Wingate, 1886).
Captain Hills’ account included also a charge for thirty horses at £10 apiece. (There were thirty soldiers in his muster list). The soldiers were paid an additional two days’ wages to allow for their travel home after being discharged in Rhode Island.
Brother Joseph Plumer married in Rochester, NH, November 30, 1778, Hannah Bickford, both of Rochester, NH. She was born in 1756.
(Their known children were Betsy Plumer (1779–1815), who married Levi Jones, Sally Plumer (1782–1782), John Plumer (1785–1796), and Hannah Plumer (1788–1800)).
Beard Plummer married in Rochester, NH, September 7, 1780, Susanna Ham. She was born in Rochester, NH, October 9, 1762, daughter of Captain Jonathan and Elizabeth (Ham) Ham.
This hardy pioneer married Susannah Ham and their children were Jonathan, Enoch, Joseph, Betsy, John, Susan, and Bard (Scales, 1914).
(Their known children would be Jonathan Plumer (1782–), Enoch Plumer (1784–1824), Joseph Plumer (1786–1826), Betsy Plumer (1788–1885), John Plumer (1791–1817), Susan Plumer (1795-1829), and Beard Plumer (1797-1817).
Son Jonathan Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, May 6, 1782. Son Enoch Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, May 31, 1784. Son Joseph Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, August 13, 1786. Daughter Betsy Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, September 26, 1788.
Beard Plummer headed a Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH, household at the time of the First (1790) Federal Census. His household included two males aged 16-plus years, four females, and four males aged under-16 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Timothy Gerrish and Joseph Plummer. (See also Northeast Parish in the First (1790) Federal Census).
Father John Plummer headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the First (1790) Federal Census. His household included four males aged 16-plus years, four females, and one male aged under-16 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Isaac Brown and Benja Odiorne. (See also Northeast Parish in the First (1790) Federal Census).
Stepbrother Jeremiah Dennett of Portsmouth, NH, had a good harvest that year.
PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 4. On a piece of land owned by Jeremiah Dennett, Esq., of this town, which is rather short of eight rods, was raised this season, apples to make nine barrels and half of cyder, eight bushels peas, four bushels potatoes, three bushels and an half quinces, two bushels of beans and four hundred of good hay (Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT), December 28, 1790).
Beard Plumer was one of one hundred eighty-three inhabitants of Dover, Rochester, Somersworth, Barrington, and other places that petitioned the NH legislature, in January 1791, seeking a replacement Cocheco River bridge near the lower falls at Dover, NH. It would connect again the public road running from Portsmouth to Rochester and the “Upper Towns.” Prior bridges had been swept away by freshets in 1772 and 1785. Since the most recent bridge loss in the “memorable” freshet of October 1785, which took out many bridges, those seeking to cross the river at Dover had been obliged to travel much greater distance – and that involving a large hill – to the lower bridge near the landing.
… But in addition to these inconveniencies it Very frequently happens from the great Quantity of Lumber hauled to the landing that the lower road is in fact so Crowded with Teams that it is Difficult for horses & almost impracticable for Carriages to pass that way.
The petitioners suggested a lottery to finance the new bridge. They estimated its cost at about £300. Benjamin Scates, Ezekiel Hayes, and John Plumer signed also. (See also Salmon Falls Sawmill Petition – 1797 and Milton Road Weight Petition – 1816).
Son John Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, April 25, 1791.
Beard Plumer was a subscriber of the Rochester Social Library in 1792, as were Levi Jones, Jotham Nute, Barnabas Palmer, Lt. William Palmer, and Joseph Walker (McDuffee, 1892).
Father-in-law Captain Jonathan Ham died in Rochester, NH, in 1793.
David Corson, husbandman, of Rochester, for 40 pounds money, provisionally conveyed to Beard Plumer, husbandman, of Rochester, land in Rochester drawn to original right of Tobias Hanson, Lot # 66, 3rd Division, containing 140 acres, with the provision that if the above amount is paid with interest by September 24, next, this deed becomes void. The deed was witnessed by Joseph Clark and Anna Clark; deed dated on June 4, 1793, and recorded on June 25, 1793. The loan was paid off on January 3, 1794. (Strafford [County Deeds], 16:195/197, 1793) (Colson, 1991).
Daughter Susan Plumer was born in Rochester, NH, March 21, 1795.
In a later [1844] court case, ownership of the Fernald lot in Milton would be in question. A recitation of its neighboring Denbow lot owners in 1795 included Beard Plumer and his brother, Joseph Plumer.
In relation to the “Fernald lot,” it appeared that in 1795 Samuel Palmer, Beard Plumer and Joseph Plumer, senior, owned and occupied the Denbow lot, as tenants in common; Palmer owning one half and the Plumers each one quarter (NH Supreme Court, 1851).
Beard Plumer was a Rochester, NH, selectman in the years 1797-99.
Beard Plumer was one of twenty-four petitioners from Wakefield, Rochester & Dover, as well as Massachusetts, that signed the Salmon Falls sawmill petition of June 1797. (See Salmon Falls Sawmill Petition – 1797).
Son Beard Plumer, Jr., was born in Rochester, NH, August 8, 1797.
Beard Plumer and two other Rochester selectmen, Richard Dame and Joshua Allen, petitioned for incorporation of Rochester’s First [(Congregational)] Parish, June 3, 1799. (See also Milton Congregational Society Petition – 1814).
Humbly shew ~ The subscribers, Selectmen of the town of Rochester for the year 1799, that the Congregational Society in the town of Rochester, commonly called the first parish in said town, has always hitherto been and continued unincorporated; that many inconveniences result to them from their continuing in that situation ~
Wherefore they pray that an act for the purpose of incorporating said parish, by the name of the First parish in Rochester, may be passed under such regulations as you in your wisdom may think reasonable and just and as in duty bound will ever pray ~
Rochester, June 3, 1799.
Richd Dame, Beard Plumer, Joshua Allen { In behalf of said town and Selectmen of the same
Beard Plummer headed a Northeast Parish, Rochester, NH household at the time of the Second (1800) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], one female aged 26-44 years [Susanna (Ham) Plummer], two males aged 16-25 years, two females aged 16-25 years, one male aged 10-15 years, one female aged 10-15 years, two males aged under-10 years, and one female aged under-10 years. (See also Northeast Parish in the Second (1800) Federal Census).
Father John Plumer headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Second (1800) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years, one female aged 45-plus years, one male aged 26-44 years, one female aged 26-44 years, one male aged 16-25 years, one female aged 16-25 years, two males aged 10-15 years, and one female aged 10-15 years.
Beard Plumer was the moderator at Milton’s first Town Meeting, August 30, 1802.
The first town meeting in Milton was called by William Palmer, Esq., and held at the dwelling-house of Lieut. Elijah Horn (now the dwelling house of Lewis B. Twombly) on the 30th day of August 1802, at which meeting Beard Plumer was chosen moderator; Gilman Jewett, town clerk; and William Palmer, John Fish, John Remick, Jr., selectmen (Hurd, 1882).
This meeting convened at the tavern of Lieut. Elijah Horne, August 30, 1802, only a short time after the charter, which gave Milton its independent existence, had been signed by Governor Gilman. This instrument had been granted at the June session of the legislature of New Hampshire at the petition and largely through the efforts of Capt. Beard Plumer, one of the representatives from Rochester, who, with others, felt that the time had come for Milton to sever the ties which bound her to the mother town (Mitchell-Cony, 1908).
Susanna (Ham) Plummer died in Milton, February 20, 1803.
Beard Plumer was Milton’s first NH State Representative in 1803. He was succeeded by John Fish for the year 1804.
Beard Plummer married (2nd) in Dunbarton, NH, circa March 1804, Achsah Page, he of Milton and she of Dunbarton, NH. She was born in Dunbarton, NH, September 25, 1759, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah (Merrill) Page.
MARRIED. At Dunbarton, Beard Plumer, Esq., of Milton, to Miss Achsah Page, daughter of the Hon. Jeremiah Page, of Dunbarton (NH Courier (Concord, NH), April 4, 1804).
Beard Plumer was a member of the Milton meetinghouse committee in 1804. (See also Milton Congregational Society Petition – 1814).
The first meetinghouse in Milton was erected on the Ridge in accordance with a vote passed at the annual meeting in 1802. John Fish, Beard Plumer and Gilman Jewett, were the executive committee. The lot on which the building was erected was purchased of Thomas and Aaron Downes for $26. The meetinghouse was completed at a cost of about $2,400, by Caleb Wingate, Capt. Daniel Hayes and Gilman Jewett. The net cost of the church, however, was not so large, as the pews were sold for nearly $2,000. The first service was held in 1804 and from that time until after 1830, the meetinghouse was constantly in use. The first preachers to occupy the pulpit were Rev. Gideon Burt and Rev. Christopher Page both of whom were here in 1804 (Mitchell-Cony, 1908).
Beard Plumer was Milton’s NH State Representative in 1805-08. (John Fish had replaced him in that position in 1804 and would succeed him again in 1809-10).
Beard Plumer was one of forty-seven men that petitioned the NH legislature, June 17, 1807, for incorporation “for the purpose of Uniting the waters of the Winnipissiokie Pond [Lake Winnipesaukee] with that branch of the Piscataqua, called Dover River, by means of Locks, Canals and Slips.” This never happened, but these men certainly dreamt big.
Daughter Betsy Plumer married in Wakefield, NH, September 9, 1807, Joshua G. Hall, she of Milton and he of Wakefield, NH. Rev. Asa Piper performed the ceremony. Hall was born in Wakefield, NH, July 19, 1779, son of Samuel and Bridget (Gilman) Hall.
NH Governor John Langdon gave an address which, among other things, spoke in favor of the Federal Embargo Act of 1807. The NH House prepared a resolution urging the Governor to instead oppose the shipping embargo. The House Speaker ruled it out of order, December 2, 1808, and a vote was taken on his ruling. Rep. Beard Plumer voted with those that agreed with the Speaker, and their vote prevailed, by 89 to 71 votes. Rep. Plumer than voted with those that favored the resolution, which passed 96-68. US President Thomas Jefferson, who was the source of the embargo, and NH Governor Langdon were both Democratic-Republicans, i.e., Democrats (although then called Republicans), as was Rep. Plumer. Rep. Plumer would run for the NH Senate in the next biennium.
Beard Plummer of Milton received an appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, December 12, 1808.
Capt. Bard Plumer of Milton appeared in a list of those who had letters awaiting them at the post office in Burlington, VT, in January 1809. As he lived in Milton, NH, rather than Milton, VT, it was not likely he would have picked it up there, nor to have been even aware of its presence there. (“List of Letters Remaining in the Post Office at Burlington, Vermont, which will be sent to the General Post Office at Washington City, unless called for on or before the first day of April next”) (Sentinel & Democrat (Burlington, VT), January 20, 1809).
Beard Plummer of Milton was a NH State Senator (for the district that included Milton (District 5)) from June 1809 through June 1813. He had been preceded by Richard Dame of Rochester, NH, and would be succeeded by Jonas C. March (1764-1820) of Rochester, NH
.… Mr. Plummer was the first senator chosen to represent the town of Milton (Scales, 1914).
At his time, both parties presented themselves as being Republicans. They were styled the Federalist Republicans, i.e., Federalists, and the Democratic Republicans, i.e., Republicans, although their successors, in terminology at least, would be called Democrats. Sen. Plumer, Esq., was a Democratic Republican.
Beard Plumer was one of twenty-three Strafford County residents that petitioned the NH Governor and Council, January 31, 1810, seeking appointment of Amos Cogswell, Esq., as Strafford County sheriff. Col. Amos Cogswell (1752-1826), Esq., of Dover, NH, was a Massachusetts native. He had been a Revolutionary officer, beginning as a 2nd lieutenant and rising to the rank of brevet major by the end of the war. (His rank of colonel was his post-war militia rank).
Cogswell represented Dover in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1807 to 1810, in 1812, 1814, and 1815, and perhaps in other years; was in the State Senate, 1818, 1819, and 1820 and was one of the Presidential electors in 1816 (Wentworth, 1878).
Cogswell was a Democratic-Republican, who were then termed Republicans, but who would now be called Democrats. Theodore C. Lyman, Levi Jones, and William Jones signed also.
Beard Plummer headed a Milton household at the time of the Second (1810) Federal Census. His household included one male aged 45-plus years [himself], one female aged 45-plus years, one male aged 26-44 years, two males aged 16-25 years, two females aged 16-25 years, one male aged 10-15 years, and one female aged 10-15 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Joseph Plummer and Peter Gerrish.
Father John Plummer, Esqr, headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Third (1810) Federal Census. His household included two males aged 45-plus years, one female aged 45-plus years, one male aged 16-25 years, one female aged 16-25 years, one male aged 10-15 years, and one female aged 10-15 years. His household appeared in the enumeration between those of Benjan Hayes and Jonathan Heard.
Son Joseph Plumer, Jr., married in Hampton Falls, NH, October 8, 1810, Sally Brown, he of Milton and she of Hampton Falls, NH. Rev. Jacob Abbott performed the ceremony. She was born 1785, daughter of Nathan and Miriam (Smith) Brown.
Joseph Plummer, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, married Sally Brown and the names of their children were Jonathan, Caroline, Enoch W., Bard, Joseph, and Sarah. All were reared on the home farm (Scales, 1914).
Sister-in-law Mrs. Hannah (Bickford) Plumer died in Milton, in February 1811.
Beard Plumer was a Milton selectman in 1811, with William Palmer and John Remick, Jr.
Stepmother Lydia ((Waterhouse) (Colby) Dennett) Plumer died in Rochester, NH, August 4, 1812, aged eighty-four years.
Beard Plummer of Milton received a renewal of his appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, November 5, 1813. (He would live to complete only three years of this final five-year term).
Beard Plumer signed the Milton Congregational Society petition of June 1814. His brother Joseph Plumer signed also. (See Milton Congregational Society Petition – 1814).
Father John Plummer died in Rochester, NH, in 1815, aged ninety-six years.
DIED. In Rochester, N.H., Hon. John Plummer, aged 96 years (Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA), November 29, 1815).
Beard Plummer of Milton was elected again as a NH State Senator (for the district that included Milton (District 5)) from June 1816 until his death. He died before he could complete this final term. He had been preceded by Jonas C. March (1764-1820) of Rochester, NH, and would be succeeded by Col. Amos Cogswell (1752-1826), Esq., of Dover, NH.
Due to a volcanic eruption in Asia in the prior year, the year 1816 would be known in New England (and the world) as the infamous “Year Without a Summer.”
The whole face of nature appeared shrouded in gloom. The lamps of heaven kept their orbits, but their light was cheerless. The bosom of the earth on a mid-summer day was covered with a wintry mantle; and man, and beast, and bird, sickened at the prospect. On the 6th of June the snow fell several inches deep, followed by a cold, frosty night, and on the two following days, snow fell and frost continued. On the 11th of July a deep and deadly frost came which killed most vegetables; corn which had the appearance of maturity was destitute of its natural taste or substance; rye was good and supplied the article of bread for the inhabitants (Wadleigh, 1913).
Beard Plumer, Esq., of Milton made his last will in Milton, October 5, 1816. He devised a life estate in a chamber and another room in his new house, along with support, to Achsah Plumer. He devised $100 to his son, Enoch Plummer; $1 to granddaughter Mary Plummer (daughter of deceased son Jonathan Plummer), and an additional $99 when she became eighteen years of age; $500 to daughter Betsy Hall (wife of Joshua G. Hall); $500 to daughter Susanna Plummer, along with $300 worth of neat stock and furniture, and two feather beds and bedding; land in Milton, and a half a pew on the “town floor” of the Milton Meeting-House, to son Joseph Plumer; $600 to son Beard Plumer when he became twenty-one years of age; and a one eighth and one-half share of a one-eighth share of Lot #120 in the Fourth Division (purchased of Joseph Plumer, Jr.), and the use of his “wall pew” in the Milton Meeting-House. He named his two sons, Joseph Plumer and John Plumer, as executors. Joseph Plumer, Ann Nutter, and Levi Jones signed as witnesses (Strafford County Probate, 17:525).
Beard Plummer died in Milton, October 7, 1816, aged sixty-two years.
OBITUARY. In Milton, New Hampshire, Hon. Beard Plumer, aged 62 (Christian Disciple (Boston, MA), November 1816).
His last will was proved in a Strafford County Probate court held at Dover, NH, October 23, 1816 (Strafford County Probate, 17:525). Achsah Plumer, widow of Beard Plumer, Esq., late of Milton, waived her bequest as set out in his will, and requested instead to have her dower assigned to her as if he had died intestate (Strafford County Probate, 17:529).
NEW-HAMPSHIRE. … In the Senate of this State there are of the Legislature, two vacancies, one occasioned by the acceptance of a judiciary appointment by the Hon. B. Badger, and the other by the decease of the Hon. Beard Plumer. These vacancies are likely to occasion some embarrassment in the government of that state. They are required by the constitution to be filled by election by the other House, from the two remaining highest candidates in their several districts. In each of the present cases it is said that the highest remaining candidates are federalists, so that the other House, though democratic, will be under the necessity of supplying the vacancies with federalists, an event which would destroy the predominance of the democratic party in the Senate, and give the federalists a check upon the proceedings. Another report is, that there are no two highest candidates in either distinct, all the votes in each being given to one man, except that two other persons in each district had each one vote (Burlington Gazette (Burlington, VT), December 5, 1816).
Brother John Plumer of Rochester, NH, made his last will, June 20, 1817. He devised $100 to John Plumer Dennett of Portsmouth, NH; $100 to John P. Plumer March, son of the late Jonas C. March, Esq., of Rochester, NH; and all the rest and remainder to his son, John Plumer, 3d, who he also named as executor. John McDuffee, Benjamin Hayes, and Abigail McDuffee witnessed his signature (Strafford County Probate, 32:113). John Plumer Dennett (1785-1867), son of stepbrother Jeremiah Dennett, was a step-grandson and namesake of Judge John Plumer (1719-1815). John Plumer March. (1811-1897), son of Jonas C. and Lydia (Wingate) March, was a grandson of Elizabeth (Plumer) Wingate and great grandson of John Plumer.
Son Beard Plummer, Jr., died in Milton, September 5, 1817, aged twenty years. Son John Plummer [“Jr.”] died in Milton, September 25, 1817, aged twenty-six years.
Daughter Susan Plummer married in Milton, July 25, 1819, Adam Brown, she of Milton and he of Wolfeboro, NH. Levi Jones, Justice-0f-the-Peace, performed the ceremony. Brown was born in Ossipee, NH, January 9, 1793, son of Moses and Lydia (Kimball) Brown.
Son Enoch Plummer died in New Geneva, PA, March 24, 1820, aged thirty-five years.
Brother Joseph Plumer died April 27, 1821, aged sixty-nine years. (For details of his last will see Milton Taverner Levi Jones (1771-1847)).
Brother-in-law Aaron Wingate died in Farmington, NH, in May 1822, aged seventy-eight years.
DIED. In Farmington, N.H., Hon. Aaron Wingate, Judge in the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Strafford, N.H., aged 78 years (Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA), May 9, 1822).
Hon. Aaron Wingate, for many years a member of the legislature, a counsellor from 1797 to 1803, and for sometime chief-justice of the common pleas in Strafford, died here in 1822, aged 78 years (New England Gazetteer, 1839).
Judge Wingate left a worthy family. Madam Wingate survived her husband a number of years (Wyatt, 1854).
Achsah (Page) Plumer married (2nd) in Dunbarton, NH, April 18, 1822, Enoch Coffin, she of Dunbarton, NH, and he of Concord, NH. Rev. Walter Harris, V.D.M.
MARRIAGES. Mrs. Achsah Plummer, widow of Hon. Beard Plummer, married Capt. Enoch Coffin of Concord, N.H., in Dunbarton, N.H. (Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA), May 22, 1822).
Mother-in-law Elizabeth (Ham) Ham died in October 1822.
Brother John Plumer died in Rochester, NH, in 1824, aged sixty-three years. His last will was proved in Strafford County Probate court, May 17, 1824 (Strafford County Probate, 32:114).
DIED. In Rochester, N.H., John Plumer, aged 63 years (Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA, May 22, 1824).
Son Joseph Plumer of Milton, husbandman, made his last will, June 18, 1825. He devised $1,000, his horse and chaise, and his household furniture, excepting that furniture otherwise devised, to his beloved wife, Sally Plumer. He devised a life estate in a lower front room and chamber in his house to his wife, Sally Plumer, and daughters, Caroline Plumer and Sarah Plumer. He devised his real estate, excepting the rooms mentioned already, to his sons, Enoch W. Plumer and Joseph Plumer, when they reached the age of twenty-one years; and his sawmill right, when they reached the age of twenty years. He devised $3,000 to his second son, Bard Plumer. He devised $1,000 and a featherbed to his eldest daughter, Caroline Plumer, when she either married or reached the age of twenty-one years. He devised all the rest and remainder to his children, Enoch W. Plumer, Joseph Plumer, Bard Plumer, Caroline Plumer, and Sarah Plumer. He named his brother-in-law, Joshua G. Hall, as guardian of his minor children. He named his wife, Sarah Plumer, as executrix. Levi Jones, Levi Wentworth, and Joseph P. Jones signed as witnesses (Strafford County Probate, 34:24).
Son Joseph Plummer died in Milton, January 3, 1826, aged forty-one [or thirty-nine] years. His last will was proved in Strafford County Probate court, January 26, 1826 (Strafford County Probate, 34:26).
DIED. In Milton, on the 3d inst., Mr. Joseph Plumer, son of Hon. Beard Plumer, aged 39. The deceased was one of the most useful and respectable inhabitants of the town. He has left an afflicted wife, a family of young children, and an extensive circle of friends and relations, to lament their loss.
Daughter Susan (Plummer) Brown died in Ossipee, NH, November 15, 1829, aged thirty-five years.
Sister Elizabeth (Plummer) Wingate died in 1841. Achsah ((Page) Plummer) Coffin died in Dunbarton, NH, September 30, 1841.
Daughter-in-law Frances ((Wheat) Plummer) Fitch died in Morgantown, WV, April 18, 1861, aged sixty-eight years. Son-in-law Joshua G. Hall died in Wakefield, NH, November 13, 1862. Daughter-in-law Sally (Brown) Plumer died in Milton, July 25, 1867, aged eighty-two years
Son-in-Law Adam Brown died in Wolfeboro, NH, November 25, 1880.
Daughter Betsy (Plummer) Hall died in Wakefield, NH, August 9, 1885.
References:
Batchellor, Albert S. (1910). Miscellaneous Revolutionary Documents of New Hampshire: Including the Association Test, the Pension Rolls, and Other Important Papers. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=MIhQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA127
Brewster, Charles W. (1878). Rambles about Portsmouth. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=fHIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA345
Claremont Manufacturing Co. (1851). New Hampshire Register and Farmer’s Almanac. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=rgEXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA27
Colson. David. (1991). Descendants of Cornelius Cursonwhit of Dover, New Hampshire. Leesburg, VA: TAL Publications.
Find a Grave. (2012, July 6). Susan Plummer Brown. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/93127926/susan-plummer-brown
Find a Grave. (2013, March 23). Achsah Page Plummer Coffin. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/107137685/achsah-plummer_coffin
Find a Grave. (2004, February 19). Frances [Wheat Plummer] Fitch. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/8405152/frances-fitch
Find a Grave. (2020, April 25). John Plumer March. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/209485252/john-plumer-march
Find a Grave. (2014, May 21). Betsey Plumer Hall. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/130124830/betsey-hall
Find a Grave. (2021, November 8). Beard Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/233852302/beard-plumer
Find a Grave. (2011, September 30). Enoch Plummer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/77408426/enoch-plummer
Find a Grave. (2010, February 20). Hon. John Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/48404230/john-plumer
Find a Grave. (2010, February 20). John Plumer [Jr.]. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/48404231/john-plumer
Find a Grave. (2021, November 4). Joseph Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/233700428/joseph-plumer
Find a Grave. (2021, November 8). Joseph Plumer [“Jr.”]. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/233852590/joseph-plumer
Find a Grave. (2011, February 20). Lydia Waterhouse [Dennett] Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/48404229/lydia-plumer
Find a Grave. (2011, December 29). Joshua Wingate. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/82637471/joshua-wingate
Gilmore, George C. (1899). State Senators 1784-1900: And New Hampshire Men at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=FlLphZGPBVwC&pg=PA22
Hammond, Isaac W. (1886).
Provincial and State Papers: Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, May 1777, to 1780. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=8tlKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA576
Metcalf, Henry H. & McClintock, John N. (1878, April). Granite Monthly: Hon. Joshua G. Hall. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=L7MVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA321
Mitchell-Cony. (1908). Town Register Farmington, Milton, Wakefield, Middleton, Brookfield, 1907-8. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qXwUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98
NH Secretary of State. (1891). New Hampshire Manual for the General Court with Complete Official Succession. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=0jdAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA135
NH Supreme Court. (1851). NH Reports: Great Falls Company versus Worster. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=k1ktAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA412
Wadleigh, George. (1913). Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire: From the First Settlement in 1623 to 1865. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=A3ywiDfSrY8C&pg=PA205
Wikipedia. (2022, January 7). Embargo Act of 1807. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_of_1807
Wikiedia. (2021, December 18). Freshet. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshet
Wikipedia. (2022, May 6). Year Without a Summer. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Wingate, Charles E.L. (1886). History of the Wingate Family in England and in America. Exeter, NH: James D.P. Wingate
Wyatt, Sophia Hayes. (1854). Autobiography of a Landlady of the Old School. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=GSbjtNCHpIoC&pg=PA72
Milton Observer 