By Muriel Bristol | October 15, 2023
Joseph Plummer, Jr. [III], was born in Milton, March 11, 1820, son of Joseph [Jr.] and Sarah “Sally” (Brown) Plummer. (Enoch W. Plummer was his brother).
Father Joseph Plummer [Jr.] died in Milton, January 3, 1826, aged thirty-nine years.
Sarah [(Brown)] Plummer headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifth (1830) Federal Census. Her household included one female aged 40-49 years [herself], one female aged 20-29 years [Caroline Plummer], one male aged 20-29 years, one male aged 15-19 years [Enoch W. Plummer], one female aged 15-19 years, two males aged 10-14 years [Bard Plummer and Joseph Plummer], one female aged 5-9 years [Sarah Plummer]. Her household appeared in the enumeration between those of Levi Jones and Jos. P. Burrows.
Sarah [(Brown)] Plumer headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixth (1840) Federal Census. Her household included one female aged 50-59 years [herself], five males aged 20-29 years [Enoch W. Plumer, Bard Plumer, Joseph Plumer, and others], one female aged 20-29 years [Caroline Plumer], and one female aged 15-19 years [Sarah Plumer]. Five members of her household were engaged in Agriculture. Her household appeared in the enumeration between those of Benjamin Roberts and Levi Jones.
Joseph Plummer married (1st) in Somersworth, NH, October 30, 1844, Adaline Frances Baker, she of Somersworth, NH. She was born in Somersworth, NH, May 24, 1820, daughter of Moses and Sarah “Sally” (Thoms) Baker.
Marriages. In Somersworth, on the 30th ult., by Rev. Mr. Willey, Mr. Joseph Plumer of Milton, to Miss Adaline F. Baker, daughter of Hon. Moses Baker of S. [Somersworth] (Dover Enquirer, November 12, 1844).
Father-in-law Moses Baker died in Gorham, ME, March 25, 1847, aged eighty-one years.
(The known children of Joseph and Adaline F. (Baker) Plummer were: Moses Baker Plummer (1848–1938), Joseph Plumer [III] (1850–1907), and Sarah Bell Plumer (1854–1854)).
Son Moses Baker Plummer was born in Milton, April 4, 1848. He was a namesake for his maternal grandfather, Moses Baker.
Joseph Plumer, a farmer, aged thirty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Adaline S. [(Baker)] Plumer. aged thirty years (b. NH), and Moses B. Plumer, aged two years (b. NH). Joseph Plumer had real estate valued at $4,000. Their household appeared in the enumeration between Nathaniel W. Burnham. overseer of the alms house, aged forty-two years (b. NH), and Nahum Tasker, a farmer, aged fifty years (b. NH).
Son Joseph Plumer [III] was born in Milton, September 28, 1850. Daughter Sarah Bell Plumer was born in Milton, August 6, 1854. She died in Milton, September 7, 1854, aged one month.
Adaline F. (Baker) Plummer died of neuralgia in Milton, June 30, 1858, aged thirty-eight years, one month, and six days.
The Milton Selectmen of 1860 were C.H. Goodwin, Jos. Plumer, and M.W. Shapleigh.
Joseph Plummer, a farmer, aged forty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Moses B. Plummer, aged eleven years (b. NH), Joseph Plummer [III], aged eight years (b. NH), J.L. Gerrish, a farm laborer, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), Irene Gerrish, a housekeeper, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and Charles Hammons, a boarder, aged sixty years (b. NH). Joseph Plummer had real estate valued at $6,000 and personal estate valued at $2,000. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of an unoccupied house (with Albert Nason, a farmer, aged forty-five years, just beyond), and [his brother,] E.W. Plummer, a farmer, aged forty-five years (b. NH).
The Milton Selectmen of 1861 were Jos. Plumer, M.W. Shapleigh, and Jos. Cook.
Joseph Plumer received an initial five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 14, 1862.
Joseph Plummer married (2nd) in Saxonville, [Framingham,] MA, October 1, 1863. Hannah D. Clark, he of Milton and she of Framingham, MA. He was a farmer, aged forty-three years, and she was aged thirty-two years. Rev. George E. Hill performed the ceremony. She was born in Sanbornton, NH, December 18, 1830, daughter of Joseph H. and Sally Clark / John and Betsy (Taylor) Clark.
MARRIAGES. In Saxonville, Mass., 1st inst., Joseph Plumer, Esq., of Milton, to Miss Hannah D., daughter of John H. Clark, formerly of Sanbornton (Dover Enquirer, October 15, 1863).
Joseph Plummer paid a $2 tax for his carriage (valued at $125) in the U.S. Excise Tax of May 1864.
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, June 14, 1867. (Luther Hayes received an appointment that same day).
Mother Sarah “Sally” (Brown) Plumer died of dropsy in Milton, July 27, 1867, aged eighty-two years. She was a widowed farmer.
Joseph Plummer, a farmer, aged fifty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included Hannah D. [(Clark)] Plummer, keeping house, aged forty years (b. NH), and Joseph Plummer, a farm laborer, aged nineteen years (b. NH). Joseph Plummer had real estate valued at $9,000 and personal estate valued at $4,240. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Enoch F. Mason, a farm laborer, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH), and [his brother,] Enoch W. Plummer, a farmer, aged fifty-five years (b. NH).
Son Joseph Plummer [III] married, circa 1872, Carrie W. Fall. She was born in Lebanon, ME, December 14, 1853, daughter of Isaac W. and Mary Elizabeth (Clark) Fall.
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, May 3, 1872.
Joseph Plumer submitted the following report on Milton agriculture to the NH Board of Agriculture. Many towns reported that the so-called Canadian “horse disease” had been prevalent in their town in the prior Fall [1872] season. About one horse in forty, i.e., 2.5% of the horses, reportedly died of the disease. Plumer reported that seven-eighths [87.5%] of Milton horses had taken sick, but that none had died.
MILTON. [Reported by Joseph Plumer]. 1. Some earn money, not make it. 2. Do not believe the farms of Milton as a whole are paying one per cent profit. The great majority attend to their business, but not as closely as traders and people in other occupations. They make some improvements; have very little money at interest. 3. Three per cent of farms are given up to wood and pasturage. There are frequent cellars without houses. 4. There seems to be a stop to leaving the farms just now. All young people have gone. 5. It is generally thought farmers pay more than their proportion of the public taxes, and that stock in trade can be kept from the view of the assessors. 6. Neat stock is improving mostly by a mixture of Short Horn blood. 7. Seven-eighths of the horses had the disease last fall. Those not worked and kept out doors escaped. None died. Do not consider horses injured by the disease. 8. Few sheep, and they are profitable. No disease. About one hundred dogs taxed. 9. Wood growing less. Lumber mainly exported. 10. Chief crops grass, barley and oats. 11. Apples. 12. Labor scarce, especially in doors (NH Dept. of Agriculture, 1873).
Milton sent Joseph Plummer and Elbridge W. Fox to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representatives for the year 1873. Rep. Plumer was assigned to the Joint Committee on Engrossed Bills, and Rep. Fox was assigned to the Committee on the Normal School.
On Tuesday, June 10, 1873, Rep. Plumer of Milton submitted the petition of Alden F. Kidder (1845-1900) and seventeen others, citizens of Milton, praying that the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad might be authorized to connect with the Dover Railroad. Similar petitions were submitted by other representatives from citizens of Portsmouth, Somersworth, Dover, Wakefield, Brookfield, Wolfeboro, Ossipee, and Freedom, NH.
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, April 10, 1877.
Joseph Plumer, aged sixty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Hannah D. [(Clark)] Plumer, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), and his help, Minnie M. Langley, at house, aged fourteen years (b. NH), and Lafayette Rines, at house, aged eighteen years (b. NH). Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Lydia Varney, keeping house, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), and Enoch W. Plumer, a farmer, aged sixty-five years (b. NH).
Joseph Plumer, Jr. [III], a farmer, aged twenty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Carrie W. [(Fall)] Plumer, keeping house, aged twenty-six years. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Enoch F. Mason, a farmer, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), and Christer L. Jones, a farmer, aged thirty-six years (b. NH).
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, March 30, 1882.
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, March 11, 1887.
Son Moses B. Plummer married in Milton, July 28, 1890, Elizabeth J. Hussey, he of Milton and she of Acton, ME. He was a farmer, aged forty-two years, and she was a teacher, aged thirty-three years. Rev. Frank Haley performed the ceremony. She was born in Acton, ME, May 13, 1857, daughter of Ralph R. and Martha J. (Lyon) Hussey.
Joseph Plummer received a renewal five-year appointment as a Milton justice-of-the-peace, March 15, 1892.
Joseph Plumer [Jr.], a farmer, aged eighty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-seven years), Hannah B. [(Clark)] Plumer, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH). Joseph Plumer owned their farm, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Bard B. Plumer, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and Calvin Mason, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH).
Joseph Plummer [III], a farmer, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Rollinsford, NH, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-eight years), Carrie [(Fall)] Plummer, aged forty-six years (b. ME), his son, Jay Plummer, aged sixteen years (b. MA), and his servant, Harry Clem, a farm laborer, aged nineteen years (b. Nova Scotia). Joseph Plummer rented their farm. Carrie Plummer was the mother of one child, of whom one was still living.
Joseph Plummer [Jr.] died of progressive muscular atrophy at Plummer’s Ridge in Milton, March 5, 1907, aged eighty-six years, eleven months, and twenty-five days. He was a farmer and a lifelong resident of Milton. James J. Buckley, M.D., signed the death certificate.
LOCAL. Mr. Joseph Plummer of Milton, one of the most respected men of this county, has passed away at the age of eighty-five years (Farmington News, March 8, 1907).
OBITUARY. Joseph Plumer, a widely known and respected citizen of Milton, died at his home March 5, 1907, within six days of his eighty-seventh birthday. is illness extended over a period of six years, being confined to the bed almost four years.
He was born at Milton at the old homestead March 11, 1820, and was the son of Sally (Brown) and Joseph Plumer. He himself built the house where he has resided for sixty-five years and in which he died. His early education was received in the district schools and South Berwick, Strafford and Parsonfield academies. At the age of nineteen he entered Phillips Exeter where he showed a great aptitude for mathematics and in his later years he developed a remarkable proficiency on the subject. He was married in 1844 to Adaline Frances Baker, daughter of Hon. Moses Baker of Somersworth, N.H., who died in 1858, leaving two sons, Joseph, Jr., and Moses Baker. He was married again in 1863 to Hannah D. Clark of Framingham, Mass., daughter of John N. Clark of Sanbornton, N.H. Mr. Plumer held various offices in his town, has been a member of the House of Representatives and a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1876; in politics he was a Republican. He was one of the original corporators of the Norway Savings Bank of Rochester and also of the First National bank of the same city.
Besides conducting a large farm he was largely engaged in stock raising and in the wood and lumber traffic. Mr. Plumer was intensely interested in education and in the youth, an interest which knew no abatement in the patient years of his illness and his many visitors during that period never failed to be impressed with his thoughtfulness for people and affairs about him. Ever foremost to encourage and support what he considered for the best of the community he was a worth exponent of a rugged ancestry and a man of many sterling qualities, kind impulses and numerous private benefactions. He attended and supported the Congregational church. He leaves a widow and two sons and four grandsons.
Nothing could better testify to the respect in which Mr. Plumer was held than the host of friends who gathered at his bier and the many beautiful floral tributes.
What grander tribute can we bring, To ease the heart of pain; What greater monument than this, He did not live, in vain (Dover Enquirer, March 14, 1907).
MILTON MILLS, N.H. Joseph Plummer, one of our oldest and most influential citizens, died at his home on Plummer’s Ridge Tuesday morning, after a very long illness (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), March 15, 1907).
Son Joseph Plummer, Jr. [III] died of typhoid at Plummer’s Ridge in Milton, April 11, 1907, aged fifty-six years, six months, and thirteen days. James J. Buckley, M.D., signed the death certificate. He was a married farmer, who had previously resided in Lowell, MA.
MILTON, N.H. There were three deaths in this community last week in hardly more than twenty-four hours. Joseph Plummer, son of the late Joseph Plummer, Esq., aged 56 years and six months, and Abbie A. Wentworth, at South Milton, aged 83 years. These died Friday and the next day while sitting at the table. Hiram Whitten, on Lebanon side, passed away, aged 74 years, six months (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), April 26, 1907).
Moses B. Plumer, a farmer (general farm), aged sixty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-one years), Elizabeth J. [(Hussey)] Plumer, aged fifty-two years (b. ME), his children, Frances Plumer, aged eighteen years (b. NH), Joseph Plumer, aged fifteen years (b. NH), and Dwight H. Plumer, aged thirteen years (b. NH), his hired man, M.A. Charles, a laborer (general farm), aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), his servant, Abbin F. Charles, a private family servant, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), and his mother-in-law [step-mother], Hannah D. [(Clark)] Plumer, aged seventy-nine years (b. NH). Moses B. Plumer owned their farm, free-and-clear.
ACTON. During the past week Miss Elizabeth Gerrish entertained at Well Sweep farm Mrs. John Lord, Tuesday; Rev. Danno Johnson, wife and child, Wednesday; Mrs. Wm Wilson and wife of Union, N.H.; Mrs. Moses B. Plummer and Mrs. Fred Jones of Plummer’s Ridge, Milton, N.H., and Mrs. Henry Horn of this town, Saturday. Miss Gerrish had a very busy week but enjoyed it fully (Sanford Journal-Tribune (Biddeford, ME), June 24, 1910).
Daughter-in-law Mrs. Carrie W. Plummer appeared in the Lowell, MA, directory of 1910, 1911, and 1913, as a housekeeper at 100 Appleton street.
Hannah D. (Clark) Plummer died of chronic valvular disease of heart at Plummer’s Ridge in Milton, September 2, 1912, aged eighty-one years, eight months, and fifteen days. She had resided in Milton for forty-five years, i.e., since circa 1867, with her previous residence having been in South Framingham, MA. James J. Buckley, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Daughter-in-law Mrs. Carrie W. [(Fall)] Plummer appeared in the Lowell, MA, directory of 1914, as having moved to Nashua, NH. (Her son, Jay B. Plummer, appeared in the Nashua, NH, directory of that year as a lumber surveyor, with his house at 35 Gillis street. He would “remove to Worcester, MA,” in 1916).
Daughter-in-law Elizabeth J. (Hussey) Plummer died of pernicious anemia at Plummer’s Ridge in Milton, May 15, 1918, aged sixty-one years, and two days. She had resided there for twenty-seven years, i.e., since circa 1890, with her previous residence having been in Acton, ME. James J. Buckley, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Death of Mrs. Moses Plummer. Mrs. Moses Plummer, wife of Moses Plummer, a very much respected lady of Milton, is dead at her home at Plummer’s Ridge after several weeks’ illness. The deceased was one of Milton’s best known ladies and is survived by a wide circle of relatives and friends (Dover Enquirer, May 17, 1918).
Moses B. Plummer, a farmer (owner), aged seventy-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his sister-in-law, Carrie W. [(Fall)] Plummer, a widow, aged sixty-six years (b. ME). Moses B. Plummer owned their farm on Plummer’s Ridge Road, free-and-clear. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Bard B. Plummer, a farmer, aged forty years (b. NH), and Calvin Mason, a farmer, aged seventy-five years (b. NH).
Moses B. Plummer, retired, aged eighty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his son, Joseph L. Plummer, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and his sister-in-law, Carrie W. [(Fall)] Plummer, a housewife (private family), aged seventy-six years (b. ME). Moses B. Plummer owned their farm on Plummer’s Ridge, which was valued at $7,500. They did not have a radio set. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Mary B. [(Plummer)] Wallingford, a widow, aged eighty-five years (b. NH), and Calvin Mason, a farmer (general farming), aged eighty-five years (b. NH).
Son Moses B. Plummer died in Milton, September 27, 1938, aged ninety years, five months, and twenty days.
MOSES PLUMMER, FORMER LAND BARON AND LUMBER KING OF MILTON, A SUICIDE AT 90 YEARS. The lifeless body of Moses Plummer, 90-year-old former land baron and lumber king of Milton, was found by a searching party near his home on Plummer’s ridge shortly after six o’clock on Tuesday night. Death had resulted from a self-inflicted gash in the throat, the wound having been made with a heavy pocket knife. The body was viewed by Medical Referee Dr. Forrest L. Keay of Rochester, and turned over to a Rochester undertaker for burial and funeral arrangements. The tragedy was discovered by Warren Burroughs, J.W. Wishert and Wilfred Gilbert, who were members of a searching party composed of over two hundred towns people, including the American Legion, who responded to an alarm sounded shortly after four o’clock. Mr. Plummer left his home about 1.30, and when he failed to reappear neighbors started a search that ended in a general turnout, and the finding of the body about 400 feet from his home. During the morning Mr. Plummer had visited Rochester in company with his son Joseph, and while in the city procured a haircut and appeared to be in the best of spirits. He was a lifelong resident of Milton, the son of Joseph and Adeline (Baker) Plummer and for many years was active in the business and affairs of his town to which he gave a deep devotion. He was well known in Farmington and throughout Strafford County, and much sympathy is expressed for three sons, Joseph of Milton, Frances B. and Dwight H. Plummer of Boston, and a niece, Mrs. J.J. Buckley of Milton. He was one of the oldest members of the A.O.U.W. in this section. Funeral arrangements have not been announced at the hour of going to press (Farmington News, September 30, 1938).
Jay Plummer, a farm laborer (dairy farm), aged fifty-six years (b. MA), headed an Auburn, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Annie B. [(Miner)] Plummer, aged fifty-six years (b. New Brunswick), his children, Lillian Plummer, a library assistant (public library), aged thirty-one years (b. MA), Paul Plummer, a sales clerk (retail grocery), aged twenty-two years (b. MA), Levere Plummer, aged seventeen years (b. MA), and his mother, Carrie [(Fall)] Plummer, aged eighty-six years (b. ME). Jay Plummer owned their house at 13 Rockland Road, which was valued at $4,600. They had all resided in the “same house” in 1935, except Carrie Plummer, who had resided in Milton.
Daughter-in-law Carrie W. (Fall) Plummer died in Cambridge, MA, November 17, 1941, aged eighty-seven years.
Attend Funeral Services For Mrs. C.W. Plummer. Funeral services for Mrs. Carrie W. Plummer, 87, were held yesterday afternoon at the Spencer Funeral home on South Main street. The Rev. Leland L. Maxfield, pastor of the Community church in Milton, officiated. Mrs. Plummer, widow of Joseph Plummer, died Friday at the Cambridge City hospital. She was born in Lebanon, Me., Dec. 14, 1853, daughter of Isaac W. and Mary Elizabeth (Clark) Fall. She leaves a son, Jay B., two grandsons, Paul and Levere Plummer, and a granddaughter, Miss Lillian Plummer, all of Mass. Burial was in the family lot in the Plummer cemetery in Milton, with a committal service at the grave by the Rev. Mr. Maxfield. Bearers were Bard and Lyman Plummer, Paul and Levere Plummer (Portsmouth Herald, November 18, 1941).
References:
Find a Grave. (2016, May 23). Moses Baker. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/163060639/moses-baker
Find a Grave. (2016, May 25). Adaline Frances Baker Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/163260581/adaline-frances-plummer
Find a Grave. (2022, February 4). Elizabeth J. Hussey Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/236486883/elizabeth-j-plumer
Find a Grave. (2021, November 8). Joseph Plumer [Sr.]. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/233852590/joseph-plumer
Find a Grave. (2016, May 24). Joseph Plumer [Jr.]. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/163223950/joseph-plummer
Find a Grave. (2016, May 24). Joseph Plumer, Jr. [III]. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/163224061/joseph-plummer
Find a Grave. (2016, May 27). Moses Baker Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/163365234/moses-baker-plummer
Find a Grave. (2022, February 4). Sarah B. Plumer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/236486459/sarah-b-plumer
NH Dept. of Agriculture. (1873). Third Annual Report of the Board of Agriculture. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=8uVIAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA464
NH General Court. (1873). Journals of the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the State of New-Hampshire. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=aQhLAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA253
Milton Observer 