Plumer, William – Polk, James Knox
Plumer, William
lawyer, state legislator, congressman, author, poet, was born Oct. 9, 1789, in Epping, N. H. He frequently served in the state legislature; and was a representative in congress from New Hampshire from 1819 to 1825. He was an active congressional opponent of slavery; and the author of Lyra Sacra; and A Pastoral on the Story of Ruth. He died Sept. 18, 1854, in Epping, N. H.
Plumer, William Swan
educator, clergyman, author, was born July 25, 1802, in Griersburg (now Darlington), Pa. He was a presbyterian clergyman of extreme Calvinistic views, and professor of theology in the Theological seminary at Columbia, S. C., in 1856-80. His principal writings include, Pastoral Theology; Jehovah-jireh; Studies in the Book of Psalms; The Book of Our Salvation; Words of Truth and Love; The Saint and The Sinner; Vital Godliness; Commentary on Romans; and A Word to the Weary. He diea in 1880.
Plumley, Benjamin Rush
author, was born March 10, 1816, in Newton, Pa.
During the civil war he served on the staff of Gen. John C. Fremont, and subsequently he was on that of Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. He afterward settled in Galveston, Texas. His works include Kathaleen McKinley, the Kerry Girl; Rachel Lockwood; Lays of the Quakers, which appeared in the Knickerbocker; and Oriental Ballads, in the Atlantic Monthly. He died Dec. 9, 1887, in Galveston, Texas.
Plumley, Gardiner S
clergyman, poet, was born Aug. 11, 1827, in Washington, D. C. For many years he has edited The Learner and Teacher of New York city. He has composed numerous hymns; and is the author of a volume of poems.
Plummer, Franklin E
lawyer, jurist, congressman. He was at one time a judge of the circuit court of Mississippi; and was a representative in congress from that state from 1831 to 1835. He died Sept. 24, 1852, in Jackson, Miss.
Plummer, Joseph B
soldier, was born Aug. 10, 1820, in Barre, Mass. He served in Florida, on the western frontier, and in the Mexican war, became lieutenant in 1848, and captain in 1852. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and became major of infantry in 1862.
He died Aug. 9, 1862, near Corinth, Miss.
Plummer, William A
lawyer, legislator, was born Dec. 2, 1865, in Gilmanton, N. H. He attended the Gilmanton academy, Dartmouth college, and the Boston University School of Law. In 1893 he served with distinction as a representative in the New Hampshire legislature. He is now a prominent lawyer of Laconia, N. H., and a member of the board of education of that city. He is a member of the national democratic state committee; and in 1896 was alternate delegate to the national democratic convention.
Plumsted, Clement
mayor of Philadelphia, was born in 1680 in Philadelphia. He came to Philadelphia about the time he attained his majority, became a successful merchant, and its mayor. He died May 26, 1745, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Plunkett, Joseph Daniel
soldier, lawyer, legislator, was born July 5, 1 1842, in Ireland. He served as a soldier during the civil war. He entered into the active practice of law in New Haven, Conn. During 1883-84 he represented his district in the general assembly of Connecticut.
Plympton, George Washington
civil engineer, journalist, author, was born Nov. 18, 1827, in Waltham, Mass. He is a civil engineer of note, editor of Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine in 1870-86; and the author of The Blow-pipe; The Starfinder; and The Aneroid.
POCAHONTAS, Indian heroine, was born in 1594. She was a daughter of Powhatan, an Indian chief of Virginia. She saved the life of Capt. John Smith, who was condemned to death by her father.
She subsequently married Thomas Rolfe; accompanied her husband to England, where she was presented to court. She died a year later, at the age of twentythree, leaving one son. This son was educated in England; afterward returned to Virginia; became wealthy and distinguished; and from whom have descended several well-known families of that state.
She died in 1617.
Poe, Caswell T
physician, surgeon, poet, was born March 27, 1830, in Richmond, Va. For nearly half a century he has followed his profession of physician and surgeon, and for the past quarter of a century has practiced in Grand Island, Neb.
He was city physician for six terms; county physician for nine years; and medical director of St.
Frances hospital for five years; voluntarily resigning each of these positions because of his advanced age. He is a descendant of the Poe family of which Edgar Allan Poe was a member. Dr. Poe is the author of a number of poems of merit which have been given a place in several standard collections.
Poe, Edgar Allan
author, poet, was born Jan. 19, 1809, in Boston, Mass.
At nineteen he published his first volume, Tamerlane, and Other Poems. He led a wandering, dissipated life, editing at various times Graham's Magazine, The Southern Literary Messenger, and other periodicals, and died of delirium tremens in Baltimore. Among his prose tales, The Gold Bug; The Fall of the House of Usher; and Ligeia, are especially characteristic of his genius, while such poems as The Bells, The Raven, Annabel Lee, display wonderful melody and perfect mastery of metre. Beside Tamerlane, his writings include, The Conchologist's First Book; Eureka, a Prose Poem; The Raven, and Other Poems; Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque; and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. The best edition of Poe is that edited by E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodbury, in ten volumes. He died Oct. 7, 1849, in Baltimore, Md.
Poe, Orlando Metcalfe
soldier, was born March 7, 1832, in Navarre, Ohio.
In 1865 he was brevetted brigadier-general for gallant and meritorious service during the civil war.
Poehler, Henry
merchant, state senator, congressman, was born Aug. 22, 1833, in Germany. He was elected a representative in the first legislature of Minnesota after its admission as a state in 1857 and 1858, and again in 1865. He was a state senator in 1872 and 1873, and in 1876 and 1877; and was elected a representative from Minnesota to the fortysixth congress as a democrat.
Poindexter, George
lawyer, jurist, congressman, governor, United States senator, was born in 1779 in Louisa county, Va. He was made attorney-general of Mississippi; was a delegate to congress from the territory from 1807 to 1813, when he was appointed federal judge of the territory. He was a representative in congress from 1817 to 1819; was the second governor of Mississippi under the state constitution from 1819 to 1821; and was a United States senator from Mississippi from 1830 to 1835. He died Sept. 5, 1853, in Jackson, Miss.
Poinsett, Joel Roberts
congressman, author, was born March 2, 1779, in Charleston, S. C. He was a representative in congress from South Carolina from 1821 to 1825. He was appointed United States minister to Mexico; and was secretary of war under President Van Buren. He was a botanist of some note, the genus Poinsettia having been named in his honor; and the author of Notes on Mexico, made in 1822. He died Dec. 14, 1851, in Statesburg, S. C.
Poland, John Scroggs
soldier, educator, author, was born Oct. 14, 1836, in Princeton, Ind. In 1886 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the twenty-first infantry. He has published Digest of the Military Laws of the United States.
Poland, Luke P
lawyer, jurist, state legislator, congressman, United States senator, was born Nov. 1, 1815, in Westford, Vt. In 1848 he was elected one of the judges of the supreme court of Vermont, which office he continued to hold by annual elections until 1865, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States senate. Just before his appointment to the United States senate he had been re-elected to the supreme bench, upon which he held the position of chief justice, to which he was promoted in 1860.
He was subsequently elected a representative from Vermont to the fortieth congress; and was re-elected to the fortyfirst, forty-second, forty-third, and fortyeighth congresses as a republican. He died July 2, 1887, in Waterville, Vt.
Polk, Charles
state senator, governor, was born in 1787 in Kent county, Del. He served in the Delaware state senate; was register of wills for a long time; and was collector of customs. He was twice governor of the state, once by election, and once by substitution as speaker of the senate. He died Oct. 28, 1857.
Polk, James Knox
eleventh president of the United States, was born Nov. 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg county, N. C.
His ancestors' name was Pollock. In 1806 his father and family moved to Nashville, Tenn.
James graduated at the university of North Carolina in 1818, and was admitted to the bar in 1820. In 1823 he was elected to the Tennessee legislature, and was a member of that body two years. In 1825 he was elected to the national house of representatives. He held the office by re-elections for fourteen years, and was chosen speaker of the house two terms. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, and was a candidate for re-election in 1841, but was defeated. He was again a candidate for the same office in 1843, and was again defeated. On the 27th of May, 1844, the national democratic convention assembled at Baltimore. On the first ballot Martin Van Buren received 146 votes; Lewis Cass, 83; Richard Mentor Johnson, 24; John Caldwell Calhoun, 6, and 7 scattering. Mr. Van Buren received a majority, but a rule of the convention required a two-thirds vote to nominate. On the eighth ballot Van Buren received 104; Cass, 114; James Knox Polk, 44.
On the ninth ballot the vote was unanimous for Mr. Polk. George Mifflin Dallas was nominated for vice-president. They were elected the coming autumn, and took the oath of office March 4, 1845. On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk's administration closed. He returned to his home in Nashville, and died June 15, 1849. Polk held office twenty-two years. He left about $150,000.