George Plumer

A Patriot of the American Revolution for PENNSYLVANIA with the rank of PRIVATE. DAR Ancestor # A089814

•~ George Plumer, third son of Jonathan and Anna Farrell Plumer, was born December 5, 1762 in the cabin erected by his father on the Croghan tract at Two Mile Run, Pa., being the first white child born west of the Allegheny Mountains under the dominion of the English. He was named after Colonel George Croghan and became a noted hunter and scout going out with surveying parties and rendering effective service as a guide through the wilds. In 1784 he made a runaway match with Margaret Lowrey, the youngest daughter of Colonel Alexander Lowrey, and the young couple established their home in Puckety Creek near Ft. Crawford. Subsequently, they lost this home through the work of Pittsburgh land surveyors who obtained a patent for the territory. They were however shortly reconciled to Colonel Lowrey who gave to his daughter and son in law a fine tract of land at the mouth of Big Sewickly Creek, and there George Plumer built his second home in 1791. This farm was vastly improved in the ensuing years, and Colonel Lowrey extended further help to his son in law in establishing a sawmill and a gristmill on the property. After a few years, Mr. Plumer sold his mills and in 1808 opened a store, which he conducted in conjunction with his farm. He played a prominent part in the politics of his day, was a leading man in the community, and represented West Moreland County in the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1812, 13, 14, 15, and 1817. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1821, and was re-elected to the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses, serving with notable credit until 1827. He was long a ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church. His memory is perpetuated in Pittsburgh by an important street on the territory where he was born, now thickly covered with manufacturers and other structures. He died on his farm in West Moreland County, Pa. June 8, 1843 leaving a large family of children and grandchildren.

He married first, Margaret Lowrey, daughter of Alexander and Mary Waters Lowrey. She died June 14, 1818.

Lowrey: the ancestors of the Lowrey family in Pennsylvania were originally of Ireland.

Lazarus Lowrey, a native of Ireland came to Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pa. in 1729 and died in Philadelphia in 1753. He was an Indian trader and farmer and owned what is known as the Clark farm, in later times the property of former U.S. Senator J. Donald Cameron. He was twice married, but there was no issue by his second wife. His sons were John, James, Daniel, Joseph, and Alexander Lowrey.

Alexander Lowrey, youngest son of Lazarus Lowrey, was born in 1726. He was a distinguished soldier of the Revolution and commanded a battalion of Lancaster County militia, with which he was in active service in 1776 and 1777. He participated in a number of engagements, he was very successful as a businessman, and owned large tracts of land in Lancaster and West Moreland Counties. He bought his father’s farm in 1755 and in 1759 the Duffey Farm on which he was living at the time of his death. He married first Mary Waters, second Anne Aldricks, and third Mrs. Sarah Cochrane. Margaret Lowrey, the sixth child and the fourth daughter of the preceding married George Plumer of the above.

Issue:

1. Jonathan Plumer

2. Alexander Plumer

3. John C. Plumer

4. Lazarus Lowrey Plumer

5. Mary Plumer

6. Nancy Plumer

7. Sarah Plumer

8. William Plumer, born 1800.

9. Elizabeth Plumer

10. Rebecca Plumer

The first four children were born on the plantation on the banks of the Puckety River near Ft. Crawford. The other six children were born on the Plumer estate on the banks of the Sewickly River.

George Plumer married second November 14, 1821 Martha Dean of Indiana County, Pa. She survived her husband.

the above transcribed by Stephen Brian Corson Stephen Brian Corson from a Plumer family history