The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-12-24

war.
| Mr. Plumb's father and the family fol-
| lowed the son to Kansas. They settled on
/ the Neosho near Emporia- Their affection
| FOR the son was very great, and IL was
/ fully reciprocated. The father was
| quiet man of sterling qualities. he IS
! still living at Emporia. The mother died
a few years ago. She was woman of
superior intelligence and strong VIII
! power. These old people seemed 10 be OF
/ the Puritan stock. Miss Ellen PUMP mas
! been in the book business in Emporla Tor
! twenty years or more, and is a most excel
| ent woman The brother spoken OF IN
| the beginning of this article died soon after
their arrival, and the loss was seriously
| felt by all the family. One brother, Will
lam j. has been in Nevada or Idaho Tor
many years. George Plumb is farmer
near Emporia Arthur is a merchant at
Reading He has been in the legislature
| The younge-t child, Mary, Is the wife or
| Perry Edwards, farmer near Emporla.
! He soon determined to leave the news
paper and to study law. he attended lee
/ lures two winters at Cleveland. Return
! ing to Enporia in 1861 he opened law
office. He told the writer it was not much
OF a law Office, with rude table and some
! store boxes for seats, but that the Office
was as good as the lawyer. During this
| time his health was precarlous. lie had
| frequent and severe hemorrhages
Of the lungs, and it was feared he
would not recover. In 1862 the war fever
seized him. He was warm admlrer OF
! General Tom Ewing and when that gentle
man was Authorized to raise the Eleventh
| Kansas infantry, Plumb joined him and
| raised two companies at Emporla and sur
rounding country. He threw all his energy
| and zeal into this movement and was very
| efficient in assisting General Ewing. lie
| served until the close of the struggle and
came out brevet colonel. In the service he
regalned his health. In fact, it seems to
have saved his life for the honorable and
useful career before him Coming. out OF the
war he formed partnership with the late
Judge Ruggles, and won distinction and
success at the bar. In this he worked day
and night sNo task or duty ever staggered
| him. The firm had business in the last
| two or three years of its existence only sur
passed by one in the young state. His
! next undertaking was banking. He had in
duced his Ohio friends and others to invest
| in bank and the returns not being salts
| factory they finally demanded he should
take the management of the con-
| Germ. lie did so and the re-
suit was another success. The
bank soon took rank among the best In the
state Mr. Plumb had secured consider
able wealth by his habits of industry and
economy and by fortunate speculat1ons.
He was a money maker. He possessed a
foresight in this respect which was Won
dertul. AT the close of the war he said to
friend There is going to be chance
to make some money in Emporia in the
next five or ten years which neither of US
may ever have again. ] have determined
to avail myself of it. shall devote all my
energies and powers in securing my share
of it, We have had good time as boys
together in Empcria. Now we are men.
and it is time for us to do something for
ourselves. l shall pursue this course and
l advise you to do the same" He carried
out his program and won. he had not
made anything out of his town specula-
ton. He gave away the most OF his lots.
At the close of the war he was not worth
over So 900. He had an intuitive knowledge
of investments In twenty years he made
an immense fortune.
Senator Plumb held the following official
positions: Member of the Leavenworth
constitutional convention 1858; reporter of
the supreme court in 1861 which he va
Gated by resignation; representative In the
legislature in 1862; representative and
speaker in 1867; representative in 1868;
elected United States senator in 1877, and
reelected in 1888 and 1889, practically with
out opposition in his party. His candi-
dacy in 1877 was purely the work of his
friends He did not believe he could sue
coed, saying that his time bad not come to
run for so high an Office just preceding
the law and banking business, had paid
little attention to politics, and was not so
well known as formerly. He, however,
Welded to the solicitations of a few per-
sonal friends who sincerely desired to see
him in the senate, and who maintained
that defeat, if it came, would not hurt
him, Mr. Plumb had always been an ar
dent admirer of Horace Greeley, and had
voted for him for president in 1872.
Old time Republicans predicted this
act would hurt him in the race and 1t
did. Had it not been for that vote he
would have made better race, If indeed,
he had not secured his election. He was
recognized by all as in many respects the
ablest and best man in the race at the
time. AS it was, he a d his friends made
a clean and spirited fight and retired in
most excellent shape, leaving all interests
friendly and Mr.. Plumb in most excellent
shape for the next contest. In 1877, after
a stubbornly fought contest, he was elected
on the sixteenth ballot. No man ever had
more ardent supporters than he. His
course in the senate is so well known by
the people of the state that it hardly need
be mentioned. No state ever had a more
efficient faithful or truer representative
in that body than he grew. He was better
acquainted with the people personally
than any politician has ever been. He
/ lived near them and he worked for them.
He man ever wrote him who did not get
an answer. which stated frankly what
could or could not be done for him
He kept himself constantly in accord
with the public sentiment of the state
From this he largely shaped his course,
He was in constant correspondence with
| hundreds of his constituents, asking about
the condition of crops, or this or that in
teresU. lie had an interest In everything
that pertained to his state. He began TO
study it in 1857. He knew more about IL
than any one else He was careful and
painstaking in everything but in nothing
more than gathering information about
Kansas. He perceived it to be his duty 10
be representative of Kansas interests. In
this regard he was the highest type of
senator. While taking q general interest
in national affairs, and everything IN gen
eral debate, he was pre-emlnently repre-
sentative of his own people. The people Of
Kansas have lost valuable friend, one
whose place will probably never be filled,
and the sorrow is universal. The whole
state is in mourning He has more personal
friends in Kansas than any man ever had
On the Sth of March. 1907, at Ashtabula,
Ohio, Mr.. Plumb married Miss Caroline
Southwick. The fruits Of this marriage
We're six children, which, given in order are
rs follows: Mary, Amos, Thomas, Ruth,
Caroline and Preston. Thomas died Feb
ruary + 1872 Preston is attending school at
Nazareth, Pa. and Caroline az Litiz. Pa
Both, in company with Amos, who Is
under medical treatment, who was az
Philadelphia when the news reached him,
started for Emporia at once 10 be at the
funeral of their father.
Senator Plumb literally made himself
what be was. His career shows the posi-
biiities OF American citizenship 10 him
who Is willing TO seize his opportunities and
use them fer all they are worth He was
q great student as well as a great worker,