Frank Plumley
Member of the
United States House of Representatives
from Vermont's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1915
Preceded byKittredge Haskins
Succeeded byPorter H. Dale
Chief Judge of the Vermont Court of Claims
In office
1904–1908
Preceded byHorace F. Graham
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Judge of the Vermont Court of Claims
In office
1902–1904
Preceded byNewly created
Succeeded byLinus Leavens
President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate
In office
1894–1896
Preceded byAlfred A. Hall
Succeeded byAshbel A. Dean
United States Attorney for the District of Vermont
In office
1889–1894
PresidentBenjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
Preceded byClarence H. Pitkin
Succeeded byJohn H. Senter
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
In office
1882–1882
State's Attorney for Washington County, Vermont
In office
1876–1880
Preceded byWilliam P. Dillingham
Succeeded byClarence H. Pitkin
Personal details
Born(1844-12-17)December 17, 1844
Eden, Vermont, US
DiedApril 30, 1924(1924-04-30) (aged 79)
Northfield, Vermont, US
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLavinia Lucretia Smith Fletcher Plumley
ChildrenCharles Albert Plumley and Theodora May Plumley
Alma materUniversity of Michigan Law School
ProfessionPolitician, Lawyer

Frank Plumley (December 17, 1844 – April 30, 1924) was an American politician and lawyer from Vermont. He served as United States district attorney and U.S. Representative from Vermont.

Early life and career

Plumley was born in Eden, Vermont, son of William Plumley and Eliza Little.[1] He attended the public schools and People's Academy in Morrisville, Vermont. Plumley taught school and studied law in Morrisville. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and was admitted to the bar in Lamoille County in May 1869. He began the practice of law in Northfield.

Plumley held many positions in state and federal government. He served as the state's attorney of Washington County from 1876 to 1880.[2] He served in the Vermont House of Representatives (1882), and was chairman of the Republican State convention in 1886. In 1888 Plumley was a delegate to the Republican National Convention.[3]

He was appointed lecturer of constitutional law at Norwich University in 1884, and was named a trustee of the university in 1888. In 1892 Norwich awarded Plumley the honorary degree of Master of Arts.[4]

He served as the United States district attorney for the district of Vermont from 1889 to 1894.[5] In 1894 he served in the Vermont State Senate and was elected President pro tempore.[6] Plumley was a member of the Vermont Court of Claims from 1902 to 1904 and chief justice from 1904 to 1908.

In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as umpire of the mixed commissions of Great Britain and Venezuela, and the Netherlands and Venezuela, sitting in Caracas.[7] In 1905 he was selected by France and Venezuela as umpire in the French-Venezuela mixed commission, which sat in Northfield, Vermont. This is the only instance where an American not serving in a high official office was chosen by these countries to arbitrate the differences between them.[8] Plumley was again a trustee of Norwich University in 1905. Plumley received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Norwich in 1905, and from the University of Vermont in 1909.

In 1909 Plumley was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He was reelected twice, and served from March 4, 1909, to March 3, 1915.[9] He was one of the four delegates from the U.S. Congress to the Inter-Parliamentary Union of the World in Geneva in 1912. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1914.[10]

Personal life

Plumley married Lavinia Lucretia Smith Fletcher on August 9, 1871. They had two children Charles Albert Plumley and Theodora May Plumley. Their son Charles Albert Plumley was a President of Norwich University who also served in the United States House of Representatives.[11]

Death

After serving in Congress, Plumley resumed the practice of law in Northfield, Vermont in partnership with his son Charles and Murdock A. Campbell.[12] He died on April 30, 1924, and is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in Northfield.

References

  1. ↑ "Frank Plumley (1855 - Unknown)". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ ""Plumley" Eden, Vermont" Lamoille County and "Northfield, Vermont" Washington County "Shrewsbury, Vt." Rutland County". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ). National Convention (1903). Official proceedings of the Republican National Convention: held at Chicago, June 3, 4, 5 and 6, 1884. C.W. Johnson. pp. 25. frank plumley delegate to the Republican National Convention.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Cutter, William Richard (1914). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 4. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 2202.
  5. ↑ Ellis, William Arba (1911). Norwich University, 1819-1911; Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor. The Capital City Press. pp. 33. frank plumley .
  6. ↑ "Plumley, Frank (1844-1924)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ Proctor, Redfield and Charles H. Davenport (1894). Men of Vermont: an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont. Transcript publishing company. pp. 320. frank plumley delegate to the Republican National Convention.
  8. ↑ Cutter, William Richard (1914). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 4. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 2202.
  9. ↑ "Rep. Frank Plumley". Govtrack.us. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  10. ↑ "PLUMLEY, Frank, (1844 - 1924)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Plumley, Frank (1844-1924)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  12. ↑ Vermont Historical Society, Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, 1926, page 267

Further reading

  • "New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 4" by William Richard Cutter, published by Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914.
  • Norwich University, 1819-1911; Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor by William Arba Ellis, published The Capital City Press, 1911.


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