Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/66

44 formed a stock-company for the manufacture of iron, and built the Durham furnace, where the manufacture has since been continued. The prop- erty was purchased in 1864 by Edward Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt. By his will he left 50 to be divided between ten poor housekeepers, five of them to be Friends and five of other denomina- tions. He also gave five shillings to every poor per- son in the almshouse. His son. William, mayor of Philadelphia, b. in Philadelphia, 7 Nov., 1708: d. there, 10 Aug., 1705, became his father's partner in business, and continued in trade after the lat- ter's death. In 1739 he was chosen to the city council. In 1741, on his return from a voyage to England, it being suggested that he should be called to the provincial council, Gov. Thomas wrote to William Penn : " Will Plumsted is a very worthy young man, but as his father is in the coun- cil he will be always looked upon as under his in- fluence, and so can give no reputation to the board. Besides, it is both your brother's opinion and mine that he would not accept of it." On the death of Peter Evans, a lawyer of the Inner Temple, in 1745, the office of register-general for the province became vacant, and, at Clement Plumsted's solici- tation, it was given to William, who held the of- fice until his death. He was also many year- a county judge. When about middle age he re- nounced Quakerism. In 1748 he was a subscriber to the Dancing assembly, the first that was held in Philadelphia. Subsequently he became one of the founders of St. Peter's church, and in 1761, when its house for worship was finished, lie was elected a vestryman, and became the first accounting warden. He was one of the original trustees of the college that has since grown to be the University of Pennsylvania. He was three times chosen mayor of Philadelphia in 1750, 1754, and 1755 and at tl nd of the first term gave to the city 75 in- stead of giving the entertainment that was expected from a retiring mayor. In 1757, although he re- sided at that time in the city of Philadelphia, he was chosen a member of the assembly from North- ampton county. Hisdaughter, Elizabeth, a lady of noted beauty, became the wife of Andrew Elliott, and his granddaughter. Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Plumsted) Elliott, became lady of the bed-chamber to the queen of England, and wife of William Schaw Cathcart, who was cre- ated Earl Cathcart in 1814.

PLYMPTOX, George Washington, civil en- gineer, b. in Walt ham. Mass., 18 Nov., 1827. He learned the machinist's trade, and then was gradu- ated with the degree of C. E. at Rensselaer polytechnic institute iii 1847. For a time he re- mained at the institute as instructor in mathemat- ics, but in 1850 he turned his attention to profes- sional work in New York state, and later in Cleve- land, Ohio, and in 1852 he held the chair of engineering and architecture in Cleveland univer- sity. In 1853-'5 he taught mathematics in the State normal school in Albany, N. Y., ami in 1857-'9 he had charge of physics and engineering in the Normal school in Trenton, N. J. Hr was called in 1863 to the chair of physical science in the Brooklyn polytechnic institute, and in 1869 was appointed to that of physics and engineering at Cooper Union, New York city, from which he was advanced in 1879 to the post of director of the Cooper Union night-school. In 1844-'5 he was professor of chemistry ami toxicology in the Long Island eo||i i;e hospital, and in lS67-'8 he waschicl' engineer of the water board of Bergen, N. J., hav- ing charjv of the drainage of that place. I'rof. Plympton was appointed commissioner of electrical subways of Brooklyn, and had been very prompt in placing the wires underground. He received the honorary degree of A. M. in 1854 from Hamil- ton college," and in 1877 that of M. D. from the Long Island college hospital. He is a member of the American society of civil engineers, and of other scientific associations. From 1870 till 1886 he edited " Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine," and he has published -The Blowpipe, a dhiide to its Use in the Determination of Salts and Minerals " (Cincinnati, 1858) ; The Star Finder, or Plani- sphere with a Movable Horizon " (New York, 1878) ; " The Aneroid, and how to use it " (1880) ; and a translation of Jannettaz's " Guide to the Determi- nation of Rocks" (1877).

PLYMPTON, Joseph, soldier, b. in Sudbury, Mass., 24 March, 1787 ; d. on Staten island, N. Y., 5 June. 1860. He was appointed lieutenant in the 4th infantry at the beginning of the war with Great Britain in 1812, and served on the northern frontier until 1815. He became captain in 1821, major in 1840, and in 1842 commanded during an at- tack on the Seminole Indians near Dunn's lake, Fla. He became lieutenant-colonel in 1846, led his regi- ment through the campaign under Gen. Winfield Scott in Mexico, received the brevet of colonel for gallant service at the battle of Cerro Gordo, and was mentioned in the official report for bravery at that of Contreras. In 1853 he was promoted colo- nel of the 1st U. S. infantry.

POE, Edgar Allan, author, b. in Boston, Mass., I'.i .Ian., 1809; d. in Baltimore, Md., 7 Oct., 1849. His great-grandfather, John, who came from the north of Ireland to Pennsylvania about 1745. was a descendant of one of Cromwell's officers. John's son, David, was an ar- dent patriot, served in the Revolution and the war of 1812, and was commonly given the title of general. His son, of the same name, was educated for the law, but went upon the stage, and in 1805 mar- ried Elizabeth Arnold, an actress. Edgar was born while his parents were regular members of the company at the Federal street theatre, Boston. He was left an orphan in early childhood, and adopted by John Allan, a wealthy tobacco merchant in Richmond, Va., whose young childless wife had taken a fancy to the boy. In Mr. Allan's house he was brought up in luxury. He was precocious, and could read. draw, dance, and declaim poetry at six years of age. In 1815. he accompanied the Allans to England, and was placed at a school in Stoke Newington, which he afterward described in his tale of "William Wilson." Here he remained five years. On his return to Richmond he attended a private school in that city, where he was a bright student and active in out-door sports, one of his feats being a swim of six miles against the tide and in a hot June sun. But he had few companions, and kept much to himself. In his fifteenth year he became warmly attached to the mother of one of his school-mates. She was his confidant and friend, and when she died a few months later the boy visited her grave nightly for a longtime. To this incident Poe was wont to ascribe much influence over