http://books.google.com/books?id=bZl4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=%22Dutton+Shannon%22+fallowfield+pa&source=bl&ots=TE-BHOp3m7&sig=8Pe3VMmlNbqp1UD_AkH8fMUUk-M&hl=en&ei=nLoXTq2-GdG_gQf7j6XzDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAw#v=snippet&q=cyrus%20underwood&f=false The old and new Monongahela, By John Stogdell Van Voorhis, 1893, Pittsburgh pg. 475 Hon. George Plumer We are indebted to the writings of the late Isaac Craig of Allegheny, PA, for the following interesting biographical sketch of Hon. George Plumer. George Plumer was of English descent. His ancestors were of an ancient and honorable family. Members of the Plumer family were among the earliest settlers in Massachusetts. From that State Jonathan Plumer immigrated to PA in 1750. He was a commissary to Gen. Braddock in 1755, and after Braddock's inglorious defeat he settled at Old Town, near Fort Cumberland. A tradition in the Plumer family has it that he was with Forbes when that "Head of Iron" took possession of Fort Duquesne in 1758, and named it Pittsburgh. He returned east with Forbes' army, and located at Fort Frederick. Here he met and m. Miss Anna Farrel. In 1759 we have an account of Plumer at Fort Pitt, but not until 1761 did he bring his family to the west. In that year, by permission of Col. Boquet, he built a cabin and "made valuable improvements" on a tract of 1500 acres of land along the Allegheny River which he had become jointly interested in with Co. Croghan, who had obtained it on a grant from the indians. This land includes the location of the US Arsenal and the Allegheny Cemetery. The peace of Fontainebleau, "which secured to the British crown this long-disputed section", was signed on Nov. 3, 1762. Immediately after British possession was assured emigrants began to flock in from E. PA, VA, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Jonathan Plumer's cabin was one of the pioneer structures outside of Fort Pitt. It was located about 100 yards E. of where the old Ewalt mansion now stands, which was built by Samuel Ewalt, who purchased the property when it was sold by the sheriff at the suit of Croghan's creditors. In that rude frontier cabin, whose blue wood smoke curling among the trees was a guide for the settlers on Dec. 5, 1762, the first white child was b. west of the Allegheny mountains under British dominion. He was christened George Plumer, and his after career was as notable as his birth. The youthful Plumer became a noted hunter and scout, and occasionally accompanied parties of surveyors. Soon after the close of the revolution he met Miss Margaret Lowrey, the youngest daughter of Col. Alexander Lowry, of Lancaster Co.. Miss Margaret was visiting her sisters here, Mrs. Daniel Elliott and Mrs. John Hay, when she met the strapping young backwoodsman in buckskins. It was a case of love from the beginning, and shortly the young couple were engaged. When the engagement was announced to Mrs. Hay there was a storm. The Lowry family were wealthy and proud. Mrs. Hay opposed the match and threatened to send Miss Margaret home. Before this could be done the youthful couple set an example which has been followed by many ardent lovers since. They eloped, and were m. in Aug., 1784, but the girl henceforth was an outcast from home. The first home of the newly wedded couple was on the right bank of Pucketos (now Puckety) Creek, near Fort Crawford, within the present boundaries of Westmoreland Co., where Plumer had taken up 300 acres of land and built a log cabin. There he conducted his aristocratic bride, and the 2 bravely began the struggle of life together without a hope of the father's forgiveness. Plumer cleaned the land and hunted the game that abounded in the woods. They were often annoyed by Indians, and were compelled to take refuge in the woods and occasionally in Fort Crawford. There is something pathetic in the situation of the high born girl who preferred to share the dangers and privations of such a life with the man she loved, rather than give him up for the luxuries of the Lowrey home and a share of the Lowry fortune. George Plumer and Robert Hays being called upon to perform a month's military duty as scouts, a Pittsburgh attorney took advantage of their absence to send a surveyor to survey their lands, and had a patent taken out before they knew anything about it. By this scoundrelly action they lost their all. Shortly after this Plumer met his father in law for the first time. Col. Lowrey had a large body of land N. of Hanna's town, near Greensburg, about which there was litigation, and preparatory to the trial of the case, he was there with a party of surveyors to fix the boundaries. Plumer was hunting in that direction and met the party. Being well acquainted with the surveyors, he shook hands all around, and then he was presented to his astonished father in law. The unexpected meeting was a trifle embarrassing to Plumer. He invited his father in law to go home with him and see his daughter and grandchildren. But the Col. declined, and bade him a cold farewell. But in a day or so who should appear at the little log cabin in the woods but the stately Col. Lowrey, unannounced, but greeted with a tearful welcome. The Col. fairly overwhelmed his long lost daughter and her little sons with embraces, and everything went well after that. That reconciliation between a disobedient daughter and an irate father was notable as the first event of its kind W. of the Alleghenies. Lowrey followed up the reconciliation by giving Plumer and his wife their choice of 3 fine tracts of land near the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek. The selection was made and Plumer erected a house at the mouth of the Sewickley, near W. Newton. So attracted was Col. Lowrey with his son in law's enterprise and thrift that 2 years later he presented him L800 ($4000) to erect mills on his property. The next year the Col. came again and found the saw mill running, and masons at work on the foundation of the grist mill. He was delighted and present Plumer with L300 more and sent him burr stones for the mill. Plumer afterward sold his mill and built a large square log house on the upper portion of his farm, where he spent the remainder of his days. He went into the distilling and mercantile business in 1808 and carried them on with great success. Shortly after this his public career began. He was elected to the Legislature by his admiing constituents in 1812, and was re-elected in 1813, 1814, 1815, 1817. In 1820 he was elected a representative to the 17th Congress from the Westmoreland district. He was then in the prime of his vigorous life, and performed efficient, though modest service, in the national legislature. Mr. Plumer was re-elected to the 18th and 19th Congresses, and after that retired to private life. When urged to allow the use of his name as a candidate for Congress again in 1832 he positively declined. In 1818 he lost his wife, that gentle and steadfast companion of his joys and sorrows. He afterward remarried. Mr. Plumer was a pillar of the early Presbyterian denomination here, and was one of the 9 ruling elders elected to select a site and establish a theological seminary W. of the mountains. He did not favor the site finally selected on Hogback Hill, Allegheny, but favored the purchase of Braddock's Fields for the purpose. He d. Jan. 8, 1843, at the ripe age of 80 years, 6 months and 3 days. This valiant pioneer left a numerous and vigorous line of descendants. Branches of the Plumer family are scattered throughout the state and in the western states. John Campbell Plumer, who distinguished himself in the War of 1812, at the seige of Fort Meigs and in other engagements, and who was a member of the Legislature and State Senate from the Westmoreland district, was his oldest son.