When restoration began on the Plummer Burial Ground in late summer of this year, there was only one tombstone standing, that of Eliza (Plummer) Garman (1853-1878).
The property was an overgrown tangle of poison ivy, poke and buckbrush. Two large, rotten trees swayed precariously overhead in the wind. White Marble Flooring
Thenia Bolton McHenry enumerated and identified this cemetery in the 1930s and listed 27 burials. Most likely, she named it after John and Tabitha Susan (McMillan) Plummer who died in 1920 and 1917, respectively. Their granite tombstone is large and legible.
Mrs. McHenry described the cemetery location thus: Plummer Burying Ground on the Garman Farm now owned by Seidel: Township 44 North -- Range 13 West -- Section 14 -- SE ¼ of NW ¼.
Daughters of the American Revolution, Bettye Gilbert and Betty Morse, surveyed the cemetery in April 1986, and reported it was fenced, but pigs were being kept in the enclosure and the cemetery was in deplorable condition. At that time, only three markers remained standing while several were lying on the ground and others were broken in pieces. Several tombstones were on top of two pig feeders.
Unlike in public or church cemeteries, persons interred in these rural burial grounds are usually related or connected to each other in some manner. Occasionally, they are neighbors or close friends.
Most of the burials here -- Hackney, Scruggs, Plummer, Garman -- are descendants of William Ward Hackney and his wife, Mary Cecelia Ragsdale, who had 10 children. An obituary revealed Mary Cecelia Hackney was buried in the Plummer Cemetery in 1891 -- a previously unrecorded fact. Her grave is not marked with an engraved stone.
Probing the soil revealed the unrecorded tombstone of Joseph Pearson (1799-1857), who is the first person buried in the Plummer Cemetery. Unfortunately, nothing else is known about him. It doesn't appear he is related to anyone else interred here.
As probing continued and the brush was cleared, about 15 native stone markers, in two rows, became evident across the east side of the cemetery. These are likely the graves of other family members and perhaps some enslaved people.
Brothers William and Nicholas Hobbs Plummer moved from Scott County, Kentucky, to Marion Township, Cole County in the mid-1830s. The brothers were close and purchased several parcels of property, together and separately. William married Elizabeth Ann Hackney in November 1839. Nicholas continued to live with his brother until 1861 when he married Mariah Johnson in Moniteau County.
Nicholas owned three enslaved males, listed in the 1850 and 1860 Slave Census Schedules. One of them, Samuel Benton, is also buried at the Plummer Cemetery.
Samuel was born in Scott County, Kentucky, in 1816 and died Dec. 17, 1882, in Cole County. He enlisted for three years in the 67th Regiment, United States Colored Troops, Co. 1, in February 1864. His enlistment papers described him as age, 40 years, height 5 foot, 3 inches. He was hospitalized in New Orleans in April 1864, then returned to active duty June 9, 1864. He was discharged for disability at Morganza, Louisiana, on Nov. 13, 1864.
Samuel was united with Cintha sometime after 1850. No formal marriage records were found in Cole, Moniteau or Cooper counties, so it is assumed this was a traditional slave union. They had two sons, John and Joseph, and three daughters, Harriet, Josephine and Charlotte, and show up together as a family for the first time in the 1870 census in Marion Township, Cole County.
Samuel applied for a military invalid pension in 1881 and Cintha applied for a widow's pension in April 1883. Cintha last appears in the 1890 Veteran's Schedule in Marion Township. It is likely she is buried in the Plummer Cemetery with a native stone marker.
Samuel's daughter, Josephine, married Monroe Wilkerson Junior in Cole County. M.J. Wilkerson (1859-1885), who is buried here is probably Monroe's relative. Another daughter, Harriet, married Andrew Morton. Their infant daughter, Estella (1882-1883) is interred here. The remainder of the Morton family moved to Kansas City.
The last interment in the Plummer burying ground was Cora D. Scruggs, who died in 1927 at the age of 59 years. She shares a tombstone with her sister Margaret. Their parents, Henry Clay and Nancy Caroline (Hackney) Scruggs, are also buried here along with their children Duruda, Montague and John.
Bases have been leveled and tombstones repaired, cleaned and reset. Cemetery grounds will be seeded in the spring. The Plummer burial ground is now fully restored and stands as an enduring testament to the memory of those interred here.
Nancy Arnold Thompson is a retired medical administrator. Her hobby is cemetery restoration. She is a regular contributor to this column.
Print Headline: Plummer family burial ground restored
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