Special Collections: Guide to the E. Plummer and Sons Records

Arranged and described by Brenda Howitson Steeves
Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department
January 2004; revised December 2009
 
 
Introduction and Summary Information
 
Collection Title: E. Plummer and Sons Records.
Dates of the Collection: 1893-1937 (inclusive); 1911-1937 (bulk).
Provenance: Unknown.
Collection Number: MS 413.
Size and Arrangement: The collection consists of 11 ledgers.
Preferred Citation: E. Plummer and Sons Records, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine.
Restrictions on Access and Use: This collection is kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice is required for retrieval.
 
Biography
 
The collection contains business records of Edward Plummer and his sons. Edward Plummer was born in Durham, Maine, in 1830. He moved to Lisbon Falls, Maine, as a young man and was involved in several enterprises there. In 1849 he bought a sawmill in Lisbon Falls and operated it until 1862 when he sold it to the Worumbo Mill Company, a woolen manufacturer. He also served on the Board of Directors of Worumbo. In 1861, he purchased land which comprised the water-power on Ten-Mile Falls. He served as agent of the Androscoggin Water Power Company, incorporated in 1867 with capital stock of $50,000. The company owned and operated a sawmill and gristmill which did custom grinding of cornmeal and other products. Plummer was involved in log driving on the Androscoggin River and was active in encouraging the development of railroads in the Lisbon Falls area, especially the extension of the Portland and Buckfield Railroad. He also served as a representative to the Maine Legislature.
 
Edward Plummer died in 1900. He had two sons, Harry E. (1872-1940) and Walter E. Plummer (died 1944). Harry was superintendent of the Androscoggin Water Power Company, which was succeeded by E. Plummer and Sons Company, incorporated in 1901. This company built a new steam-powered sawmill in Lisbon Falls in 1907. Walter E. Plummer was assistant treasurer and clerk at Worumbo until his retirement in 1942.
 
Scope and Content Note
 
The collection consists of eleven volumes of business ledgers. By their dates, it is assumed that they mostly concern the firm of E. Plummer and Sons, incorporated in 1901.
 
The daybook, 1898-1904, gives an account of amounts of corn, meal, flour, oats, bran, etc., ground for various customers. The ledger, 1893-1900, gives information about customer accounts as well as financial information for the gristmill, lumbering, the Lisbon Falls Fibre Co. and Worumbo Mfg. Co. The cashbooks, order books, sales book and time book concern the sawmill and lumberyard. The order and sales books list shingles, clapboards, laths and lumber as products, and the weekly time book gives employee names, time worked and rates of pay.
 
Box List
 
Ledger
 
1         Daybook, 1898-1904 [Gristmill]
2         Ledger, 1893-1900 [|Gristmill and lumber yard]
3-6      Cashbooks, 1902-1937 [Sawmill and lumber yard]
7-9      Order books, 1919-1920, 1924-1928 [Sawmill and lumber yard]
10       Sales book, 1925-1937 [Sawmill and lumber yard]
11       Time book, 1911-1919 [Sawmill and lumber yard]

Finding Aids for selected manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library are accessible online in URSUS, in a browsable Guide to Manuscript Collections. Please contact Special Collections at spc@umit.maine.edu or (207) 581-1686 for further information.

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Special Collections Staff: spc@umit.maine.edu | Revised: 01/17/2013