William Plumer

William Plumer
United States Senator from New Hampshire
In office June 17, 1802 – March 3, 1807
Preceded by	James Sheafe
Succeeded by	Nahum Parker
7th Governor of New Hampshire
In office June 5, 1812 – June 3, 1813
Preceded by	John Langdon
Succeeded by	John T. Gilman
In office June 6, 1816 – June 3, 1819
Preceded by	John T. Gilman
Succeeded by	Samuel Bell
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office 1788 1790–1791 1797–1800
Personal details
Born	(1759-06-25)June 25, 1759 Newburyport, Massachusetts
Died	December 22, 1850(1850-12-22) (aged 91) Epping, New Hampshire
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Other political affiliations	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Sarah Fowler Plumer (1762–1852)
Children	William Plumer, Jr.
Residence	Epping, New Hampshire
Alma mater	Newburyport South Writing School
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Baptist

William Plumer (June 25, 1759 – December 22, 1850) was an American lawyer and Baptist lay preacher from Epping, New Hampshire. Born in 1759 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, he represented New Hampshire as a Federalist in the United States Senate from June 17, 1802 to March 3, 1807. Plumer later became a Democratic-Republican and served as Governor of New Hampshire, 1812–1813 and 1816–1819. He also served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

In the 1820 presidential election, he cast the only dissenting vote in the Electoral College against incumbent President James Monroe, voting instead for John Quincy Adams. While some accounts say that this was to ensure that George Washington remained the only American president unanimously chosen by the Electoral College, others assert that he was instead calling attention to his friend Adams as a potential future presidential candidate, or protesting against the "wasteful extravagance" of the Monroe Administration. Plumer also eschewed voting for Daniel D. Tompkins for Vice President as "grossly intemperate" and having "not that weight of character which his office requires," and also "because he grossly neglected his duty" in his "only" official role as president of the Senate by being "absent nearly three-fourths of the time."^[1] Plumer instead voted for Richard Rush.

In 1803, Plumer was one of several New England Federalists who proposed secession from the United States due to lack of support for Federalists, rising influence of Jeffersonian Democrats and the diminished influence of the North due to the Louisiana Purchase.

Plumer was a founder and the first president of the New Hampshire Historical Society. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.^[2] Plumer died in Epping on December 22, 1850, and was buried at the Plumer Family Cemetery in Epping.

William Plumer was the father of William Plumer, Jr., who served in the United States House of Representatives.

See also

• Paper Money Riot

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Plumer.

• Works by William Plumer at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Plumer at Internet Archive
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825

• United States Congress. "William Plumer (id: P000393)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 
• William Plumer at Find a Grave
• William Plumer at National Governors Association
• Memoir of William Plumer, Senior, by Albert Harrison Hoyt. 1871.

Governors of New Hampshire
Weare Langdon Sullivan Langdon Sullivan J. Bartlett Gilman Langdon J. Smith Langdon Plumer Gilman Plumer S. Bell Woodbury Morril Pierce J. Bell Pierce Harvey Dinsmoor Badger Hill Page Hubbard Steele Colby Williams Dinsmoor Jr. Martin Baker Metcalf Haile Goodwin Berry Gilmore Smyth Harriman Stearns Weston Straw Weston Cheney Prescott Head C. Bell Hale Currier Sawyer Goodell Tuttle J. B. Smith Busiel Ramsdell Rollins Jordan Bachelder McLane Floyd Quinby Bass Felker R. Spaulding Keyes J. H. Bartlett A. Brown F. Brown Winant H. Spaulding Tobey Winant Bridges Murphy Blood Dale Adams H. Gregg Dwinell Powell King Peterson Thomson Gallen Roy (Acting) J. Sununu J. Gregg Hough (Acting) Merrill Shaheen Benson Lynch Hassan Morse (Acting; Designate) C. Sununu (Elect)

United States Senators from New Hampshire
Class 2	Wingate Livermore Olcott Gilman Thompson Morril S. Bell Hubbard Woodbury Jenness Cilley Hale Atherton Williams Hale Cragin Rollins Pike Cheney Chandler Marston Chandler Burnham Hollis Keyes Bridges Murphy McIntyre Humphrey Smith Sununu Shaheen
Class 3	Langdon Sheafe Plumer Parker Cutts Mason Storer Parrott Woodbury Hill Page Pierce Wilcox Atherton Norris Wells J. Bell Clark Fogg Patterson Wadleigh C. Bell Blair Gallinger Drew Moses Brown Tobey Upton Cotton Wyman Cotton Durkin Rudman Gregg Ayotte Hassan (Elect)