Volume 049-4 - October 1995 (10 pages)

Dreyfuss. In August 1854, Plumer and Heyer opened the City Bakery on Broad Street, occupying the same building that once housed Madame Eleanore Dumont’s Polka Saloon. The business was barely launched when Plumer suddenly bought out Heyer again, and after a few weeks sold the bakery. Sometime during this period of bakery transactions, Henry Plumer also bought a house on Spring Street and cultivated an interest in law enforcement and Democratic politics. He ran for office for the first time in November 1855, as a candidate for the unexpired term of a city marshal who had resigned. David Johnson not only trounced him, but Plumer received not a single vote. Six months later, when Johnson ran again for the full term, Plumer edged him out by 7 votes out of 841. Once in office, Plumer proved to be remarkably adept at locating and arresting men who were wanted for various crimes, but the men he put behind bars had a way of slipping out from behind them rather quickly. In February 1857, Plumer resigned as president of the Willow Mining Company and shortly thereafter sold his Spring Street house to gambler John Vedder and his young wife Lucinda. Plumer was elected again as city marshal, and was reelected to the Democratic central committee. These successes, however, were followed by a humiliating defeat when he ran for one of several assembly seats allocated to Nevada County, and was the only Democrat to lose.! [In November 1856 an event happened in which Plumer was involved. Two parties were out to capture Jim Webster, a criminal who had escaped from jail, and, in the darkness, they started shooting at each other. Plumer was in the party in which the victims, Sheriff Wright and Deputy Sheriff David Johnson were riding. ] City Marshal Henry Plumer, who had caught Webster after a previous escape, offered to find him again, but only if he would be paid. He complained that on the earlier occasion, the sheriff had failed to reimburse him for horse rent. Marshal Plumer claimed to have information that the escaped prisoners might be at a Gold Flat cabin owned by the Farley brothers. The Farleys were known to have taken care of Jim Webster’s mare once, and they had turned it over to Lee Schell, who was arrested at Smartville with Webster. On the way back from that place, Webster had asked Plumer to take him to the Farley cabin, saying their testimony helped him out of a previous scrape, and he hoped they’d raise bail for him. Schell had been released for lack of a complaint; hours after the jail break Plumer’s informant had spotted Schell and one of the Farleys carrying a bundle of clothes into the cabin. Sheriff W. W. Wright hated to part with money, especially to a city employee like Plumer, for whom he had no particular fondness. The money would have to come out of his own pocket, at least until he submitted a bill and was compensated 1. Greenbacks and Copperheads 1859-1869, pp. 132-133, © 1995 David A. Comstock. 26 by the county. . . Wright was dismayed by the procession of prisoners leaving his jail without permission. Because it was embarrassing, he agreed to pay Plumer $300 for their return. However, he attached a condition of his own: Wright was to go with Plumer. The sheriff would not let the city marshal take all the credit. Plumer had expected to go with his sidekick Bruce Garvey and no one else, but he saw Wright's mind was made up. They had agreed to meet in the sheriff’s office at 5:00 p.m.; Plumer later postponed the meeting half an hour, saying he was too busy to leave. A man stopped Plumer in front of Hirschman’s cigar store shortly after five and told him a pair of horses were tied in a ravine at Gold Flat. The man and his friends thought they might have been put there for the escapees. Plumer and Garvey were outside the sheriff’s office at 5:30 when Hamilton McCormick took the marshal to one side and started to tell the same story. Plumer interrupted, said he was in a hurry, knew all about it and was on his way to Gold Flat. McCormick made a point of warning Plumer that another party was there already, watching the horses. Afterwards Plumer couldn’t recollect being told about this second party, but McCormick stuck by his story, testifying: No one could have heard me tell Plumer about the horses except the man who was with me, we were at least ten feet from any other person.. I had a reason for telling Plumer that there was a party there, because I knew an instance of that kind once at home, where an innocent man was shot while watching stolen goods; I was afraid of Plumer’s party shooting [the others]. At last the posse rode out of town. To the considerable annoyance of Plumer and Garvey, who preferred to keep the group small and inconspicuous, Sheriff Wright showed up at the last minute with two deputies and a liquor merchant. Loring Wallace Williams and T. L. Baldwin also had observed Lee Schell carry a valise into the Farley cabin that morming, and they had watched him take a Farley horse and ride toward Grass Valley. Another Gold Flat resident saw him tum off the Grass Valley road at Half-Mile House and head for Wolf Creek. About five in the afternoon, Williams heard of some horses tied up at Gold Ravine, through which a small stream known as Gold Run flowed lazily toward Deer Creek. Williams, Baldwin, and Joe Vanhook decided to have a look. Because Williams wanted to hobble the horses, he stopped at George Armstrong’s house for a rope, and Armstrong offered to come along. The four men located the horses and found A. L. Robinson and a friend already there. Robinson showed them an Allen’s revolver he’d removed from a saddle bag attached to one animal. They had been watching the horses since noon, they ~said, and a third man, McCutchin, had gone to town to tell the sheriff. McCutchin had wanted to inform Plumer, but Robinson said he should tell Boss Wright.

Dreyfuss. In August 1854, Plumer and Heyer opened the City Bakery on Broad Street, occupying the same building that once housed Madame Eleanore Dumont’s Polka Saloon. The business was barely launched when Plumer suddenly bought out Heyer again, and after a few weeks sold the bakery. Sometime during this period of bakery transactions, Henry Plumer also bought a house on Spring Street and cultivated an interest in law enforcement and Democratic politics. He ran for office for the first time in November 1855, as a candidate for the unexpired term of a city marshal who had resigned. David Johnson not only trounced him, but Plumer received not a single vote. Six months later, when Johnson ran again for the full term, Plumer edged him out by 7 votes out of 841. Once in office, Plumer proved to be remarkably adept at locating and arresting men who were wanted for various crimes, but the men he put behind bars had a way of slipping out from behind them rather quickly. In February 1857, Plumer resigned as president of the Willow Mining Company and shortly thereafter sold his Spring Street house to gambler John Vedder and his young wife Lucinda. Plumer was elected again as city marshal, and was reelected to the Democratic central committee. These successes, however, were followed by a humiliating defeat when he ran for one of several assembly seats allocated to Nevada County, and was the only Democrat to lose.! [In November 1856 an event happened in which Plumer was involved. Two parties were out to capture Jim Webster, a criminal who had escaped from jail, and, in the darkness, they started shooting at each other. Plumer was in the party in which the victims, Sheriff Wright and Deputy Sheriff David Johnson were riding. ] City Marshal Henry Plumer, who had caught Webster after a previous escape, offered to find him again, but only if he would be paid. He complained that on the earlier occasion, the sheriff had failed to reimburse him for horse rent. Marshal Plumer claimed to have information that the escaped prisoners might be at a Gold Flat cabin owned by the Farley brothers. The Farleys were known to have taken care of Jim Webster’s mare once, and they had turned it over to Lee Schell, who was arrested at Smartville with Webster. On the way back from that place, Webster had asked Plumer to take him to the Farley cabin, saying their testimony helped him out of a previous scrape, and he hoped they’d raise bail for him. Schell had been released for lack of a complaint; hours after the jail break Plumer’s informant had spotted Schell and one of the Farleys carrying a bundle of clothes into the cabin. Sheriff W. W. Wright hated to part with money, especially to a city employee like Plumer, for whom he had no particular fondness. The money would have to come out of his own pocket, at least until he submitted a bill and was compensated 1. Greenbacks and Copperheads 1859-1869, pp. 132-133, © 1995 David A. Comstock. 26 by the county. . .. Wright was dismayed by the procession of prisoners leaving his jail without permission. Because it was

embarrassing, he agreed to pay Plumer $300 for their return. However, he attached a condition of his own: Wright was to go with Plumer. The sheriff would not let the city marshal take all the credit. Plumer had expected to go with his sidekick Bruce Garvey and no one else, but he saw Wright's mind was made up. They had agreed to meet in the sheriff’s office at 5:00 p.m.; Plumer later postponed the meeting half an hour, saying he was too busy to leave. A man stopped Plumer in front of Hirschman’s cigar store shortly after five and told him a pair of horses were tied in a ravine at Gold Flat. The man and his friends thought they might have been put there for the escapees. Plumer and Garvey were outside the sheriff’s office at 5:30 when Hamilton McCormick took the marshal to one side and started to tell the same story. Plumer interrupted, said he was in a hurry, knew all about it and was on his way to Gold Flat. McCormick made a point of warning Plumer that another party was there already, watching the horses. Afterwards Plumer couldn’t recollect being told about this second party, but McCormick stuck by his story, testifying: No one could have heard me tell Plumer about the horses except the man who was with me, we were at least ten feet from any other person.... I had a reason for telling Plumer that there was a party there, because I knew an instance of that kind once at home, where an innocent man was shot while watching stolen goods; I was afraid of Plumer’s party shooting [the others]. At last the posse rode out of town. To the considerable annoyance of Plumer and Garvey, who preferred to keep the group small and inconspicuous, Sheriff Wright showed up at the last minute with two deputies and a liquor merchant. Loring Wallace Williams and T. L. Baldwin also had observed Lee Schell carry a valise into the Farley cabin that morming, and they had watched him take a Farley horse and ride toward Grass Valley. Another Gold Flat resident saw him tum off the Grass Valley road at Half-Mile House and head for Wolf Creek. About five in the afternoon, Williams heard of some horses tied up at Gold Ravine, through which a small stream known as Gold Run flowed lazily toward Deer Creek. Williams, Baldwin, and Joe Vanhook decided to have a look. Because Williams wanted to hobble the horses, he stopped at George Armstrong’s house for a rope, and Armstrong offered to come along. The four men located the horses and found A. L. Robinson and a friend already there. Robinson showed them an Allen’s revolver he’d removed from a saddle bag attached to one animal. They had been watching the horses since noon, they ~said, and a third man, McCutchin, had gone to town to tell the sheriff. McCutchin had wanted to inform Plumer, but Robinson said he should tell Boss Wright.