Dr. J. J. Plumer, the physician and surgeon of the De Lamar Mining Company, also engaged in general practice in De Lamar, is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Edina, April 8, 1860. He traces his ancestry back to England, whence in the year 1832 members of the family who belonged to the sect of Puritans crossed the Atlantic to America. They braved the dangers so common to ocean voyages in those days in order to have liberty of conscience in the New World, and they and their descendants were connected with the early history of the colonies. They were mainly farming people, whose upright lives commended them to the confidence and respect of all. The Doctor’s father, William F. Plumer, was born in Marietta, Ohio, and married Miss Sarah F. Beswick, also a native of that place. In religious faith they are Presbyterians and by profession Mr. Plumer is a civil engineer. He now resides in Hillsboro, Iowa, at the age of sixty-seven years, and all of the family, including three sons and three daughters, are also yet living.
The Doctor, the second in order of birth, spent his boyhood at his parental home, acquiring his literary education in Birmingham Academy, in Iowa. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work he prepared for his chosen calling in the Starling Medical College, in Columbus, Ohio, where he was graduated with the class of 1882. He then opened an office in Bonaparte, Iowa, where he remained for two years, after which he practiced for six years in Kansas and one year in Baker City, Oregon. In 1890 he came to De Lamar to accept the position of physician and surgeon for the De Lamar Mining Company, and in addition to his labors in that capacity he carries on a general practice, having many patrons in this vicinity. He is a skilled and efficient representative of his chosen calling, and faithfully performs each duty as it comes to him. He is also proprietor of the only drug store in the town, a well appointed establishment.
On the 20th of June, 1897, the Doctor was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Margaret C. DeQuette, whose father was one of the pioneers of the Boise basin. She is a valued member of the Episcopal Church and a most estimable lady. The Doctor belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has taken the degrees of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery, being now a worthy Knight Templar and follower of the beauseant. He is a man of scholarly tastes and studious habits, and by his perusal of the leading medical journals and text-books he keeps thoroughly abreast with the latest discoveries and theories advanced in connection with the science of medicine, and is very successful in applying these to the needs of his professional work in Owyhee county.