Thoroughly equipped by liberal collegiate training for the profession which he makes his life work and in which he has ever displayed the strictest fidelity to high principles, Dr. John H. Plunkett is numbered among the leading physicians and surgeons of Porum, where for the past eight years he has been engaged in practice. A native of Arkansas, he was born in Logan County, April 12, 1874, his parents being Jasper and Mary (Bennett) Plunkett, the former also a native of that state, while the latter was born in Tennessee. The father engaged in the cultivation of a farm in Logan County and devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits in that locality. He was a veteran of the Civil war, becoming a member of the Arkansas infantry and serving for two years as a member of the Confederate army. He passed away on the 17th of August, 1886, at the age of forty-three, but the mother survives and is now a resident of Porum, Oklahoma.
In the acquirement of an education John H. Plunkett attended the public schools of Logan and Johnson counties, Arkansas, after-ward spending a year as a student in Cumberland College at Clarksville, Arkansas, while subsequently he pursued a two years’ course in the Peabody Normal College at Nashville, Tennessee. He then devoted his attention to educational work, teaching for four years in the schools of Arkansas and for three years in Indian Territory. He was very successful as an instructor, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. In 1908 he entered Vanderbilt University at Nashville and was graduated from that institution in 1912, at which time the M. D. degree was conferred upon him. Coming to Oklahoma, he first opened an office in Checotah but remained there only six months, and in 1913 came to Porum, where he has since successfully followed his profession. This was not his first visit to the town, however, for he was residing here at the time of the establishment of Porum in 1904, when he became assistant postmaster under his brother, being instrumental in securing the post office here. Later he entered the employ of one of the mercantile firms of the town, retaining that connection until 1908 and acquiring an interest in the business, after which he devoted his attention to the study of medicine and surgery. He is thoroughly familiar with the scientific principles upon which his work rests and is correct in the application of his knowledge to the needs of his patients. He has never lost the attitude of a student toward his profession and through constant reading and close study of the cases which come under his care he is continually broadening his knowledge and ability. From 1914 until 1921 Dr. Plunkett was the owner of a drug store in Porum, which he disposed of in the latter year, and he has made investment in a good farm in Washington County, which he now leases.
On the 6th of February, 1902, Dr. Plunkett was united in marriage to Miss Mittie Crossett and they have become the parents of three children, namely: Horace C., who was born January, 1907; M. Leona, born June 20, 1913; and Junius, whose birth occurred on the 23d of April, 1918.
In his political views the Doctor is a Republican, and he is an active and helpful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving as lay leader and also as steward. His professional connections are with the Muskogee County and Oklahoma State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, belonging to the Scottish Rite consistory at McAlester and to the Mystic Shrine at Muskogee. He is a man of enterprising spirit, of commendable ambition and of untiring industry, and in the field of professional service he has made continuous progress, being recognized as one of the most successful physicians of this locality.