Saturday, February 16, 2013

James (Jimmy) Plummer - A Street Car Driver in Cincinnati

Jimmy Plummer was my dad's oldest brother.  Jimmy died in 1940,  14 years before I was born. When I first started my research all I had was a name and I knew he died young.  He was James G. Plummer and he was born on October 3, 1907, in Cleves, Ohio. Soon I found a tombstone, in the same cemetery as my grandparents.  I seems a young man that lived to be 32 years old should have left more behind.  I found him in a couple of census records with his parents, in Indiana.  In 1930, I found him living as a boarder, along with his cousin. In Cincinnati, Ohio.

I started searching Ohio, there I came across a death certificate.   Wow, lots of information here.  He was married to Nellie Hein Plummer.  He was a street car operator in Cincinnati.  I now had the cause of his death.

All of the things i knew were just details, written on a piece of paper, I still knew very little about the man.

I FOUND A FIRST COUSIN! ONCE REMOVED ON ANCESTRY.COM!!!

My dad had three older half sisters.  I had their names and had found a little information on them.  Someone else on Ancestry.com was also searching for them.  We connected and started messaging each other.  Since then we have talked on the phone a few times.

She knew my Uncle! He came to her house when she was a girl.  She called him Jimmy.  She talked about him with feelings of nostalgia.  He had been a fun memory her entire life.  She remembers him as being "one of the handsomest men she ever met".   Those memories may have been clouded with sugar, because when he came to visit he always brought candy.  She and her brother really looked forward to his visits.  They didn't get much candy, so he was a very welcome visitor.

So now Jimmy is no longer a piece of paper or a tombstone, he is a fun uncle that just wasn't able to stay around long enough for most of my generation to get to know.  He died on October 3, 1940.

Had I not been researching on Ancestry.com I might never have found my new cousin.  I hope to spend more time listening to her stories.  She has much more information about people I never met.

Since getting this information, I have talked to some of my first cousins.  One of my cousins told me his father worked for the street car system in Cincinnati as an electrician and his grandfather worked for them too.   Surprisingly, there was more of a connection then I had known.  Recently, another cousins told me she believes she may have a picture of Jimmy.  I can't wait to see it!

9 comments:

  1. Betty, how wonderful that discovering this information led to meeting a cousin! I love how Ancestry.com--and other research efforts--open up opportunities to meet distant family we wouldn't otherwise have known. And how delightful to find out that this cousin actually remembered your uncle and could share some stories about him!

    By the way, I noticed a mention about you on GeneaBloggers today! Glad to see you had this blog mentioned! Best wishes as you gather more stories and post them here.

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    1. Thanks Jacqi,
      I love this community. Everyone is so nice. I truly appreciate your encouragement.

      Thanks, Betty

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  2. Betty, I have found people on Ancestry.com as well and contacted others where I have information on their ancestor. Another source that has opened doors for me is findagrave.com. I find who contributed the information and sometimes they are able to help me find more on that person, or people related to them. I see Jacqi and Bill have dropped by. They both have excellent blogs. Welcome to GeneaBloggers! This is a great community of bloggers.

    Regards, Grant

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    1. I have also had someone contact me on Find-A-Grave. Thanks for the welcome. I am enjoying this community and all the wonderful people like you.

      Thanks, Betty

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  3. Best regards, looking forward to having some genealogy fun

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  4. Welcome to Geneabloggers! They led me to your blog. Glad I was able to read this story of your Uncle Jimmy. great story. Keep posting.

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    1. Thanks Colleen for the Welcome and the encouragement. I am anxious to read your blog and get to know you.

      Betty

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  5. Thanks Dr. Bill,
    I appreciate your welcome. I took a book at some of your posts and enjoyed them.

    Betty

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