PLUMER, William Swan, clergyman, born in Griersburg (now Darlington), Beaver County, Pennsylvania, 25 July, 1802" died in Baltimore, Maryland, 22 October, 1880. He was graduated at Washington college, Virginia, in 1825, studied at Princeton theological seminary in 1826, was ordained the next year, and organized the first Presbyterian church in Danville, Virginia, in 1827. He then removed to Warrenton, North Carolina, where he also organized a church, and afterward preached in Raleigh, Washington, and New Berne, North Carolina, and in Prince Edward and Charlotte counties, Virginia He was pastor of a church in Petersburg, Virginia, in 1831-'4, and in Richmond in 1835-'46. He founded the " Watchman of the South," a religious weekly, in 1837, and for eight years was its sole editor. In 1838 he was instrumental in establishing the Deaf, dumb, and blind institution in Staunton, Virginia He was pastor of churches in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1847-'54, and in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, in 1855-'62, at the same time serving as professor of didactic and pastoral theology in Western theological seminary there. He resided in Philadelphia for the next three years, was in charge of a Presbyterian church in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1865-'6, and at that date became professor of didactic and polemic theology in the Theological seminary in Columbia, South Carolina He was transferred to the chair of historic, casuistic, and pastoral theology in 1875, and held that office until a few months previous to his death. He was moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church in 1838, and of the southern branch of that body in 1871. He received the degree of D. D. from Princeton, Lafayette, and Washington colleges in 1838, and that of LL.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1857. Dr. Plumer was an interesting figure in the history of the Presbyterian church. He was not an orator, but he exercised a strong personal influence over his audiences, and possessed a gift for teaching. His writings were practical, didactic, and of the extreme Calvinistic school. They include "Substance of an Argument against the Indiscriminate Incorporation of Churches and Religious Societies" (New York, 1847) ; "The Bible True, and Infidelity Wicked" (1848); "Plain Thoughts for Children " (Philadelphia, 1849); "Short Sermons to Little Children" (1850); "Thoughts Worth Remembering" (New York, 1850); "The Saint and the Sin-net" (Philadelphia, 1851); "The Grace of Christ " (1853);" Rome against the Bible, and the Bible against Rome" (1854) : "Christ our Theme and Glory" (1855); "The Church and her Enemies" (1856) ; "The Law of God as contained in the Ten Commandments " (1864) ; "Vital Godliness" (New York, 1865) ; "Jehovah Jireh" (Philadelphia, 1866) ; "Studies in the Book of Psalms" (1866) ; "The Rock of Our Salvation " (1867); "Words of Truth and Love" (1868) ; "Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans" (1870); "Commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews" (1870); more than fifty tracts that were published by religious societies; and many occasional sermons.