Eugene Plumacher

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Eugene Plumacher
Born
Eugene Hermann Plümacher

(1838-03-07)March 7, 1838
Elberfeld, Kingdom of Prussia
DiedSeptember 25, 1910(1910-09-25) (aged 72)
Washington D.C., U.S.
Resting placeGlenwood Cemetery, Washington D.C., U.S.
NationalityGerman-American
Occupation(s)Diplomant, military officer, university professor
SpouseOlga Marie Pauline Hünerwadel
Children2

Eugene Hermann Plumacher (March 7, 1838 – September 25, 1910) was a German-American diplomat, who served as U.S. consul to Maracaibo, Venezuela, from 1877 until 1890. He started his career as an officer in the Dutch navy and Swiss army, later serving in the Union Army as a colonel and working as a university professor.

Biography[edit]

Eugene Hermann Plumacher was born in Elberfeld in the Kingdom of Prussia, on March 7, 1838. He was educated in Germany, Switzerland, and France and, in 1859, enrolled in the Dutch navy as a third officer of the East India Naval Service; his naval career lasted six years. In 1865, he accepted a commission in the Swiss army as Lieutenant of Cavalry in the cavalry company. He was later promoted to captain of the Swiss army.[1]

Plumacher later married the philosopher Olga Marie Pauline Hünerwadel; they had two children.[2] The family later emigrated to the U.S. where he helped establish the Swiss colony of Beersheba Springs, Tennessee.[3] He served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[4]

Plumacher later survived a bout of yellow fever and relayed reports on upheavals and conflicts in Maracaibo, which is now part of Venezuela.[3] He studied lepers and leprosy, postulating that it was a hereditary condition.[5] He also worked as a university professor in Tennessee.[4]

The Inter Ocean ran a story in 1903 about how Plumacher discouraged others seeking his consul post by highlighting the deadly diseases and dangers surrounding the post.[6] Plumacher corresponded with Dr. Charles Sajous.[7] In his memoirs he discusses various aspects of life in Maracaibo.[8][9]

Plumacher retired from his consul position in 1910 and died in Washington, D.C., on September 25 of the same year.[10] He was buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Washington, D.C.[4]

Publications[edit]

  • Plumacher, Eugene H. Memorias ("Memoirs"). 1912

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Remarkable Career of Capt. E. H. Plumacher". Buffalo Courier. Buffalo, New York. 1910-10-09. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Hunerwadel, Otto K (June 2008). Hunerwadel Family (PDF). pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  3. ^ a b "Plumacher, Eugene Hermann: Papers (1877-1947)" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  4. ^ a b c "German ancestry Politicians in the District of Columbia". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  5. ^ "Pacific Medical Journal". January 3, 1908 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "plumacher". June 11, 1903. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "University of Delaware: DR. CHARLES SAJOUS PAPERS". www.lib.udel.edu.
  8. ^ Tamayo, Jorge García (June 10, 2018). "La Peste Loca: La fiebre amarilla en Maracaibo ( I )".
  9. ^ "Francisco Mangano – Molero: Maracaibo, una ciudad fantasma | BienDateao".
  10. ^ State, United States Department of (January 4, 1917). "The Biographic Register". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.

Further reading[edit]

  • Obituary in the Los Angeles Herald, September 27, 1910 - Volume XXXVII, Number 361 page 3
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