Sourced from The Warren Record - Warrenton celebrates Plummer family
Aug 1, 2018 Updated Aug 29, 2018

John S. Plummer was the son of John Plummer and Mrs. Lizzie Boyd Plummer. He was the husband of Mrs. Marie J. (Owen) Plummer. To their union, at least eight children were born including Robert, John Owen, James Baker, Richard P., Delia Marie, Beulah, Courtney and Archer. His wife preceded him in death.
Sources ~ North Carolina, Certificate of Death #355; and the 1870-1930 census records of Warren County, North Carolina. - sourced from Find A Grave

John S. Plummer and 11 other prominent African American landowners and businessmen organized in 1868 the Plummer Hook & Ladder Company. the First Fire Dept. In Warrenton, NC. Plummer helped to establish the North Carolina Negro Fire Department Association, serving as its president for 25 years.
the men fought fires with water from local wells as no other water source was available at the time. Members of the Ransom family built the company’s first wagon, which is now displayed at the N.C. Museum of History.

Plummer Hook & Ladder Company, known as the longest continuously operating black fire company in the state, grew into what became the Warrenton Fire Department, which was consolidated with Warrenton Rural in 2004.

The Plummers trace their ancestry back to Christopher Columbus Christmas, as well as Henry, Joe and Leroy Plummer. The family has made a deep impression on local history from providing land for what became the town of Warrenton and developing a layout of the town, to establishing the Plummer Hook and Ladder Company, which grew into the Warrenton Fire Department. The family also includes Watkins relatives.

The family’s connections with the Warrenton community extend beyond fighting fires. Greenwood Baptist Trustee Daniel Watson said that Plummer ancestor Christopher Columbus Christmas was among the people who deeded land for the church, and one of his descendants served as associate pastor of the church.

Family member Donald Bowling said that today’s Plummer family is seven generations from a woman by the name of Fannie Plummer who married a Johnny Watkins who settled in the area that became Warrenton. Some family members later traveled from Warren County and settled in other areas from Virginia to New Jersey.

Bowling told the gathered family members that they could learn more about their ancestors by visiting the Greenwood Baptist Church Cemetery, where many are buried.

Jennie A. Johnson Franklin, goddaughter of J. Baker Plummer, said that relatives on the Christmas side are buried in a family cemetery near the church.

Johnson-Franklin outlined points of interest featured in the African-American Walking Tour of Warrenton.

“There are lots of places in Warren County with your names on it,” she said.

Johnson-Franklin added that she remembered family members Alfred Plummer, a carpenter, and his brother, Clarence Plummer, a painter, who played key roles in local construction.

“It is important to know your family history, to know who you are,” she said. “Don’t let it stop today.”

Richard Hunter, former Warren County clerk of court, told the audience that his home, the Fitts-Mordecai-Plummer House on Warrenton’s Plummer Street, formerly housed a school known as The Shiloh Institute. He displayed the diploma of a Plummer family ancestor, Nannie Saloma Christmas.

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Sourced from: Legeros Fire Line

The first (and only) fire company in Warrenton, NC, was the Plummer Hook & Ladder Company. They were organized in 1868 by a group of Black citizens. One of their earliest pieces of apparatus was a hand-pulled bucket and ladder wagon.

This was supplanted with a new model in the 1890s, and which was pulled by mule. They later operated a Howe combination chemical and hand engine, supplied by fire cisterns and wells. After hydrants were added, they brought hose to fires on hand reels and with their first motor apparatus.

The roster of motor trucks consisted of an 1917? Ford Model T hose truck, which perhaps also included a chemical tank and/or pumping engine. It was followed by a 1938 Ford/Oren pumper, a 1964? Ford/Bean pumper, and a 1982 American LaFrance pumper added in [year], ex-Austin, TX.[1]

The Plummer fire company operated for over 140 years, and closed shop in 2004. By that time, they were more simply known as the Warrenton Fire Department. They were the town-operated fire department, and had been from the beginning. In 2004, the town began contracting with the private Warrenton Rural Fire Department for municipal protection.

And the members and equipment of WFD merged with WRFD. The fire company was also the longest-operating black fire company in the state. And one of the rare all-Black fire companies that served into and through the mid- and late-20th century. (Other "modern" black fire companies included the former Wake Forest FD #2 and the current Soul City FD.)

The Plummer Hook & Ladder Fire Museum organization was created in 2004, on a pledge by town to preserve the history of their long-serving fire department. And they've been slowly, steadily working to convert the former fire station at City Hall into a museum.

Still in town possession were the 1938 Ford/Oren pumper, along with a pair of hand hose reels. And sundry pieces of old hand equipment, records, and photos. The 1890s bucket-and-ladder wagon, however, was donated to the NC Museum of History in 1976, where it was once displayed, along with other artifacts. The 1982 American LaFrance pumper was recently returned to the museum, from WRFD.

As noted in the prior posting, on June 30, yesterday, members of the museum and others traveled to the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer, to retrieve and return the 1890s bucket-and-ladder wagon. They also stopped at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, to retrieve two ladders and a pike pole, that accompanied the thing. They plan to display the wagon in the fire museum by the end of the year.

Historical Perspectives

Sanborn Map summaries:

1885 – Hook & Ladder company, colored – No hand engines – Water supply not good, wells
1891 – Hook & Ladder company – No hand engines – Water supply not good, wells
1896 – One chemical engine – One Hook & Ladder company – 500 feet 2.5-inch hose – No hand engines, no “independent hose carts” – 15,000 gallon cistern
1901 – Volunteer, 36 men – One chemical & hand engine combined – One hook & ladder company
1907 – Volunteer, 36 men – One chemical & hand engine, combined – One hook & ladder company – 600 feet 2.5-inch hose
1912 – Volunteer, two companies, 55 men combined – One combination hand engine & chemical [engine], 60 gallons – One hose cart – One hook & ladder truck – Hose, 500 feet (new), 200 feet (good condition) – Alarm by bell – Eight fire cisterns (one 15,000 gallon, seven 8,000 gallon), also private water tanks and wells
1918 – 40 men – No horses – One combination gasoline pumping engine and chemical [engine] – Two hose reels – One hook & ladder wagon – 1000 feet 2.5-inch hose – Alarm by bell near court house – No alarm boxes – 46 hydrants, four fire cisterns
1925 – One chief, 26 men – One Howe gasoline-powered motor pump, 300 GPM – Two hose reels, 400-feet 2.5-inch hose each – One hook and ladder truck – All hand-drawn – Alarm by bell near courthouse – 46 double hydrants
1942 – One chief, 27 men – One Ford/Oren pumper, 500/1500, 1000 -feet 2.5-inch hose, 200 feet 1.5-inch hose – 12 alarm boxes – 51 double hydrants
Other milestones:

1977 – Tarheel Firefighter issue of March reports Pagecom system installed, with six pagers for firemen, mobile unit in the “town fire truck”, and a base station in the dispatcher’s office of the WPD. The antenna is installed on the roof of Diamond’s Discount Store on Mains Street. Funding was cost-shared by the federal government. System includes “flasher system on Main Street” that changes all traffic signals to amber during an emergency call, and all lights red to incoming traffic on Main Street.
How many pieces of apparatus did Warrenton’s municipal FD operate, since the creation of the Plummer Hook & Ladder Company in 1869? Here’s a starter list:

1860s [?] Hand hook & ladder & bucket wagon
1890s Hand hook & ladder truck, built by James Ransom and Sons. Source: THFF, 12/76.
1890s Howe combination engine, hand-pulled, hand-powered. Delivered mid-March 1895, per TWR, 4/5/95. Pumping engine also equipped with chemical tank(s). Cited as 1899 for purchase year, in retrospective newspaper stories in the 1960s.
1913[?] Howe pumping engine, hand-pulled, gas-powered, 300 GPM + hand hose reel – Added 1913.
1917[?] Ford Model T – Added in 1917. Was it equipped with chemical tanks and/or pumping engine? TBD. Might have simply carried hose for connecting to the town’s hydrant system, which was installed in 1914. Recounted a Fire Chief in 1976, the truck often “took some furious cranking” to get going and “had to be parked on an incline.” Retired in 1938, per THFF, 12/76.
1938 Ford/Oren, 750/150 – Reg #RW-134 – Still owned by town, housed at fire museum. Was reserve truck in 1976, per THFF, 12/76.
1964[?] Ford C/Bean HPV Fire Fighter, 750/500 – Delivered June 27, 1964.
1982 American LaFrance Century, 1250/750 – Reg #86-CA-7557 – Formerly served Austin, TX – Added late 1990s or early 2000s.
Other Citations

Hand-pulled chemical engine, 60 gallons – Added 1891-1896, per Sanborn. Was this the same engine as the Howe combination engine, or a separate piece of apparatus?
Not Operated by WFD

1987 E-One Hurricane, 1250/200/95-foot – Reg #5549 – Former Orange County, FL – Ordered by town, but delivered in 2004, after WFD ceased operation.

Sources:
Early Black Firefighters in NC – https://legeros.com/history/ebf
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – See excerpts added as comments in second posting, https://www.facebook.com/LegerosFire/posts/3825173537510846
Warren Record via Digital NC Newspapers – https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/the-warren-record-warrenton-n-c/
Warren Record, July 4, 1968 – Historical Retrospective – http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073168/1968-07-04/ed-1
WNC fire pics – Warrenton/Warrenton Rural – https://www.wncfirepics.com/NorthCarolina/Warren-County/Warrenton-Rural/