Eugene Plumacher
Eugene Hermann Plumacher (March 7, 1838 – September 25, 1910) was U.S. consul to Maracaibo (now part of Venezuela) from 1877 until 1890. He started his career as a sea captain, later serving in the Union Army as a colonel and working as a university professor.
Eugene Plumacher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Eugene Hermann Plumacher March 7, 1838 |
| Died | September 25, 1910 (aged 72–73) |
| Occupation(s) | Sea captain, colonel, university professor, diplomat |
| Spouse | Olga Marie Pauline Hünerwadel |
| Children | 2 |
Biography
Plumacher[1] was born in 1838, in Prussia.[2] He worked as a sea captain and married the philosopher Olga Marie Pauline Hünerwadel; they had two children.[3] The family later emigrated to the U.S. where he helped establish the Swiss colony of Beersheba Springs, Tennessee.[2] He served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[4]
He later survived a bout of yellow fever and relayed reports on upheavals and conflicts in Maracaibo, which is now part of Venezuela.[2] 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
- Plumacher, Eugene H. Memorias ("Memoirs"). 1912
References
- Tarver, H. Micheal (2021). The United States and Venezuela During the First World War: Cordial Relations of Suspicious Cooperation. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-4985-1110-0.
- "Plumacher, Eugene Hermann: Papers (1877-1947)" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- Hunerwadel, Otto K (June 2008). Hunerwadel Family (PDF). pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
- "German ancestry Politicians in the District of Columbia". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- "Pacific Medical Journal". January 3, 1908 – via Google Books.
- "plumacher". June 11, 1903. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
- "University of Delaware: DR. CHARLES SAJOUS PAPERS". www.lib.udel.edu.
- Tamayo, Jorge García (June 10, 2018). "La Peste Loca: La fiebre amarilla en Maracaibo ( I )".
- "Francisco Mangano – Molero: Maracaibo, una ciudad fantasma | BienDateao".
- State, United States Department of (January 4, 1917). "The Biographic Register". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
Further reading
- Obituary in the Los Angeles Herald, September 27, 1910 - Volume XXXVII, Number 361 page 3