Did you ever discover something and wonder why you’d never heard of it before? Caroline Plummer is, for many, just such a discovery. It is quite possible there has never been another Salem woman whose generosity and concern for youth remained so invisible for so long.

Caroline Plummer’s works of philanthropy are numerous. She had a passion for history and personal growth which translated into her support for the Salem Athenaeum, for endowing a chair at Harvard University for the teaching of Christian morals, and for the Plummer Home.

When she established the foundation of this home through her will in the 1850’s, she sought to build “a farm school for boys in the city of Salem.” At the time, Salem was a thriving commercial center for the region and had its share of big city ills. With progressive foresight, Caroline Plummer saw an opportunity to help troubled youth correct their ways before they did something worthy of incarceration. And so, the Plummer Home became a farm where the staff helped guide youth toward more productive and community-focused behavior.

Caroline Plummer knew how to throw a party. Her presence was enough to ensure others would attend.

Looking back on Caroline, we see an attractive, well-educated woman who welcomed responsibility and flourished at social functions. Caroline Plummer’s expected presence was enough to ensure that others would attend these functions. Yet, her contemporaries related that she did not converse at these affairs with the intent of entertaining so much as to express her carefully thought-out views on issues. There was no pretention, though she leavened her conversation with a quick and delightful wit. And acquaintance at her time described her as “eminently distinguished by her intellectual gifts and graces, and her powers of conversation.” The friend goes on to say, “Such I found was her reputation among the best people in Salem, and such upon personal acquaintance was my own decided impression.” It was said that she had “cultivated” a familiarity with the British poets and “an intimate acquaintance with English literature generally.”

She was the sole survivor of a large and adventurous family.

Caroline Plummer was the second of seven children. Her father, Dr. Joshua Plummer, was born in Gloucester in 1756 and graduated from Harvard College in 1773 at the age of 17. In 1777, he married Olive Lyman of York, Maine. After the Revolutionary War, the Plummers moved to the corner of Barton Square and Essex St. in Salem. Soon after, Dr. Plummer died of consumption at the age of 35. The doctor’s reputation in Salem was that of a man with great wit and humor who enjoyed life to the fullest. He was held in high regard by everyone who knew him, and especially by his patients. When he died, his wife had no means of support for her large family so out of necessity, she took in boarders. Caroline being among the oldest children pitched in and learned very early the value of a dollar.

A few years later, Caroline’s mother contracted consumption and began taking extended visits with her parents in York, Maine, with her sister in Kennebunk and with her brother in Waltham. She was away for weeks at a time. While her mother was away, Caroline took care of her siblings and ran the household.

Caroline was a close friend of Salem’s Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, noted for his world famous book the New American Practical Navigator, the latest version of which is still found on every U.S. Navy Ship. As a member of the Royal Society of London and as president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Bowditch was a highly respected presence in nineteenth century America. Just days before his death, Bowditch said of his friend Caroline that “On every point of integrity and honor Caroline Plummer is as true as a needle to the pole.”

Caroline’s life was happy until she began to lose her siblings. The first was her sister Sophia in 1801. The youngest of her brothers, Lyman, was next and the first to face a tragic ending. He was the darling of the family, and in 1804 he went to South America on his first voyage, whereupon five members of the ship’s crew, including the captain, were massacred by natives. Though Lyman had been stabbed he took control of the ship. With Lyman in command, the crew fought off the natives and were able to escape. Unfortunately, Lyman soon succumbed from the severity of his wounds.

Caroline’s brother Octavius was lost at sea in 1812 on a voyage returning from St. Petersburg, Russia, where he’d spent time with his brother Ernestus, a successful merchant. The next brother, Theodore, died in Havana in 1813.

Her wisdom and her brother’s fortune

Caroline’s brother, Ernestus, who amassed a fortune in the shipping and trading business in Russia, returned to Salem shortly after Theodore’s death. At this point in her life Caroline looked to him for happiness, and he devoted much of his attention to her. He died ten years later in 1823 leaving his entire fortune to her. Caroline lived for more than thirty years as the sole survivor of the family. During those years she did much good for the community.