Jemima “Mimey” Plunkett Ketchum (1837-1905)

Jemima “Mimey” Plunkett Ketchum

Birth

4 Nov 1837

Corinth, Grant County, Kentucky, USA

Death

3 Aug 1905 (aged 67)

Westport, Decatur County, Indiana, USA

Burial

Old Westport Cemetery

Westport, Decatur County, Indiana, USA Add to Map

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Jemima Plunkett was born in Corinth, Grant Co., KY to Samuel and Margaret (Myers) Plunkett. Her father had purchased land in Decatur Co., IN shortly after her birth, which later was sold to his wife's parents, George and Margaret (Moore) Myers. Sometime prior to 1860, Jemima moved from KY to Decatur Co., IN in order to provide companionship and assistance to her aging Myers grandparents. She lived with them on their farm in Sandcreek Township and it was here that she met Dick Ketchum. The couple was married in the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Greensburg by the Reverend John Mellender on July 15, 1861 in a double marriage ceremony shared with Dick's sister Rhoda Ketchum and Mr. Franklin DeVoy. Jemima and Dick Ketchum parented ten children, seven of whom lived to adulthood.

During the War of the Rebellion, Jemima suffered the loss of her father in 1862, during the first battle of Cynthiana, KY. Two years later her only brother, George, died during his incarceration in the infamous Libby Prison.

Originally uniting with the Burk's Chapel branch of the Westport Methodist Episcopal Church, Jemima later transferred her membership to the parent church where the family is remembered as regular and punctual in attendance. Mrs. Ketchum also was a member of the Fred Small W.R.C. #239. She was described as "a small woman who was active, spry, friendly and nice and who was extremely generous with 'little treats.'" She is said to have worn her hair in a little "bun" on the back of her head, and to have enjoyed quilting and baking.

Jemima (Plunkett) Ketchum's death, in early January of 1904 was the result of a long battle with cancer.