Plumley was born in
Northfield, Washington County, Vermont, to
Frank Plumley and Lavinia Fletcher Plumley. He attended Northfield High School. In 1896 he graduated from
Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont with a
Bachelor of Arts, and he received his
Master of Arts degree from Norwich in 1899. Plumley also received several
honorary degrees, including an
LL.D. (1921) and
Doctor of Letters (1947) from Norwich, and LL.D. degrees from
Middlebury College (1922),
Boston University (1940), and the
University of Vermont (1941).
Early career Plumley served as an assistant secretary of the
Vermont State Senate in 1894. He was principal and superintendent of the Northfield grade school and Northfield High School from 1896 to 1900. He was a
captain in the
Vermont National Guard in 1901, and a
colonel in the Officers’ Reserve Corps. He studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1903; beginning the practice of law in Nortfield. He served as Secretary of the French-Venezuela Mixed Commission in 1906. He was a member of the
Vermont House of Representatives from 1912 to 1915, serving as
Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1912 to 1915 and as Commissioner of Taxes for the State of Vermont from 1912 to 1919. Plumley was
general counsel and tax attorney for a rubber company in
Akron, Ohio, from 1919 to 1920. He then practiced law in partnership with his father and
Murdock A. Campbell. He also served as president of
Norwich University from 1920 to 1934, and as
reading clerk of the
Republican National Conventions in 1936 and 1940. He was also involved in the banking industry.
Congress In 1934 Plumley was elected as a
Republican to the
Seventy-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Ernest W. Gibson. Plumley was reelected to the
Seventy-fourth and to the seven succeeding Congresses, serving from January 16, 1934, to January 3, 1951, as U.S. Representative from Vermont (at-large). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1950. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in
Northfield, Vermont. ==Family life==