The Family › Temple–Catchings › Plunkett
Dr. John Desire Plunkett
1796–1874
Life
- Born
- 1796 · Delaware
- Died
- Aug 1874 · Shelby County, Tennessee
- Buried
- Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States of America
Parents
Marriage & children
Timeline
- 1850ResidenceDistrict 12, Shelby, Tennessee, USA
- 1850OccupationDistrict 12, Shelby, Tennessee, USA — Physician
- about 1851ResidenceShelby County, Tennessee
- 1860ResidenceDistrict 12, Shelby, Tennessee, USA
- 1870ResidenceDistrict 12, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, USA
- 19 Aug 1874ProbateShelby, Tennessee, USA
Records behind this page
1850 United States Federal Census
Year: 1850; Census Place: District 12, Shelby, Tennessee; Roll: 895; Page: 206a
1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules
The National Archives in Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
1870 United States Federal Census
Year: 1870; Census Place: District 12, Shelby, Tennessee; Roll: M593_1561; Page: 316A
Ancestry.com, Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015)
Probate Records (Shelby County, Tennessee); Author: Tennessee Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions (Shelby County); Probate Place: Shelby, Tennessee
Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012)
État détaillé des liquidations opérées par la Commission chargée de répartir l'indemnité attribuée aux anciens colons de Saint-Domingue (Paris, 1828-1834)
REPAIRS, Base 1825, Titre 52654 (n° ordre 6751); État détaillé, registre V, page recueil 492; paroisse de Torbeck (n° 45); décision 11 août 1831. esclavage-indemnites.fr/public/Titre/Voir/52654 — RECORD PAGE READ.
read the transcript
Titre 52654 · n° ordre d'état de paiement 6751 · Valeur du titre 32.000 F · Date des décisions 11/08/1831 · Registre V · page recueil 492 · Localisation Haïti Saint-Domingue · paroisse n° 45, TORBECK. PROPRIÉTÉ — Type: Sucrerie · Nom du bien rural: "Dite Romain" · Quartier: Boucan-Lafrance · Localité: Torbeck. CIRCULATION DU TITRE: PLUNKET François — Ancien propriétaire, rang 1, précision: "pour moitié" ROYER [sic; printed BOYER elsewhere on the same record] DE LA GAUTRAYE Marie-Eutrope — Ancien propriétaire, rang 2, précision: "pour l'autre moitié" PLUNKET John-Désiré — Ayant droit 1 — "Seuls héritiers de leur grand-père, ancien propriétaire" — 32.000 F, 4 indemnitaires PLUNKET Achille-Nevison — Ayant droit 2 — idem PLUNKET Marie-Louise — Ayant droit 3 — idem BOYER DE LA GAUTRAYE Marie-Eutrope — Ayant droit 4 — "ancienne propriétaire" ⭐ THE LOAD-BEARING PHRASE: "SEULS HÉRITIERS DE LEUR GRAND-PÈRE" establishes that John-Désiré, Achille-Nevison and Marie-Louise Plunket are GRANDCHILDREN of the ancien propriétaire François Plunket - i.e. it sources the chain François [1594] -> Achilles [1586] -> the three children, in one clause. "Seuls" (sole) also means these were his only surviving heirs in 1831. ⚠️ The same woman is printed ROYER in one line and BOYER in another - transcription variance within the source itself.
REPAIRS, Base 1825, Titre 54514 (n° ordre 9144); État détaillé, registre VI, page recueil 598; paroisse de Cap Dame-Marie (n° 41); décision 27 mars 1832. esclavage-indemnites.fr/public/Titre/Voir/54514 — RECORD PAGE READ.
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Titre 54514 · n° ordre 9144 · Valeur 28.500 F · décision 27/03/1832 · Registre VI · page recueil 598 · paroisse n° 41, CAP DAME-MARIE. PROPRIÉTÉ — Type: Cacaoterie · Nom du bien rural: "La Bossée ou Plunket" · Cap Dame-Marie. Ancien propriétaire: PLUNKET Jean. Ayants droit, all styled "Héritiers de l'ancien propriétaire", 28.500 F among 7: 1 WEBB William · 2 PLUNKET Georges · 3 PLUNKET John-Désiré · 4 PLUNKET Achille-Nivison · 5 PLUNKET Marie-Louisa · 6 BOYER DE LA GAUTRAYE Marie-Eutrope · 7 MARDOCAI Caroline. ⭐⭐ "MARDOCAI Caroline" = CAROLINE MORDECAI of Warrenton, North Carolina, widow of Achilles Plunkett - appearing in a Paris indemnity register under her MAIDEN name. ⚠️ Stated precisely: the register does NOT call her "veuve Plunket" and gives no relationship at all. The identification rests on the convergence - surname, given name, her co-listing with Achilles's mother and three of his children, and the published Mordecai scholarship that Achilles Plunkett of Warrenton married Caroline Mordecai and predeceased her (d. 26 Jan 1824). STRONG, not a statement in the record. ⭐ The heir list has an internal logic that needs no assumption: Achilles died in 1824 and the decision fell in 1832, so his share passed to his widow and his surviving children - which is exactly who is listed. ⬜ PLUNKET Georges and WEBB William are co-heirs who appear NOWHERE in the tree. The ancien propriétaire is JEAN Plunket, not François, and Cap Dame-Marie is in the Grand'Anse, far from Torbeck - the family held land at both ends of the colony.
Research notes
Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.
Research note · 31 Jul 2026
Audited 31 Jul 2026 - the Delaware birthplace is CORROBORATED, and the source was already in the tree. His birth (E4603, '1796, Delaware') carried ZERO citations at all three OwnerTypes, and the GEDCOM confirmed it was the only event on him with no SOUR attached. But the 1850 U.S. Census was already cited on his RESIDENCE, and it states the birthplace: District 12, Shelby Co., Tennessee, page 206a, dwelling 1715, READ FROM THE IMAGE - 'John D. Plunkett, 53, M, Physician, 4500, Delaware', with wife 'Almira L., 44, F, N.Y.' The same line gives his occupation as PHYSICIAN, which independently corroborates the tree's title 'Dr.' Both facts were previously unsourced; the existing citation (1850 census) is now linked to the birth and to a new Occupation fact. NOT CHANGED: the birth YEAR. Age 53 in 1850 implies c.1797 against the tree's 1796, but a census age is weak evidence for a year and nothing here justifies preferring it - the discrepancy is recorded, not applied. CONSEQUENCE FOR THE JUNCTION: published Mordecai-school scholarship says this family was 'forced to flee during the insurrection of 1802'. That is now positively EXCLUDED for this household - a son was born in Delaware c.1796-97, several years earlier. The 1793 exodus of French colonists to Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Wilmington is the likely occasion, but that is an inference and no source here states it. He is the son of [1586] Achilles Plunkett by the 1791 Saint-Domingue marriage to [1587] Gentillot, and Warrenton NC sources name him four times as Caroline Mordecai's 'step-son, John D. Plunkett'. Memo: ancestry/plunkett-dunsoghly-junction.md ── ADDENDUM 31 Jul 2026 (evening): ⭐ THE FIRST SAINT-DOMINGUE SOURCE ON THIS FAMILY. The 1825 indemnity register names him twice. (1) Titre 52654 (registre V p. 492): with his brother Achille-Nevison [814] and sister Marie-Louise [1589] he is certified 'SEULS HÉRITIERS DE LEUR GRAND-PÈRE, ancien propriétaire' of the sucrerie 'Dite Romain' at Torbeck - which sources the chain [1594] François -> [1586] Achilles -> the three of them, and is why ProofFather is now 1. (2) Titre 54514 (registre VI p. 598): the same three appear among seven heirs of Jean Plunket's cacaoterie at Cap Dame-Marie, together with their grandmother Marie-Eutrope Boyer de la Gautraye and ⭐ 'MARDOCAI Caroline' - Caroline Mordecai, their father's widow, under her maiden name. ⚠️ 'Seuls' means these three were the ONLY surviving heirs in 1831 - see the note on [1594] about the fourth child [1613].
Elsewhere
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