Ralph Gordon Plumb, the only child of John E. and Ella Slye Plumb, was born January 17, 1881 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. His father was a partner in Plumb and Nelson Company, a wholesale grocery business, which he owned with Julius Nelson, his half-brother. Educated in Manitowoc schools, Ralph received B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1901 and 1902, respectively, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then entered his father's business, and in 1923 became head of the company. In 1906, Plumb married Ida M. Holmes; their children were Helen, Ruth, and John H.
From an early age, Plumb was interested in politics, history, and writing. Although a staunch Republican later in life, Plumb attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1896, when he was fifteen. He was active in local and state politics as well, and served as a Manitowoc city alderman from 1908 to 1913. Plumb supported the Progressive Movement in the Republican Party and served as a delegate to the national party convention in 1916. In 1903, he helped found the Manitowoc County Historical Society, and for a number of years was a member of the Board of Curators of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Plumb's literary career began while he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he was a member of the Daily Cardinal staff. Later, he wrote for the Manitowoc Daily Herald. Plumb also authored a number of books, among them, A History of Manitowoc County (1902), History of Navigation of the Great Lakes (1911), Badger Politics, 1836 to 1930, (1930), Succession in Public Office (1946), Recollections of an Amateur Politician (1959), Wisconsin Diplomats (1964), Lake Michigan, and Born in the Eighties. Ralph Plumb died in March 1976.
