Biographies: Thomas Benson Plunkett, 1950, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: October 19, 1950 Winn Parish Enterprise (Know Your Neighbor Column)

Tom B. Plunkett, Veteran Winn Timber Contractor

Contributing materially to Winn Parish's growing timber industry is Tom B.
Plunkett, who makes his living buying pine timber and selling poles and piling
to creosoting plants in this area.

Mr. Plunkett has been in the timber business since 1923, when he came home
from World War I, and now has his own hauling trucks, winch trucks, and
other equipment.  He hires from eight to 15 men when in the woods peeling
poles.

"It takes a lot of hard work, dirt, and a good eye for judging trees, to
stay ahead in this business," he said.  And Mr. Plunkett got his from
experience, learning it the hard way.

"I don't recommend this occupation to a young person who is afraid of work,"
he said.

He is well aware of the role timber plays in keeping Winn Parish alive
economically.  He has seen timber boom, fall, and the come alive again, and he
believes this time it is here to stay.  Winn grows pine timber faster than it
can reasonably be cut, he said.  And it is the major industry in the parish. 
If log trucks were to leave today and not come back, in Mr. Plunkett's
opinion, "you could buy the whole town for your own price."

Poles More Profitable

Poles and piling, which he hauls almost exclusively, are more profitable than
logs, Mr. Plunkett said.  He hauls logs "only when I have to."

Poles are classed according to length, uniformity in diameter, and general
quality.  In all there are nine classes.  A "class one" pole 55 feet long
sells to the creosoting plant for about $ 16.00 at present.  "Class poles" are
used mainly for high lines and telephone posts.  Bridge timbers, or piling,
come from shorter and smaller poles.

Mr. Plunkett buys his pole timber from farmers whenever he can, but most comes
from government lands.  Not many farmers have timber land with trees large
enough to be made into piling and poles.

Mr. Plunkett is a lifelong resident of Winn Parish and has reared his family
here.  He has six children, four boys and two girls all of whom are grown
except two.  Two live at home with their parents on East Lafayette Street in
Winnfield.

Asked if any of his boys had followed him in the timber business, he said,
"No, and I'm trying to keep my boy out of the woods and send him to school."

(Proudly, Thomas Benson Plunkett is my great uncle, a brother to my
grandmother, Nena Plunkett Davies.)