I have been able to trace my Plymate lineage back five generations:

• Thomas George Plymate (1953--)
  • George Riley Plymate (1915--1967)
    • Richard West (or Wesley) Plymate (1882--1977)
      • Joseph Benonia Plymate (1846--1928)
        • Jarvis Plymate (1801--1881)
          • Benoni Plymate (1755--1809)

According to a family history hand-written by my great-grandfather Joseph B. Plymate, our ancestor Benoni Plymate was born in Cayuga County, New York. He was orphaned at age two and raised by a family named Tamage. We have no information about the parents or ancestors of Benoni Plymate, but every Plymate lineage that I have traced so far originates from this same individual.

I have not yet found any firm documentation concerning the origin of the name Plymate. A New York genealogist consulted many years ago by Joseph B. Plymate speculated that the name originated in Devonshire England, which is located on the Plym River, from which the names Plymouth and Plymton are also assumed to have originated. A distant cousin, Glenn Plymate of Alameda California, and his daughter Debra, have also been trying to trace the origin of the Plymate family name and they suspect that it may have originated as a phonetic transcription of the family name Pluymert.

Have you done any research on the Plymate family? Specifically, have you found any information about the origin of the Plymate name or about Benoni Plymate's parents?  If so, I'd love to hear from you.  Please contact me at TomPlymate@MissouriState.edu.

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