Jack Pumphrey And Millersville Plumbing Have Deep History In Maryland

Walter Pumphrey settled in New Jersey in 1678 and moved to Baltimore in 1708. A trade carpenter, he purchased property throughout Anne Arundel County to use as a wood source. More than 300 years later, Pumphrey decedents are still rooted in Maryland soil.

Urban legend says that John Wilkes Booth borrowed a “getaway” horse and spurs from an unsuspecting Anne Arundel Pumphrey in 1865 just before he shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Jack Pumphrey, a Millersville resident and the owner of Millersville Plumbing Company, is proud of his family’s lineage and history in Anne Arundel County. His father, Jack, and grandfather, Edgar, were both master plumbers. The three men worked side by side for many years before Jack started his own company in 1984.

Millersville Plumbing specializes in all residential plumbing needs, including pipes, drains, water heaters and wells. Jack said that he’s seen an increase in the number of homeowners who need to upgrade their sewer pipes or septic system.

“Between approximately 1978 and 1992, septic systems were built using polybutylene pipes,” explained Jack. “We now know that the chlorine in the water deteriorated those pipes. Polyethylene piping is now used.”

Severn and Magothy river researchers have found elevated levels of household chemicals, pharmaceuticals and sewage in our waterways and determined the culprits to be deteriorating water removal and sewer systems as well as leaking leach fields.

Jack said that Millersville Plumbing will visit homes, free of charge, to inspect pipes to determine if the plumbing systems were built using polybutylene or polyethylene pipes and provide a free estimate should the homeowner need to upgrade.

Millersville Plumbing now has four service trucks and seven employees, and Jack shows no signs of slowing down.

“I’ll be 65 next week,” he said in late June. “I’ve been a plumber for 46 years. I might work less, I might take Fridays off, but I won’t retire. I love what I am doing.”

To learn more about Millersville Plumbing, visit www.millersvilleplumbing.com or call Jack Pumphrey at 410-987-3477, or email millersvilleplumbingcompany@gmail.com.