Eli D. Plant, Duck Creek Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio (2025 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Eli D. Plants, located in row 12 of Duck Creek Cemetery’s old section, Black Creek Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:
Eli D Plant
Died
Nov 7, 1876
Aged
58 yrs, 11 mo, 11 ds
It appears there is some incorrect information inscribed on Eli Plants’ tombstone. The first is the date of Eli’s death. His Mercer County Probate death record indicates that he died on 6 October 1876, at age 58. [1] Several documents from the administration of his estate also indicate that Eli was deceased before 14 October 1876. In fact, his estate sale was on 9 November 1876. [2]
His age at death is also in question. His probate death record shows that he was exactly 58 years old and his tombstone shows he was 58 years, 11 months, and 11 days old. Therefore, Eli D. Plants was born either 6 October 1817, as calculated from his probate death record, or he was born on 25 October 1817, as calculated from his probate death record date and from his age as inscribed on his tombstone.
Plus, his surname was Plants, sometimes spelled Plantz. Not Plant, as inscribed on his tombstone.
I have no proof, but I have a theory that Eli Plants was a relative, perhaps a brother, of Tobias Plants. The same Tobias Plants who lived on the north end of Chatt for 20 years and was an early merchant in Chatt. The Plants surname is not common around here. Both Eli and Tobias came from the Wayne County, Ohio, area and moved to Mercer County about the same time. They lived relatively close to each other in Mercer County for a while and they were about the same age. Maybe eventually some document will prove my theory.
Eli Plants married Sophia Smalley on 27 December 1838 in Wayne County, Ohio. [3] Sophia Smalley (1816-1871) was the daughter of Isaac (1769-1855) and Priscilla Smalley, [4] who are buried in Ashland County, Ohio. Sophia was the sister of Richard Smalley (1825-1909), who moved to Mercer County with his family after the Civil War.
Eli and Sophia Plants moved to Mercer County between 1841 and 1844. Their daughter Priscilla’s death certificate indicates she was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1841, and daughter Elizabeth’s death certificate indicates that she was born in Mercer County in 1844.
Sometime during that time period, Eli purchased 40 acres in Section 7 in Recovery Township [5] and he paid personal taxes in Recovery Township in 1849. [6] Eli Plants and his family were enumerated there in 1850: Eli, 32; Sophia, 32; Priscilla A, 8; Eliza J, 6; Rachel, 3; and John, 9 months. Eli was a farmer. [7]
Eli sold his property in Recovery Township and on 25 June 1853 he purchased 40 acres in Liberty Township. He and his family moved to northern Mercer County and much closer to Tobias Plants. Eli’s 40 acres was the SW ¼ of the NE ¼ in Section 5 of Liberty Township, purchased for $100 from Albert Cortelyou. [8] Tobias Plants had also purchased his Liberty Township property from Cortelyou in 1850.
Eli Plants was a Liberty Township Justice of the Peace beginning 17 November 1857, per Sutton’s 1882 Mercer County History. Tobias Plants was a Liberty Township JP in 1860.
The Eli Plants family, as enumerated in 1860 and living in Liberty Township with a Skeels Cross Roads address: Eli D, 41; Sophia, 40; Margaret A, 20; Elizabeth, 15; Rachel A, 12; John, 10; Isaac, 7; and Sofia, 3. Eli reportedly was born in Pennsylvania and the rest of the family was born in Ohio. [9]
Eli Plants sold his 40 acres in Liberty Township to Jacob J. Baker for $875 on 28 February 1866. [10]
Eli then purchased 40 acres in the next township to the north, Black Creek Township, the SE ¼ of the SW ¼ of Section 16. [11] Eli was enumerated there with his family in 1870: Eli, 52; Sophia, 53; John, 20; Isaac, 16; Sofia, 14; and Eli, 6. This enumeration indicates all the family members were born in Ohio. [12] The family likely attended Duck Creek Church.
Eli’s wife Sophia (Smalley) Plants died of congestive chills in Black Creek Township on 13 August 1871, aged 54 years, 11 months, and 13 days. Her calculated date of birth is 31 August 1819 and her parents are named as Isaac and Pricilla Smalley. [13] Sophia has no known tombstone, but she may be buried near her husband in Duck Creek Cemetery.
Widower Eli Plants married widow Sarah Elizabeth (Fisher) Syphers on 28 December 1872 in Adams County, Indiana. [14] Sarah’s first husband, William Syphers, died in 1869.
Eli D. Plants died in Black Creek Township from lung fever on 6 October 1876. [1]
Eli’s second wife Sarah Elizabeth (Fisher) Syphers Plants died 6 April 1903 in Adams County, Indiana, and is buried in Adams County. [15]
Eli D. and Sophia (Smalley) Plants had the following known children:
Margaret Ann, aka Mary Ann (c1840-aft 1876), married (1) Israel Johnson; (2) Charles Finch
Priscilla Ann (c1841-1911), married Martin Bothast
Elizabeth/Eliza Jane (1844-1928), married David E. Sutton
Rachel A. (1847-1925), married (1) William Bair; (2) Ezra Nickerson
John (1849-1931), married Mahala Horn
Isaac (1852-1924) married (1) Nancy A, (2) Alice Agatha Rhodes, (3) Janie Lucille Smith
Sofia E. (1857-1875)
Eli (c1864-?)
Their youngest child Eli was enumerated with the family in the 1870 census, but he apparently died before his father Eli’s death in 1876. Young Eli was not listed among Eli Sr’s seven heirs named below.
Heirs of Eli D. Plants, according to his estate administration papers:
Isaac Plants, Allen County, Indiana
Elizabeth Sutton, Allen County, Indiana
Priscilla A. Bothast, Jay County, Indiana
Margaret Finch, Michigan
John Plants, Mercer County, Ohio
Rachael Bair, Mercer County, Ohio
Sarah E Plants, widow, Adams County, Indiana [2]
Eli Plants had a rather large administration estate packet, 138 pages of filmed images. The estate was not completely settled until late 1880.
Eli D. Plants, Duck Creek Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio (2025 photo by Karen)
A light from our life is gone,
A voice we love, stilled,
A place vacant in our hearts,
A place never to be filled.
That is the common version of that epitaph verse, but the first line on Eli’s marker is mostly unreadable and looks a little longer.
[1] Mercer County, Ohio, Probate Deaths, Book 1, 1867-1888, p.88, Eli D. Plants, 6 Oct 1876.
[2] Probate Case Files and Indexes 1852-1900, Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998, Mercer, Case 1811, Administration of estate of Eli D. Plants, deceased; Ancestry.com.
[3] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Wayne County Marriages 1830-1851, p. 255, Eli Plants & Sophia Smally [sic], 27 Dec 1838; Ancestry.com.
[4] NOTICE, John Smalley Administrator…Petition to Sell Land, The Ashland Union, Ashland, Ohio, 5 March 1856; NewspaperArchive.com.
[5] 1853 Mercer County, Ohio, Plat Map, Recovery Township, NW ¼ of NE ¼, Section 7, Eli D. Plants.
[6] “Ohio, Tax Records, 1800-1887,” Recovery, Ohio, Eli Plants, 1849; FamilySearch.org.
[7] 1850 U.S. Census, Recovery, Mercer, Ohio, p.307B, dwelling 312, family 318, Eliz [sic] Plants; Ancestry.com.
[8] Mercer County, Ohio, Deeds, Book R:548, Albert Cortelyou to Eli D. Plants, 25 Jun 1853.
[9] 1860 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p.358, dwelling 1000, family 1005, Eli D Plants; Ancestry.com.
[10] Mercer County, Ohio, Deeds, Book 10:186, Eli D. Plants to Jacob J. Baker, 28 Feb 1866.
[11] 1876 Map, Mercer County, Ohio, Black Creek Township.
[12] 1870 U.S. Census, Black Creek, Mercer, Ohio, p. 24B, dwelling & family 85, Eli Plants; Ancestry.com.
[13] Mercer County, Ohio, Probate Deaths, Book 1, 1867-1888, p.30, Sophia Plants, 13 Aug 1871.
[14] Indiana, U.S Marriage, 1810-2001, Adams County, Eli Deplants [sic] & Sarah E Syphers, 28 Dec 1872; Ancestry.com.
[15] Sarah Elizabeth (Fisher) Syphers Plants, Memorial no. 282589448, Pleasant Dale Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana; Find a Grave.com.
