My Plant Family Ancestors

Beginning about 1639

Based on Research and Manuscript by

Jacqueline Foulds Plant

Edited & supplemented with personal

recollections and photographs by

John David Plant III

July 2012

John Plant -1691

Betty

Roundkettle

John Plant 1678-1752

Hannah Wheldon

1685-1754

James Plant 1741-1851

Bethsheba Page 1716-1803

David Plant

1783-1851

Catharine Tomlinson

1787-1835

John David Plant

1823-1860

Eudocia Chapman

1825-1907

James Chapman Plant

1853-1916 Mary E. Greenleaf

1855-1927

John David Plant

1888-1958

Florence R. Mason

1895-1978

John David Plant Jr.

1929-

Jacqueline Foulds

1929-

John David Plant III 1954-

Sarah Bennet

1747-1815

Solomon Plant 1741-1822

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(1.) John Plant and his wife, Betty Roundkettle, came from England

possibly around 1639 and settled in the east part of Branford, Connecticut.

Previously, we believed the date of emigration was about 1632. But in the book The Life of Henry Bradley Plant, by George Hutchinson-Smith

(G.Putnam & Sons, 1898), the 1639 date is given. Before he emigrated, he probably worked for the Saltonstall company

in 1630. He was given Lot 59 in Voluntown in the Indian War in 1676. He died 1691.

My Grandmother told me of some circumstances from John’s life. On the journey across the Atlantic his parents died on board and were buried at

sea. John was then about 15 years old and not wishing to be by himself when reaching the New World he decided to marry before the ship’s landing.

As it was, there was only a single marriageable woman on board, Betty Roundkettle, and she was small and fat (possibly also redheaded). They

were married on board before they reached New England shores.

John & Betty had, apparently, only one child:

(1) John (1678-1752)

(2.) John Plant, 1678-1752. He is only known child of John Plant &

Betty Roundkettle. He married Hannah Wheldon (1685-1754) of Boston.

Their gravestones are shown in -2.

John & Hannah had at least 8 children:

(1) John. Died unmarried – estate went to brother Benjamin.

(2) Jonathan. Died unmarried. Owned land in Branford, Connecticut

(land deed of 1755, Figure 3).

(3) James (1716-1795). Married Bethsheba Page (1716-1803).

(4) Abraham (1727). Moved to Vermont. Married Tamar Frisbie.

(5) Timothy (Feb 4, 1723). Settled in Branford, married Lucy Parish, in 1745.

(6) Benjamin (1732-1808). Settled in Branford, married Lorana (Lois)

Beckwith. Benjamin & Lois were buried in Branford, Connecticut (gravestone, Figure 4).

This lineage is the one that leads to Henry B. Plant (1819-1899), the

railroad pioneer who became a millionaire (see map of the Plant System of railroads, steam ships and hotels, (Next page) Figure 5;

grave monument, Figure 6). My grandfather told me several adventures of him

when he was forging the railroad through the swamps of Florida. Benjamin & Lois had 8 children. One of which was Samuel

(1772-1862) who married Sarah Frisbie. They had at least one child, Anderson, who married Betsy Bradley (1796-1826). Their only son,

Henry Bradley Plant (1819-1899) married Ellen Elizabeth Blackstone

(1842-1861), and had two children, George (1845-1846) and Morton Freeman (1852-1918). Henry Bradley Plant’s second wife was

Margaret Josephine Loughman. Morton Freeman inherited much of his father’s wealth. He

donated one million dollars to the Connecticut College for Women. Morton Freeman’s son, Henry Bradley, from East Point, Groton,

Connecticut, married Amy Warren of Brooklyn, New York in 1917. Before going off to war that year, he was called “one of the richest

young men in the country”.

(7) Hannah. Married Abraham Whedon.

(8) Elizabeth. Married Josiah Parrish.

Figure 1 Gravestone of John Plant’s (1678-1752) wife, Hanna (Branford, Connecticut). The inscription seems to read: “In Memory of Mrs Hannah wife of Mr John Plant died Nov y5th in 1764 in her 69th Year”

Figure 2 Gravestone of John Plant (1678-1752), in Branford, Connecticut. The inscription reads: “In Memory of Mr John Plant who died Febry the 10th 1752 In his 74th Year”.

Figure 3 Land deed of 1755 of Jonathan Plant. The boundary

described as “Northerly by land of John Plant” probably refers to land owned by his father. (Deed in house of my parents,

John and Jacqueline Plant, in Guilford, Connecticut).

Figure 4 Gravestone of Benjamin Plant (1732-1808), and wife Lorane, in Branford, Connecticut.

(Next page) Figure 5 Photograph of a wall map of the Plant System of railroad,

steam ship lines and hotels (in the private collection of John and Jacqueline

Plant, Guilford, Connecticut).

Figure 6 Burial monument for Henry Bradley Plant (1819-1899), first wife, Ellen Elizabeth Blackstone (1842-1861) and their son George.

(3.) James Plant (November 4, 1716 to Feb 7, 1795) was

married to Bethsheba Page (1716-1803) on Sept 22, 1740. She was

the daughter of a Scotch Captain, her mother’s name was Mindwell Truesdale. James died after a fall from a hay mow (in February, 1795)

in Branford, but his burial place is unknown. After James died, Bethsheba went to live with their son,

Solomon, in Stratford where she is buried. The Plants of Plantsville, Connecticut, are said to be descended from James and Bethsheba.

James and Bethsheba had at least 7 children:

(1) Solomon (1741-1832). Married Sarah Bennett (1747 [or

1745?] -1815). Settled in Stratford, Connecticut.

(2) James (born 1742). Married Lydia Judd. Settled in

Plantsville, Connecticut.

(3) Lois. Married Fellows. Lois Plant-Fellows and her husband lived in South Hill, New York.

(4) Samuel (born Feb. 10, 1745, died 1769). Married Thankful

Towner.

(5) Stephen (born March 8, 1747).

(6) Moses. Settled at Niagara.

(7) Ebenezer. Bapt. Oct. 15, 1751. Settled in Darby,

Connecticut.

(4.) Solomon Plant (May 1, 1741 to May 20, 1822) was born in

Branford and died in Stratford, Connecticut. Solomon served in the “Old

French War” in 1759. He married Nov. 16, 1769 Sarah Bennett (daughter of Benjamin &

Hannah Curtis Bennett). Sarah was born Aug. 5, 1747 and died Oct. 15, 1815. Solomon moved his family to Stratford in 1753. They were all

afflicted with smallpox in March 1777. “He was a wheelwright by trade and was well known throughout

the country for his good workmanship, his spinning-wheels and sharp tongue” (cited in Recollections of “My Plant Ancestors” by Sarah Judson

Ogdon, 1886).

Solomon & Hannah had at least 4 children:

(1) Hannah (born Nov 25, 1770). Married Asa Benjamin.

(2) Sarah (1775-1857). Married Daniel Judson (1797).

(3) Cata (1777-1778).

(4) David (1783-1851). Married Catharine Tomlinson (1810).

(5.) David Plant was born March 29, 1783 in Stratford (portrait,

Error! Reference source not found.). He married Catharine Tomlinson,

daughter of Pheobe Lewis & Dr. William Agur Tomlinson on Dec. 5, 1810. Catharine was born Nov. 9, 1787.

“David Plant was fitted for college at the Cheshire Academy, and graduated at Yale College in 1804, studied law at the Litchfield Law

School.” “He was a classmate of John C. Calhoun. In 1819 and 1820 he was

speaker of the House of Representatives, and in 1821 was elected to the Connecticut State Senate, and twice re-elected. He was Lieutenant-

Governor of the State from 1823 to 1827, and from 1827 to 1829 he was a member of the Congress of the United States. In politics he was a staunch

Whig. Calhoun, when Secretary of the State, offered him, for friendship’s sake, any position within gift, but David refused to hold office under the

dominant party. He was one of the most influential men in political circles

in his day in the state of Connecticut.” “Ex-Lieut. Gov. Plant, a man of stately dignity and ruffled shirt”.

Citations from a Memorandum by Hollon A. Farr, curator of Yale Memorabilia, in the 1930’s.

Apparently, he was a very shy man. My Grandmother told me that

once when he was to receive a reward for his duties and services to the state of Connecticut, he hid in the basement behind a barrel of apples to

not be found.

Figure 7 Painting of David Plant (1783-1851) made from a miniature in 1937. (Private collection of John and Jacqueline Plant, Guilford, Connecticut).

David and Catharine had at least 5 children:

(1) William Augur.

(2) Catharine Tomlinson (1816-1905). Married Captain John Sterling. He was a lawyer in New Haven and made millions by

representing Henry Rockefeller. My Grandmother told me that he would serve as a personal body

guard for Rockefeller when he was in town by sleeping on a cot-bed in Rockefeller’s room at the Taft Hotel – to block the door at night.

The marriage had no issue, and John donated over 10 million dollars to the Yale University, the largest private donation to a

university at that time. The main library building at Yale – the Sterling

Library – was named after him. A large portrait of John Sterling hangs inside the main hallway.

(3) Sarah Elizabeth. Married Lauren Beach.

(4) Henry. Married Mary Bristol Chapman.

(5) John David (1823-1860). Married Eudocia Beach Chapman.

(6.) John David Plant was born probably in Stratford in

1823. He married Eudocia Beach Chapman. She was the daughter of

Huldah Beach & Simon Bristol Chapman. We know little of John David Plant, he died on Feb 29, 1860 in St.

Anthony’s Falls when he was only 37. We think they were living in Minnesota, although their son, James was born in Marcellus, New

York.

John and Eudocia had 2 children:

(1) Catharine Tomlinson (1850-1930). Unmarried, buried in Branford, Connecticut.

(2) James Chapman (1853-1916). Married, 1882, to Mary

Greenleaf (1855-1927).

(7.) James Chapman Plant (April 10, 1853) was born in

Marcellus, New York (Error! Reference source not found.). He married Mary

Elizabeth Kellam Greenleaf, daughter of Luther Leland Greenleaf, of Summerville, Massachusetts on Oct. 20, 1822.

Either James’ father JDP moved the family to Minnesota or James moved there, but all of his children were born there. James’ sister,

Catharine, and his mother Eudocia also lived with the family. Sometime after 1893 they all moved to Glen Carlyn, Virginia. In the

early 1900’s James and his family moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to take up the building of the Post Office. We think he was an architect. James

died in New Haven in Nov. 21, 1916, and Mary died in 1927 in New Haven (gravestone,

).

James and Mary had 6 children:

(1) Leland Greenleaf (1885-1957). Married Patty Lou Moore, no children.

(2) Margaret (1886-1968). Married William Backus, 3 children.

(3) John David (1888-1958). Married Florence Mason, one child.

(4) James Stuart (1890-1947). Married Mildred Heller, 2 daughters.

(5) Edward French (1891-1892).

(6) Susan Blaisdell (1893-1979). Married Frank Brunnell, no issue.

Figure 8 James Chapman Plant (1853-1916), photograph taken in Providence, Rhode Island, 1876.

(Photo Jacqueline Plant)

Figure 9 Gravestone of James Chapman Plant and his wife, overlooking salt-water meadow in Branford, Connecticut.

(8.) John David Plant (Sr.) was born July 3, 1888 in Minneapolis,

Minnesota. His family moved to Glen Carlyn, Virginia when he was a child.

He married Florence Mason (born Oct. 27, 1895) on Dec. 28, 1922. John died in 1958 (gravestone, Figure 10).

John and Florence had one child:

(1) John David Plant (Jr.) (1929-2011).

Figure 10 Gravestone of John David Plant, Sr. (1888-1958), in Branford, Connecticut.

(9.) John David Plant (Jr.) (1929-2011) was born in New Haven,

Connecticut. He married Jacqueline Foulds (Jan 24, 1929) from Seneca Falls, New York, in 1951.

They have seven children. I, John David Plant (3rd) am the second oldest.