Williamson Plant was born on December 19, 1827, in Pocahontas, Illinois, to Lorenzo D. Plant. His father was a farmer. He grew up and attended school in Bond County, Illinois, and he began working as a merchant in 1848. He married Susan G. Grover on May 3, 1848, and their son Emery was born around 1852. His wife died on March 15, 1852. He began courting Sarah Jane Wafer in August 1852, and the couple got married on March 31, 1853. They had at least six children: Emma, born around 1854; William, born around 1856; Ida, born around 1857; Elizabeth, born around 1860; Sallie, born around 1862; and Ada, born around 1867.

 

They lived in Greenville, and Plant worked as a farmer. He supported the Whig Party, and he was elected sheriff in November 1854. After the Whig Party collapsed in the 1850s, Plant joined the Republican Party. In 1860, he helped organize a local Republican convention, inviting “the Republican voters of this District, and all who are willing to unite with them in the coming struggle for the freedom of the Territories and the integrity of our Union.”

 

By 1860, he owned $16,000 of real estate and $6,000 of personal property. A decade later, he owned $41,050 of real estate and $13,650 of personal property. He served as secretary of the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad Company. He died in Greenville on February 11, 1887.

 

Image: Williamson Plant (History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois)

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