File:Eliza Sullivant grave - Green Lawn Cemetery (43327760760).jpg

Grave of Eliza Sullivant at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, in the United states.

She was born Eliza Griscom Wheeler (1817-1850) in New York City. She married William Starling Sullivant, son of Franklinton founder Louis Sullivant, in 1834. Sullivant's first wife, Jane (nee Marshall) had died on January 7, 1825, on her birthday at the age of 17, having just given birth to the couple's first child (also named Jane). They had been married eight months (to the day).

Eliza gave birth to six children. Shy and timid and just 17 years old at the time of her marriage, she was over-awed by Sullivant Hill -- the magnificent home and gardens William Starling Sullivant had inherited. William had been a civil engineer for most of his life, but his wealth had allowed him to turn his attention toward his life-long hobby of botany. He was particularly interested in bryology (the study of liverworts, hornworts, and mosses). His garden was full of exotic plants, all of which Eliza had to care for.

Despite her lack of education and her constant ill health, Eliza began accompanying William all over Ohio and throughout the eastern and southern United States. She assisted him in collecting live plants, writing inscriptions in Latin (which she had to learn swiftly), and doing line drawings of plants. She proved so adapt an artist that many of her drawings were turned into color plates. These plates were used in botany texts for the next half-century.