Son of Zachariah Landreth (1812-1872) and Elendor Nellie Fender Landreth (1816-1875). Married Mary Jane Phillips (1839-1912) on 2-24-1859 in Mercer Co., Ill.
Children are Ellen Fluvanna Landreth Blackmore Price (1860-xxxx), Mary Jane Landreth Oliver (1861-1924), Clisby Andrew Landreth (1863-1950), Dora Caroline Landreth Drake (1865-1942), Henry Landreth (1867-1942), Frank Peter Landreth (1870-1933), Ira Landreth, Ora Landreth, Phineas Finn Landreth (1880-1951) and Thomas Landreth (1882-xxxx). Siblings are Mary Jane Landreth York (1837-1900), Clisby Landreth (1840-1863), Andrew Landreth (1841-1863), Thomas Landreth (1842-1896), Lewis Landreth (1844-1932), Evaline Landreth Brownibg Fender (1847-1902), Mary Landreth (1849-xxxx), Sarah Ann Landreth Carney (1850-1932), David Landreth (1851-1907) and Frances E. Landreth Neff (1853-1886).

Courtesy of D&PNutt (47623402)

Taken from the book, "Zachariah and Nellie Fender Landreth and Their
Descendants" by Naomi Drake Miller, 1955:

Eli Landreth and his wife Mary established their home on a farm in Dencan
township, Mercer county, Illinois and eight children were born to them.
Eli's brother Thomas had moved his family to a farm in Ringgold county, Iowa,
and after a few year he wished to move back to Illinois. In the fall of 1874,
Eli and Mary purchased the farm that Thomas owned in Iowa, and moved their
family to that state. Along with several relatives, Eli moved to Ringgold
County Iowa and then to Orange County, California.

Thomas LANDREATH came to Ringgold [County] in search of a location. He
interviewed an agent of Mount Ayr who was dealing in land. He accompanied Mr.
LANDRETH to show him some unimproved land which he wished to sell. They reached
a nice level tract of ridge land and Mr. LANDRETH was informed that this was the
land offered for sale. He bought 120 acres or perhaps more, but before he made
any improvments he had it surveyed and was amazed to find that what he had
supposed to be the western boundary was in fact the eatern boundary, putting the
land further west and including some much rougher land than the agent has shown
him. The agent might possibly have been mistaken. We feel certain that our real
estate dealers of the present day would not knowingly do anything in such a
deceptive way. But Mr. LANDRETH improved the farm and sold it to his brother
Eli, who made a fine stock farm out of it.

Eli and Mary taught their children to call them "Pap" and "Mother" and to their
children they were always known by those names.
Because Eli and Mary's had their last two children when they were in their
forties, their oldest grandchild was nearly a year older than their oldest son.
Frank and his wife Nellie Landreth moved to Texas sometime before 1895. They
wrote back such glowing reports of that state that his parents decided that they
too would like to live in Texas. In 1896, Eli and Mary with their two youngest
sons, Finn and Tom, moved to Texas. They settled near Pearland, a small town not
far from Houston, Texas that is now practically extinct. When they arrived in
Pearland they met, no tonly by Frank and Nellie, but also by their son Henry and
his family, who unknown to the paretns, had moved to Pearland from California.
Eli and Mary were not too happy in Texas as they found the Coastal Country to
be a new undeveloped land with much rainfall, many mosquitoes, and a climate
that was very hot and humid. In a year or so Mary became ill and needed someone
to care for her. Dora, their youngest daughter, could always be depended upon
to help in case of sickness. Now taking her two youngest daughters, one only
six months of age, Dora made the long tiring trip to Texas from her home in
Iowa, in order to care for her mother. Before too long, she returned to Iowa
being unhappy with the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and lack of cool drinking
water.
A hurricane with all it's fury hit the Texas Coast at Galveston, not far from
where the Landreths lived, in the fall of 1899. Galveston was almost destroyed
during this storm and hundreds of lives were lost. The hurricane winds and the
rain, followed by floods, were too much for the Landreth family. Soon after
that they all returned to Iowa, Henry and his family making the journey in a
covered wagon.
Eli and Mary lived in or near Tingley, Iowa for a number of years. In August
1908 they moved to California where three of their children, Jennie, Clip, and
Frank were living, and where Eli's brothers and one sister had moved some years
before. They purchased a home in Whittier, California, and settled down in the
midst of their children and kinfolks.
Eli was a big, heavy man as his father had been, although he never attained the
weight that had plagued his father. The top of his head had become completely
bald early in life, but there was always a fringe of hair around the lower
portion of his head. He had worn a mustache while a young man but later in life
let his beard grow and wore a long white beard for many years. (From Biography &
Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa; Lewis Publishing Company of Chicago,
1887, Pp. 396-97.


Mary and Eli in that final year were sick much of the time after moving to
California and in December 1912, they both became seriously ill. Mary died on
December 19, 1912, at the age of 73. When Eli was informed of her death he
requested that the funeral be postponed for a few days as he seemed to realize
that he too would soon join her in death. He passed away on December 22, 1912,
just three days after the death of Mary. At the time of his death Eli was in
his 74th year. After a marriage of over 54 years, double funeral services were
held for them in the First Baptist Church, and they were laid to rest in one
grave in the Mt Olive Cemetery, Whittier, California. The stone place on their
grave bears this inscription:

"God gave them their fondest wish,
took them home together."