1. John Landers was born 1, 2 in 1694/1724 in Alsace-Lorraine. He died 3 in 1757 in Granville County, NC.
In deference to more methodical researchers, it must be said that I donot have hard-copy documentation of most of the data in this file. Creditfor most of it belongs to the many genealogists who have generouslyshared the results of their long hours of hard work. Wherever possible,their names, and sometimes email addresses, appear in the footnotes.Without them, this data file would not be possible.
If you are reading this data from a commercial on-line service, please beadvised that such services may be several months behind in postingupdates. For the most recent findings, and relevant photographs, visitthe Landiss Family home page at:
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Rodger Rice Landers, who has a copy of his estate record, says he died in1757. Also says he arrived in Granville County by 1753, "late of theProvince of Pennsylvania".
From Roger Rice Landers:
1. John Landers purchased 238 acres of land from Minus Griggs on 4 Dec.1753. The deed recorded in Granville Co. NC. Deed Bk. B p. 251 indicatesthe following: John Landers "late of the Province of Pennsylvania" ..."238... acres of land lying on both sides of the Tarr River..."
2. The Muster Roll of the Regiment in Granville County, under theCommand of Col. William Eaton, 8 October 1754, Captain Andrew Hampton’sCompany lists the following: John Landres, Sargeant; John Landers, Junr.(State Records of North Carolina, Vol XXII, page 370, 379-380)
3. No will has been found for John Landers. However, an inventory of allthe "goods and chattels of John Landers" exists. Frances Landers andRobert Harris are listed as Administrators. (NC Archives, Granville Co.Estate Records, Box 44.508.109) Of particular interest is the entry:"Twenty books chiefly of Dutch print". The Record of the sale of items inthe inventory was dated 6 July 1757, recorded in the Court minutes 9 Sept1757 and listed the "whole of books" to Frances Landers for 1.6.0 lb.Present and purchasing at the sale were John Landers, Frances Landers,Nicholas Hopkins, Jacob Slaughter, Andrew Hampton, William Sloan, FrancisFowler, John Sherman, John White, Mathew Minor, George Thompson, WilliamJones, William Rose, Moses Coppock, Robert Harris and Minor Griggs. Totalvalue of sale: 89.57.35 lbs.
4. The will and inventory of Frances Landress (NC Archives, Granville Co.Wills Box 044.801.24, Frances Landress 1770) list no land. Of particularinterest in the will are:
A. "item I ordain that my two daughters Mary and Betty shall be paidfourteen pounds ... out of John's Bond..." and later "my son John'sbond..."
B. "item I ordain that my three sons Abraham, Joseph, and Jacob shallhave... all the English books..."
5. Note: Frances Landers did not sign her name to the inventory, signedwith "her mark". John Landers (Jr.) and his brother Abraham also did notsign their names to deeds and/or his will. Joseph Landers did sign deeds.The books must have been both Dutch and English.
6. The land owned by John Landers Senior passed to John Landers Junior.(See notes, John Landers, Jr.)
7. The date of birth for old John Landers should be recorded as between1694 and 1724, based on the following: Men who served in the localmilitia were between 16 and 60 years of age. John Landers, SGT. and JohnLanders Jr. , PVT. were listed with Andrew Hampton's Company in 1754.Therefore, John Sr. could have been born as early as 1694 and as late as1724 (John Jr. born 1738, and John Sr. could have married as early as age14).
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Based on this note from Roger Rice Landers, I have added Alsace-Lorraineas John's probable birthplace (note that this region is but 50 miles fromBasel, Switzerland; and about 75 miles from Solothorn, where Hans Landiswas imprisoned):
A new research question for us: John Landers (previously of the Provinceof Pennsylvania) may have been our original ancestor. As I was readingthe old notes of Frances B. Hayes from the Granville County Library, Ifound notes by Hayes about an interview with Ed Landis, son of AugustineLandis, dated 1914. He said that John Landers came from theAlsace-Lorraine region because of religious persecution. In one placeHayes/Landis mentions that they came down the Shenandoah valley tocentral NC. Alsace-Lorraine does not sound correct, because it is part ofFrance, but in the 1700-1750 period it was part of a region that changedhands between Germany and France many times. In fact the Duchy ofLorraine was surrounded by French territory completely in 1714. The Duchyof Lorraine was then a part of the Hapsburg Empire. So it seems that Johncould be the emigrant ancestor, but more research is needed. This seem tofit other info that we had i.e. Flavious Landers said that his ggf camefrom Europe, was in some German States rebellion, Dutch books, etc. etc.
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From Carroll Hayden:
Granville County has been found to be quite different from some othereastern North Carolina counties, namely, Edgecombe, Nash, and Halifax, inone respect. There were a very large number of merchants in GranvilleCounty from its beginning and they bought and resold quite a bit of land.They were noted, to a great extent, buying land at Sheriff's sales andbuying from persons who removed to other states. This is applied to thebuying of slaves for resale. In the other counties mentioned, themerchants had very little to do with the buying and selling of land andpersonal property.
Another difference between Granville and the above named counties is thatthe boundaries of Granville County at that time were mostly artificialand many tracts of land lay in two counties and quite often in twostates. Many persons who inherited part of a home tract found that theirpart, when divided, lay in another county. So there were a great many ofthese "border line" sales and other by people living in a county whichwas actually only a few yards away. --- Joseph W. Watson
Granville County was established in 1746 from Edgecombe County. It ispresently located in the NE section of the state and is bounded by Vance,Franklin, Wake, Durham, and Person Counties and the State of Virginia. Itoriginally was much larger.
John married Frances ? 1. Frances died 2 in 1770 in Granville County, NC.
Dorothy Landers Fisher states that the will of Frances Landress, provedin court in 1770, names all four sons and both daughters:
From "Unrecorded Wills, 1746-1771", page 13:
June 5, 1769 - July Court 1770 - recorded by Isaac Edwards, C.C. FrancesLandress wills that all horses, cattle, sheep, all working toolsbelonging to the plantation be divided to my three sons: Abraham, Joseph,and Jacob Landress, with 15 pds. drawn out of Abraham's share that he hasalready had, and that my son Joseph shall have a colt if there be one,and if not a cow and calf extra of his share; to my daughters Mary andBetty to be paid 40 pds. between them out of John's bond and what is inRobert Harris's hands and if what is in Robert Harris's hands and my sonJohn's bond is not enough to pay this, then my sons shall be obliged tomake it up out of their shares; to sons Abraham, Joseph, and Jacob, themiddle iron pot, six pewter plates, one bason and the bed that they lieon and all that is in the chest excepting my own clothes, equally dividedbetween them, and all the English books and a skillet. Executor: NicholasHolston, Witnesses: William Jacob, Anne Jacobs. Proved in Court in 1770.
The will of Frances Landress is available from the NC Archives. It is inGranville County Wills box: 044.801.24/ Frances Landress, 1770.
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From Carroll Hayden:
She and John bought 238 acres on both sides of the Tar River. The deedlists John Landress as being from Pennsylvania.
They had the following children:
+ 2 M i John Landers , Jr. was born in 1739. He died in May 1825. 3 F ii Elizabeth Landers was born in 1739. + 4 M iii Abraham Landers was born in 1743. He died on 22 Aug 1827. + 5 M iv Joseph Landers was born in 1745. He died in 1830. 6 M v Jacob Landers was born 1 in 1748.