The Landiss Family
The beginnings of the Landiss family are hidden in the past. Who first bore the name, and how he acquired it, left no record. If he did it has been lost and forgotten in the long ago. Some think the name of German origin, and others claim it is Italian or Roman.
One investigator goes back to about 600 A. D. to Pepin de Landis, or Pepin of Landon as he is sometimes called, the first Duke of Brabant. This Pepin is known in history as Pepin I, and was the founder of the line of Carolingian kings which included Charles Martel and Charlemagne. From this we can be assured that the name of Landis is a very old one, the tree of which has many and extensive branches.
In going through the earlier records one finds that the name had a wide variety of spellings: Landiss, Landis, Landess, Landes, Landress, Landers, Londus, Landos. One family in Pennsylvania used the spelling Lantis for several generations. The most common form now in use is Landis, used by all the Pennsylvania families and by some in Tennessee. My own family has always clung to the form Landiss.
The oldest homestead of the Landis family is in Hirzel, Switzerland, and is said to have been in use since 1648. There has also been found a record where one Heinrich Landis acquired citizenship in Zurich in the same year.
A letter by Henry Landiss (now deceased) of Richtervil, Switzerland in the summer of 1913 contains this statement "The Landis family originated in the parish of Hirzel and spread throughout the cantons of Zurich and Zug. A large branch of the family settled at Walchvil on Lake Zug and remained Catholic. The branch that located in Richtervil were Reformed (Calvinistic), and still remain Reformed. The Landises first appear as Anabaptists in the History of the Reformation in Zurich."
The Anabaptists were so called because they insisted on rebaptism, rejecting infant baptism as practiced by the Roman Church. They also denied the authority of the Pope, refused to bear arms, and taught a rigid adherence to the Holy Scriptures.
Hans Landis appears as a prominent Anabaptist, the first to be mentioned in the record. He was a preacher of the Reformation and suffered martyrdom because of his religious zeal and teachings. His arrest was ordered by the Papal Council of Zurich probably in expectation that fear of imprisonment would cause him to cease his religious opposition. Hans, however, could not be thus intimidated, so he was arrested and carried in irons to Solothurn where he was imprisoned. By the aid of friends he escaped prison, but beginning again his preaching, he was soon retaken. He was carried before the Council at Zurich and rigidly examined as to his faith and doctrine.
When he refused to deny his faith, cease his preaching, to bear arms or take the oath of allegiance to the Pope the Council ordered that he be executed. This was done in September, 1614. Hans was led under guard to Wolf-Statt and there beheaded by Paul Volmar, the public executioner. But Paul first fell to his knees before Hans and begged forgiveness for what he was about to do. Hans consoled him saying, "I have already forgiven you. May God forgive you also that nothing may hinder you in this matter."
After his execution all the property of Hans was confiscated and his family persecuted. One after another his sons were imprisoned, or their property taken from them until they were reduced to starvation.
In the years between 1640 and 1660 all of Hans descendants, after having their property confiscated, were driven out of Switzerland. They sought refuge in the Palatine country, in the neighborhood of Mannheim and Strassburg on the Rhine, where they found employment as farmers and weavers.
The names of those going to the Rhine country of South Germany have not been definitely ascertained. The following names and dates are given, and it is hoped that future investigations will make it possible to form a complete chain.
1547 - In this year Johannes Landis married Catherine Schintz.
1553 - Hans Landis, their son, was born. He married Barbara Hochstratter an became a preacher of the Anabaptists. Because of religious activity and zeal he was persecuted and imprisoned. In 1614 he was beheaded by the order of the Papal Council of Zurich, and all his property confiscated. An account of his execution may be found in Martyrs Mirrors (Elkhart Edition) pages 1045-1047. His martyrdom was also commemorated by a hymn of forty-six verses in "Asbund", the old Mennonite hymnal which was used in the Mennonite services from 1642 until within recent years.
1588 - Hans Landis, second, was born. He was the son of Hans the Martyr and also a preacher of the Anabaptists. In 1608 he was imprisoned. In 1633 he, with his daughter, Margaretha, was imprisoned at Orthensbach for sixty weeks. He married Elizabeth Erzinger, but date of this marriage was not found, nor the number and names of his children.
1614 - Caspar Landis was born. He may have been a grandson of Hans the Martyr. He married Susannah Pfister and was living in Marhirch, Germany in 1674.
1640 - Foelix Landis, another son of Hans the Martyr, was reduced to starvation and his wife disgracefully abused. Their children were driven away and their furniture taken from them.
1640 - Oswald and Jacob Landis, sons of Hans the Martyr, were banished from Switzerland and their property confiscated.
1641 - Hans Landis the third was born. It is not known whose son he was, but undoubtedly a grandson of Hans the Martyr. He married Angelina Trimpler and lived at Marhirch, Germany.
1659 - Christian Landis was born. He was living in Marhirch, Germany in 1675. He may have been a son of Caspar.
1670 - Hans Heinrich Landis was born at Colmar, Germany.
1675 - Jacob Landis was living at Frostweiler, Germany.
1683 - Hans Rudolph Landis was born. He married Elizabeth Hirt at Marhirch, Germany, in 1709. Migrated to Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1724.