John C. Landis

John C. Landis, son of Israel Landis, was born at St. Louis on March 5, 1837. When seven years of age he was brought by his parents to St. Joseph. At that time most of the town was west of where the Francis Street railroad station is today. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in June 1861. He returned to St. Joseph and organized a company of Missouri Militia, being appointed captain by Governor C. F. Jackson. He collected a stock of arms at the corner of Buchanan Avenue and Kemper Street, which he drove south to the Platte County line. He marched on south to join Sterling Price's Confederate Army. This resulted in the arrest of his father, Israel Landis. John was at the Battle of Lexington in command of a battery of artillery and at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, under General Van Dorn. From December 1861 on his battery was named “Landis' Battery and it was in service at the Battle of Corinth, Chattanooga, Holly Springs, Iuka, Grand Gulf, Tupelo, and Farmington. Just before the Siege of Vicksburg he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and placed in command of the Missouri Division of Artillery. After the fall of Vicksburg he was exchanged and sent to Mobile, Alabama, where he was breveted colonel of artillery and placed on General Maury's staff. He was in charge of the Gulf Division of the Confederate artillery. While in Mobile he met Miss Caroline Austill and they were married on December 13, 1865. He returned to St. Joseph and was admitted to the Bar in 1878. He died on April 2, 1913.

His son, John C. Landis, Jr., was born in St. Joseph on October 30, 1873. He attended Cornell University and was admitted to the Barin 1895. He married Miss Mary Russell Garth in 1901. He served as a trustee of the Francis Street Methodist Church and practiced law in St. Joseph until his death in 1933. He had two sons, John C. Landis III (1902-1967) and Garth Landis, born 1907. John was attorney for the St. Joseph School Board, member of the Library Board, and a director of the Park Bank. Garth served as a member of the St. Joseph City Council.