George Landis

As printed in 1910

GEORGE LANDIS.

It is an axiom demonstrated by human experience that industry is the keynote of prosperity. Success comes not to the man who idly waits, hut to the faithful toiler whose work is characterized by sleepless vigilance and cheerful celerity, and it has been by such means that George Landis, the present popular and capable manager of the Doylestown State Bank, has forged to the front and won an honored place among the substantial citizens of Wayne county. He is widely known as a man of high character, and for a number of years his influence has been marked and salutary. He was born at Wellington, Lorain county, Ohio, October 26, 1869, the son of George and Elizabeth (Leatherman) Landis. His paternal grandparents, John and Elizabeth Landis, where natives of Pennsylvania where they lived, and they died in Ohio; his maternal grandparents, John and Rebecca Leatherman, were also natives of Pennsylvania; they moved to Medina county, Ohio, in a very early day and died there.

George Landis, Sr., was born in Pennsylvania in 1829 and his wife, Elizabeth Leatherman, was born in Medina county, this state, in 1838. Eight children were born to them. Mr. Landis was a pioneer farmer and saw-mill man in his community and he did a great deal of work in both, developing his farm and cutting timber in the winter months, having been very comfortably situated on his farm when he died. It was in 1868 that he moved to Wayne county and settled in Rittman and there lived until his death in 1890, having been killed in his own saw mill. He was a stanch Mennonite and he lived a quiet and retired life, giving his exclusive attention to his personal business affairs and to his family. He was regarded by all who knew him as a man of more than ordinary attainments, although he never sought to make any outward display, being reserved. He was truly a good and useful man. He and his wife were the parents of these children, namely: John; Mary, living in Portland, Oregon; Frank, superintendent of the Coppen mine in Virginia; Amanda, Elizabeth, George (of this review), Allen and Sarah. The mother of these children died in 1875.

George Landis, Jr., was educated in the common schools of Rittman, graduating from the high school there in the class of 1889. He very early manifested a taste for a mercantile life, and when he had finished his education he entered the mercantile business in Rittman, remaining in the same for a period of six years. He prospered and, desiring a broader field for his operations, moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for a period of twelve years, doing an extensive business there in the mercantile line. For six years before his graduation he worked in a store in Rittman for a Mr. Apade, attending school in the meantime. In 1903 he went to Cleveland.

Observing an excellent field for a bank at Doylestown. this county, Mr. Landis came here from Cleveland and organized the Doylestown State Bank, of which he is cashier and manager at this writing, and he has succeeded in building up the prestige of this institution along safe and sound lines, until it is widely patronized and has a reputation second to none in the county. He seems to have a natural ability for banking and performs his duties in a manner that elicits nothing but favorable comment from all concerned.

Mr. Landis was married in 1893 to Laura Amstutz, the accomplished and affable daughter of Jacob Amstutz, mentioned elsewhere in this work. The Amstutz family has long been a prominent one in this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Landis one child has been born, named Glen, a bright and interesting lad, now a student in the Doylestown high school.

In his political relations Mr. Landis is a Republican and, although he has been solicited by his friends to take public office, he has persistently refused to do so, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his personal affairs. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Sterling Lodge, No. 173, and the Foresters, Court Levan, Cleveland, Ohio.

Personally Mr. Landis is a straightforward, honest and painstaking business man, courteous and obliging, and in the social circles of this vicinity he and his wife stand high, and none are more deserving of the honor and esteem of the community.

As printed in History of Wayne County, Ohio (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.