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BIOGRAPHIES
A Standard History
of
Erie County, Ohio
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular
Attention
to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial,
Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family
Lineage and Memoirs.
By
HEWSON L. PEEKE
Assisted by the Board of Advisory Editors
Volume I.
ILLUSTRATED
The Lewis Publishing Company
Chicago and New York
1916
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CHARLES LANDER.
More than sixty years ago a young Englishman named
Lander arrived in Erie County. The only
possessions he could claim were the clothes he wore on
his back. His name was William C. Lander
and he was born in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1830.
He was an only child and his parents had died when quite
small and his years up to nineteen were spent in the
home of his grandparents. With the spirit of
adventure strong within him, with a determined purpose
to make his own way in the world, he set out for the New
World and spent most of his money in the long voyage by
sailing vessel of three months between England and New
York, and on reaching Ohio first located at Akron.
The next two years did not greatly improve his fortunes,
and when he arrived in Berlin Township it was as a
common laborer that he worked for a farmer named West.
Industrious, thrifty, faithful to the discharge of every
responsibility, he was the type of young man who
deserves encouragement, and found his benefactor in
W. Henry Hine who was his employer for six years.
Mr. Hine, being a banker and one of the prominent
citizens of Erie County, encouraged the young Englishman
to buy land, offering to back him in his undertakings
until he should get a foothold as an independent farmer.
On this advice William C. Lander first bought
thirty acres, and on that little farm his son Charles
was born. While employed by Mr. Hine,
William Lander married Miss Mary Jane Ceas,
who was also an employe in the Hine household. She
was born in Ohio, and died aged fifty-three on the old
Lander homestead. After their first
successful venture as independent farmers, William C.
Lander and wife bought 100 acres a short distance
north of the first farm, and it was on that place, since
known as the old Lander homestead, that
William C. Lander spent the rest of his years.
He died there Nov. 10, 1913, when past eighty-three
years of age. In the meantime he had secured
another tract of 100 acres of farm land, and that is now
the home of his son Charles. William C. Lander
and wife had two children, the first being Charles
and the second Miles. The latter was born
in 1870 and is now owner and occupies the old Lander
homestead in Berlin Township. He married
Miss Catherine Oetzel and their three children are
named Ellen, William and Emma.
Charles Lander was born on his father's farm, the
first mentioned above, in Berlin Township, on Oct. 2,
1863. He now has the second hundred acres secured
by his father, located on the Berlin Township Line Road,
and one of the best improved tracts of farm land in
Berlin Township. Ten acres of his farm is a fine
wood of native timber. Mr. Lander has a
large and comfortable ten-room brick house, and has one
of the largest barns found in Berlin Township, 120 feet
long and 37 feet wide. Mr. Lander took
possession of this farm home in 1898 and had previously
lived on the Lander homestead. He has
proved his ability as a thrifty general farmer, is a man
of substantial education, and gives an intelligent
direction to every undertaking.
In Berlin Township, he married Miss Elizabeth Ritz,
who was born in the old log cabin home on her father's
farm in Berlin Township in March, 1863, and grew up and
received her education in this locality, where she lived
until her marriage. Her father is John Ritz,
Sr., one of the capable citizens of Erie County, and
a sketch of whom appears on other pages. Mr.
and Mrs. Lander have two children, Edward,
born Feb. 22, 1888, on the old Lander homestead,
was educated in the public schools and is now living at
Ceylon Junction in Erie County. He married
Elizabeth Nuhn of Vermilion Township and they have
two children named Herbert and Charles.
John, the younger son, was born Sept. 19, 1899,
has finished his education and is still living at home.
Mr. Lander and his sons are independent
republicans.
Source: The Standard History of Erie County,
Ohio - Published 1916 - Page 610 |
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MILES LANDER, Few
farms in Erie County have undergone a more complete
transformation than that of Miles Lander,
located in the northwest corner of Berlin Township.
When Miles Lander was born there Apr. 2, 1870,
only a portion of that tract of 100 acres was arable,
and fields were thickly strewn with stumps. It was
his father, the late William C. Lander, who
worked this transformation in the landscape and the
combined efforts of the Lander family has
produced as fine a farm as can be found within the
limits of Berlin Township. Miles Lander is
one of two sons of the late William C. Lander,
grew up and received his education in the public schools
of his native township, and his home has always been on
what is known as the old Lander Homestead,
comprising 100 acre of well managed and productive soil,
with excellent drainage, and cultivated with such
rotation of crop as to bring out the best possibilities.
Mr. Lander grows about fifteen acres of wheat,
fifteen to twenty acres of corn, one or two acres of
potatoes, and also has crops of oats and considerable
meadow land. To the traveler along Rural Route No.
2 out of Huron the farm at once commends itself by
reason of its attractive group of buildings.
There is a large barn 36 by 96 feet, besides wagon and
tool sheds and other structures two for the shelter of
stock and equipment. The home is a big white two
story eleven room house, which was built in 1871 by the
late William C. Lander.
William C. Lander was born in Hadenham, England,
May 28, 1830, being an only son and child, and as an
orphan was reared by his grandmother until about
nineteen years of age. He then set out for the New
World on Feb. 27, 1852, and landed in New York City Apr.
9, 1852. He came on to Akron, Ohio, to visit an
uncle, James Lander spending a year or two in
that locality, part of the time employed in printing
office at Akron owned by T. and H. G. Canfield.
While there he helped to set type on an old history of
Summit County, Ohio. In 1855 he came to Erie
County, and being still poor found employment with
Charles W. West in Berlin Township in April of that
year. On Mar. 17, 1857 he entered the employ of
Mr. William Henry Hine, a prominent citizen and
business man, and received a great deal of encouragement
from Mr. Hine, who aided him in getting a start.
Early in the '60s, acting on the advice of Mr. Hine,
who gave him all the time he needed to make his payments,
Mr. Lander made his first purchase of thirty acres.
Economical and thrifty and with the aid of a capable
wife, he soon had the land paid for, and about 1870 sold
it and purchased the 100 acres where his son Miles
now lives. On this land he wrought with all
the industry of which he was capable, laid many rods of
tile, constructed the fine large house already
mentioned, and not only prospered there but accumulated
the surplus which enabled him to secure 100 acres
adjoining his first home, now owned and occupied by his
son, Charles Lander. William C. Lander died
at the old homestead Nov. 10, 1913. He was as good
a man as his township possessed in its ranks of
citizenship, and was not only a capable home maker but
also a man whose influence was good in behalf of
religion, morality and all local betterment. He
was an independent republican in politics. He was
married at the home of William Henry Hine, while
he was in Mr. Hine's employ, to Mary Jane Ceas,
who was born in New York, July 2, 1830. She also
lived for several years in the Hine home before
her marriage. She was one of a family of seven
children and the daughter of El. Nathen and Eunice
(Jackson) Ceas, they having moved from York State
while their family of children were small and located at
Harper's Corners (now known as Ceylon). She was
married to Wm. C. Lander Apr. 27, 1861, and died
at the Lander farm Oct. 5, 1883. She was a
kind mother and known as a quiet and peace-loving
neighbor.
Mr. Miles Lander was married to Miss Anna C.
Oetzel, who was born in Oxford Township of Erie
County, Oct. 5, 1873. She grew up there and in
Milan Township and is the daughter of Justus and Anna
B. (Bauereis) Oetzel. Her father was born Oct.
24, 1833, in Hesse-Cassel, and her mother was born Mar.
21, 1836, near Berlin, Germany. They both came to
the United States in 1853, the former locating at
Sandusky and the latter in Milan Township. In the
latter locality on Christmas Day of 1857 they were
married. They lived in Milan Village until 1861,
and then moved to Oxford Township, in a farm. In
1883 the Oetzel family bought and occupied a farm
of 170 acres in Milan Township, and that is still the
property of the family. Mrs. Oetzel died
there July 16, 1907, and Mr. Oetzel is still
living, being now past eighty years of age. He was
reared in the faith of the Reformed Church, while his
wife was a Lutheran, and after their marriage they both
affiliated with the Lutheran Church and reared their
children in the same faith. There were seven sons
and five daughters in the Oetzel family, four of
whom died young, and one daughter has passed away since
the death of her mother. Of the seven still living
six are married and have children.
Mr. and Mrs. Miles Lander are the parents of
three children. Barbara Ellen, born
Sept. 7, 1900, is now a student in the Berlin Heights
High School; William J. born Apr. 6, 1904, is in
the sixth grade of the common schools; and Emma E.
was born June 2, 1909. Mrs. Lander is a
member of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Lander is
independent in politics.
Source: The Standard History of Erie County, Ohio
- Published 1916 - Page 830 |
NOTES:
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