My Genealogy Hound

JONAS M. LANDIS, the proprietor of the leading store in Souderton, which he has conducted successfully for nearly a quarter of a century, is the son of John and Mary (Moyer) Landis, of Franconia.

He was born on the Landis homestead in that township, December 24, 1850. He obtained his education in the public schools of the township, working on the farm at intervals as occasion required, the exigencies of farming often making it necessary to be absent from the school room, especially in the summer season. At the age of sixteen years he relinquished school studies to engage in employment in a lumber yard at Souderton, where he remained five years, and then accepted a clerical position in the store of Mr. Slifer in Souderton, in which situation he continued five years. Being of a thrifty disposition he saved his money, and at the end of that time purchased the business of Mr. Slifer and commenced business on his own account, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Landis is a model store-keeper, and has a large share of the trade of Souderton and also that of the dwellers in the country districts in the vicinity. He married, May 1, 1875, Susan, daughter of James Gross, of Schwenksville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. They have one child, May, who is unmarried.

Mr. Landis is of Mennonite antecedents in religious faith, and in politics he is an active Republican. He is a member of the town council of Souderton, and a useful member of that body, his sound sense and good business principles being of value in that position. He is a director of the Souderton Improvement Company, and manifests an active interest in whatever is calculated to promote the welfare of the community in which he lives. He and his family attend the Lutheran church.

John Landis (father) was a well known resident of Franconia. He was engaged all his life in agricultural pursuits. He married Mary Moyer, of the same township. The couple had the following children: Sarah, William, Barbara, Mary, John, Catherine, Annie and Jonas, the last named the subject of this sketch. The Landis family are old settlers in that section of Montgomery county. The name is also spelled Landes. The Moyers are also an old family of Mennonite ancestry.