"COUNTIES OF MORGAN, MONROE & BROWN, INDIANA. HISTORICAL AND
 BIOGRAPHICAL."
CHARLES BLANCHARD, EDITOR. CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY 
& CO. PUBLISHERS. 1884.
F. A. BATTEY. F. W. TEPPLE

MORGAN COUNTY, INDIANA
MADISON TOWNSHIP
PAGE 353

WILLIAM LANDERS (deceased) was born in Virginia December 18, 1789, and died
in Madison Township, this county, December 10, 1851.  When he was but a mere child,
his parents removed to the State of Kentucky, where his mother died, and from whence
his father came into Indiana.  Our subject arrived in Morgan County in the year 1819,
and at once purchased from the Government a large tract of land, upon which he settled
and spent the rest of his life.   Before leaving Kentucky, he was married to Ibbe Stone,
who died in Morgan County October 3, 1821.  She had borne her husband five child-
ren, viz., Jonathan, William, Joshua, Nimrod and Jeremiah, Joshua being the only one
now living.  November 29, 1822, our subject was married, in Jackson Township, to
Delilah Stone, a younger sister of his first wife.  She bore him the following children,
viz., Washington, who died in the thirtieth year of his age;  Franklin, now the Hon. 
Franklin Landers, of Indianapolis;  Sarah, wife of Cyrus Vickery, of Iowa;  Ibbe,
who died in 1838 at ten years of age;  John, now of Landers & Co., Indianapolis;
Martin, died in 1852, about twenty years of age;  Harriet, widow of J. B. Cox;  and
Jackson, now of Landers & Co., Indianapolis.  The mother of these children died
March 11, 1883, and the following from the obituary notice published in the Indiana-
polis Journal of the following day pays a fitting tribute to a noble woman:   "The pio-
neers of the 'New Purchase' are leaving one by one, and in a few years none will remain
to tell of the early settlement of this section of the State.  The last to leave was Mrs.
Delilah Stone Landers, the venerable mother of the Hon. Franklin Landers, who died
in this city yesterday morning, at the home of her son, Jackson Landers, in the eighty-
fifth year of her age.  Mrs. Landers was born in Mercer County, Ky., November 15,
1798.  In the fall of 1819, her father emigrated to Indiana, and settled in Morgan County,
near the Marion and Johnson County lines.  In 1822, she was married to William
Landers, one of the earliest settlers of this section of the State.  She bore him nine
children, six of whom are now living, three of them--Hon. Franklin Landers, John Landers
and Jackson Landers--being well known residents of this city.  When Mrs. Landers
was married, her husband had five small children by a former wife.  These, with the nine
she bore him, grew up under her care and guidance, and became respected and honored
citizens.  What brighter crown than this could gild her brow? * * *  After her husband's
death, she continued to reside upon the farm and direct its cultivation until some ten years
ago, when she removed to this city, and has since lived here with her sons.  She conducted
her farming operations with success, and added much to the patrimony left by her husband.  She was a member of the first Baptist Church organized in the section where she lived.  *  *  *  She died in the assurance of a blessed immortality. *  *  *  Her memory will be revered by those who grew up around her, for she was a good woman, abounding in
those virtues which honor womanhood and make the word better."  At his death, 
William Landers had been for several years one ot hte Associate Judges of Morgan County;  he was also County Commissioner for a number of years, and at a very early date  was elected Justice of the Peace, and held the office for about sixteen consecutive years.
About the year 1835, he made the race for the Legislature against Dumont, the issue
being based upon the internal improvement schemes so largely undertaken by the State
about that time, Landers maintaining that the undertaking was too great, that the State
was finanically incapable of meeting such gigantic obligations and, though defeated, he 
lived to see his opponents go down, and the correctness of his theories demonstrated.  
In politics, our subject was an uncompromising Democrat, and his life and influence were
such as to mold and shape the politics of the community in which he lived, and it is
somewhat remarkable that, though he has been dead nearly a third of a century, the 
township in which he lived and died has never once given a Republican majority.  At the
time of his death he was a Master Mason, and had been for many years a consistent
member of the Baptist Church.

Data Entry Volunteer:  Diana Flynn 

    Source: geocities.com/heartland/meadows/8056/bios

               ( geocities.com/heartland/meadows/8056)                   ( geocities.com/heartland/meadows)                   ( geocities.com/heartland)