The Washington times., 1936-03-20

dDIe grandmother until Sne pas
His parents were married In
Mercer County. His father, John
Manuel Landon, and his mother,
Annie MoSsman, were united in
marriage at Sandy Lake, Mercer
County. The brides father, the
late Rev. William H. MoSSmar1,
was . Methodist Episcopal min
lister; and in those days it was the
rule for a minister Of that denomi-
nation to remain not more than
three years on any given charge"
or pastorate.
He had been transferred from
Conneautville, Crawford County.
While the family resided there
Annie Mossman had been courted
by John Manuel Landon but the
knot remained united until the
MoSSmans were settled in the new
field at Sandy Lake. It was q
quiet family affair-Quite except
for one small boy, the brides
brother. His appetite had been
whetted by the activities in the
parsonage kitchen and he could
scarcely wait until the bride was
duly kissed by the relatives pres
ent and the guests seated at the
proverbial feStal table which, in
newspaper parlance Of those days.
always "groaned." The last word
Of the grace-saying had barely
died away when Greenville aunt
Of the bride rose up excitedly and
announced there were 13 at the
table. The official count showed
that the 18th was none other
than the small boy. At that point
It ceased to be "quiet home we'd
ding"
IL Pound Baby
John Landon. at that time. was
a field manager for an oil com.
pany in the Marietta, Ohio region,
and the newly-weds went to house
keeping at Elba.
In 1887 the stork was expected,
and Mrs. Landon desired the ser.
vices Of her uncle, DR.. B. E. Moss
man, Of Greenville, for the ex-
pected and. important event. To
make this possible, she went to
the home of her parents in West
Middlesex. Mercer County, whittier
her father the Rev. Mr.. Mossman,
had just been transferred by the
Nhirligig Of time and the confer
ence bishop from Sandy Lake.
It was there Alfred Mossman
Landon was born, September 9,
1857, and thus he became a Penn
sylvania native son instead of
first seeing light in Ohio, which
had edged out Virginia as the
State Of Presidents. And what a
baby! He weighed 12 pounds. His
nurse, Molly Baird, still resides in
West Middlesex.
Taken to Elba
Like Napoleon, young Alfred was
later taker to Elba, but much
earlier in life. In fact, he made
the journey as soon as he could
travel. However, beginning with
his first summer, Alfred began his
custom Of returning to Mercer
County for an extended visit each
year-first to Middlesex, then to
Sharpsville Ito which place his
grandfather meanwhile had been
tranSferred, and then in 1891 to
Greenville
That year his grandfather
retired from the ministry, bought
q property in Greenville and made
It his home until his death. For
the next nine or ten years, young
Landon spent his summers in
Greenville and was considered by
the young lads Of the town as one
Of them, and popular playmate.
One Of the playmates, a then next
door neighbor, remarked the other
day: alfred was always most con-
siderate and fair in all our boy.
hood undertakings"
In his early teens, the grand
parents maintained a summer cot
tage at the assembly grounds,
Chautauqua Lake. end except for
brief periods. most Of Landon's
summers were then spent at the
Mossman cottage.
Old American Family
Young Alfred had other grand
parents, Manuel Landon and Mary
Fetterman Landon, who resided
on a farm near Conneautvillee,
Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
The Landon line runs back to New
England and Revolutionary days.
The Fettermans were of Pennsyl-
vania German descent. Some of
the family think it Is from this
stock that the present governor Of
Kansas gets his dogged persis-
tence, once he starts on a course
that he Is sure Is right-also his
thrift. although the Landons have
been thrifty. careful folk, plus a
At all events. there was good
blood in his ancestral streams, for
the Mossman line goes back to
Revolutionary days, too-back to
Lieut. James Williamson. Another
ancestor was Leut.-Col Andrew
Christy. who fought with Commo-
dore Perry in the battle Of Lake
Erie in the War Of 1912. Both
Williamson and Christy were early
settlers in the Greenville vicinity.
The public is doubtless much
more interested in what Landon Is
today thar what his ancestors
were so, 10C or $50 years ago, but