Ludi Hotchstrasser Landis

Femaleabout 1583– •2DTG-Y7Z

Swiss German and South German: nickname for a highwayman or for someone who lays waste to the land, Middle High German landoese. The surname of Swiss German origin is also found in France (Alsace), where it is rare. Compare Landes and Lantis .

Americanized form of German Landers 3. Alternatively, an altered form of Landers 4. Compare Landess .

History: The ancestor of many of the Americans with the surname Landis was Christopher (or Christian) Landis or Landers from Germany who settled in VA (now WV) in the middle of the 18th century and later moved to NC. The original form of his surname is not known; both the surnames Landis and Landers are found in Germany and they are both established among his descendants, as is the (other) Americanized form Landess. — This is also the name of a Swiss Mennonite family, originating from the canton of Zurich, whose members settled, after the expulsion from Switzerland in the 17th century, in the Palatinate, Germany, and in Alsace, France, or immigrated to America. In both Germany and America the change of the name from Landis to Landes occured. In the first half of the 18th century there were several Mennonites named Landis or Landes who immigrated to PA. The town of Landisville in Lancaster County, PA, is named for one of them.