Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Lewis F. Lantz

Lewis F. Lantz, Deputy Sheriff of Wayne County, Ind., was born in Centreville, Ind., Jan. 7, 1849. His father died in 1850, and he was reared by his mother, who, being in limited circumstances, was unable to give him more than a common-school education. When twelve years of age he began taking care of himself. He learned the wagon and cabinet making trades, and worked at them till 1878, when he was appointed to his present position, and removed to Richmond. He became associated with the Masonic fraternity in 1871, and is now a member of the lodge, chapter, and commandery. In 1875 he married Mary C. Carroll, who died in December, 1876. April 27, 1882, he married Luella M. Gresh, of Milton. They have one son, Frederick, born Feb. 26, 1883. Mr. Lantz's father, Daniel Lantz, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1808, a son of Philip H. Lantz, of German descent. He was married in 1832 to Mary E. Wilson, of Pittsburg, Pa., born in 1816, of Irish descent. They moved to Centreville, Ind., in 1835, where he worked at his trade, wagon-making, till 1850, when, with others, he contracted the "gold fever" and started overland for California, but May 12, 1850, died, within forty miles of Salt Lake City. His widow still resides in Centreville, where she reared a family of eight children, Lewis F. being the youngest.

Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2