Background on Mary G. and Edward R. Landon
Born in Guilford, Conn. on May 31, 1813 (sometimes recorded as 1812), Edward Ruggles Landon was the son of Nathaniel Ruggles Landon (1784-1851), a prosperous merchant, and his wife Mary Griswold (1786-1871), and the grandson of the patriot and Revolutionary veteran David Landon. Having received his bachelor's degree at Yale (1833) and studied law at an office in New Haven, Edward looked westward for his fortune, relocating first to Detroit and later to the small town of Tecumseh. The timing of his move to the Michigan Territory, however, was less than fortunate, coinciding with an economic downturn and the financial panic of 1837 as well as some personal misfortune. In 1837 Landon married a young woman from Guilford, Anna Lay (1817-1838), and brought her west, only to lose both her and their infant son the next fall.
Recovering from his tragedy, Landon returned home to Guilford in December 1838 and built a successful life for himself, working as an attorney, president of the Guilford Savings Bank, and for thirty-five years, as a judge on the Probate Court of New Haven County, and in 1871, marrying for a second time to Parnel Clarissa Hotchkiss (1819-1886). Landon died at the age of 70 on July 25, 1883, and is buried in Guilford's Alderbrook Cemetery.
