Bio: Hon. John R. Land, Caddo Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Mike Miller Date: 1999-2000 Source: Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 486-487. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Hon. John R. Land, attorney at law and legislative representative of Caddo parish, was born in Lexington, Miss., July 9, 1862, a son of Judge Thomas T. and Mary E. (Dillingham) Land, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and Mississippi. Judge Land was born December 7, 1815, and is the eldest son of Charles and' Sarah (Bass) Land. His father was a native of South Carolina and his mother of North Carolina. Both were of English descent, their ancestors having immigrated to the southern colonies prior to the Revolutionary war, in which Capt. John Land, the great-grandfather of Judge Land, was killed in battle in South Carolina. While Judge Land was an infant his parents moved from Tennessee to north Alabama, and after a residence there of ten years emigrated to Yazoo county, Miss., where Charles Land died in his early manhood, in 1834. Afterward his wife resided in Tchula, Holmes county, Miss., for many years, and there died, in the summer of 1882, at an advanced age. Judge Land was thoroughly educated in the University of Virginia, and also attended the law school there. He was married September 25, 1839, to Miss Mary E. Dillingham, of Washington county, Miss. Mrs. Land, who is a lady of culture and refinement, is still living. She numbers among her distinguished relatives the late Governor Runnels and the late Governor Humphreys, of Mississippi. The year of his marriage Judge Land was elected a member of the Mississippi legislature from Holmes county; and was reelected at the expiration of his term. At the end of his four years' service he declined a nomination for the state senate tendered him by the whig party, of which he was a member. In 1846 he came to Shreveport, La., where he engaged in the practice of law. In 1854 he was elected judge of the judicial district composed of the parishes of Caddo, De Soto and Bossier, to fill a vacancy, and declined reelection. In 1858 he was elected associate justice of the supreme court of Louisiana, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Henry M. Spofford, who had resigned. After his election Judge Land purchased a home in New Orleans and resided there until the second year of the war. In 1861 he was reelected associate justice of the supreme court, without opposition, for the full term of ten years, and remained on the bench until 1865. He then resumed the practice of law in Shreveport . In 1879 he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention, and was appointed chairman of the judiciary committee, which was composed of twenty-one able and experienced lawyers, to whose painstaking labors the people of Louisiana are indebted for their present judiciary system. Judge Land has never been a politician or office seeker. Three sons of Judge Land, Alfred D., David T. and John K Land, reside in Shreveport and follow their father's profession of the law. The fourth son, Charles A. Land, is a planter, residing in Caddo parish. In 1884 Judge Land retired from the practice of law, and his two younger sons succeeded him in the law firm of Land & Land. Since then he has supervised his planting interests. On December 7, 1890, Judge Land reached his seventy-sixth birthday, and is still in the enjoyment of good health, with the love of a devoted wife, children and grandchildren to brighten and cheer the sunset of his life. His son, Hon. John B. Land, was educated at Washington University, Lexington, Va., and at an early age began the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1884. He has gained an honorable place among his brother practitioners, and in the prosecution of his professional duties is meeting with encouraging success. He is the junior member of the firm of Land & Land, which is one of the prominent legal firms of Shreveport. In 1888 he was elected to represent Caddo parish in the legislature, and the same year he was a member of the state convention to nominate delegates to the presidential convention, and a member of the congressional convention. He is one of the prominent young men of Caddo parish, and his career thus far has been both successful and honorable. He is a member of the Elks.