BROOKVILLE — Jesse Landis, the oldest of nine children of Jerimiah and Susanna Landis, was born on October 22, 1880. He was a colorful figure who during his lifetime operated a sawmill, a threshing outfit, a trucking firm and a building rigging business. He also worked for some time at the Brookville Bridge Company.

Mr. Landis was a community leader, who served on the Brookville Board of Education and on the Brookville Volunteer Fire Department and was made a lifetime honorary member.

One of Jesse’s brothers, Edward P. Landis, owned a jewelry shop and was mayor for several terms. Another brother, Howard Landis, worked at the Brookville Elevator. His sister, Emma, married O.B. Stupp, who started Stupp & Son asphalt paving.

It was said that he was a philosopher on nearly any subject and would take the opposite point of view to start a debate. He had an eighth grade education. He was more or less a self-made lawyer. He had a good understanding of the world monetary exchange of the world banks as well as a basic understanding of Paul’s writings in the New Testament.

When the new PUCO hauling permits were issued, he got one of the early PUCO numbers and years later sold it to Archie Elifritz. When Elifritz stopped hauling, he sold the number to a Dayton freight line.

Jesse Landis was instrumental in leading a court battle from 1946 to 1950 that finally ended at the Ohio Supreme Court that returned the Golden Gate Park back to the Village of Brookville. A plaque is hung at Golden Gate Park in Brookville to honor Jesse David Landis for his efforts in making the local park available for all to enjoy.

One of his last accomplishments before his death in 1957, was when the town voted a levy through to tear down the old jail and library and build a new city building, police station and fire house. The bids were let and the building got underway. The layout for the footers were set. Mr. Landis had obtained a set of the blueprints and watched the progress.

Being a mover and a contractor, he noticed an error and before the time came to pour the footers, he spoke to the contractor and stated the stakes were six inches above the street level. This would have made the fire engines have a six inch bump instead of being able to pull out at street level. The contractor disagreed and refused to change his plans.

Mr. Landis proceeded to get a court injunction to stop construction and the contractor reset the stakes for the footer. The building was then completed and the contractor did a very good job.

All information and the photo for this Look at Brookville article were supplied by the Brookville Historical Society. Do you have a photo or historical information to share or add? Please contact the Brookville Historical Society at 937-833-0285 or email to [email protected].