Lander Family

BIOGRAPHY

Edward Lander (1816-1907) was born in Salem, Mass. and died in Washington, D. C. He graduated from Harvard in 1835 and then studied law. In 1841 he moved to Indiana where he was a prosecuting attorney for eight counties. At the outbreak of the Mexican War he enlisted and raised a company of light infantry which later served with Gen. Taylor's Army. He was honorably discharged in 1848. In 1850 he was appointed to the Indiana Court of Common Appeals. In 1853 he was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington Territory. In 1857, he declined reappointment and became counsel for the Hudson Bay Company in a case heard before the International Commission at Washington in 1865-70. Henceforth he practiced law in the nation's capitol.

Frederick Lander (1822-1862) was born in Salem and died as a result of wounds received fighting in the Civil War. In 1854 Frederick became Chief Civil Engineer for Gov. Stevens, and explored the headwaters of the Mississippi to Puget Sound to find a pass for the Pacific Railroad.

From the guide to the Lander Family Papers, 1848-1863, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)