Jacob Landis (1687-1730), a Mennonite and a descendant of Han Landis the 1614 martyr of Zurich, Switzerland, emigrated from Steinsfurt, Baden, Germany, in 1717 and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Descendants of his four grandsons with the Landis surname, Benjamin Landis (1730-1787); Abraham Landis (1739-1790); Jacob Landis (1740-1794); and Henry Landis (1744-1825), sons of Benjamin Landis (1700-1781), a Mennonite minister, lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New York, throughout the United States and in Canada.

Each volume has its own index, listing given names for those with the Landis surname and surnames only for others.