W. C. Van Laningham was born in Broad Ripple, Indiana, February 24, 1860, the son of Cicero and Elizabeth (Mock) Van Laningham. Cicero Van Laningham was born near Indianapolis in 1837 and was twice married, the subject of this sketch being a son by the first wife. Elizabeth (Mock) Van Laningham was born near Germantown, Indiana. Cicero Van Laningham was the son of Sylvester Van Laningham, who was born in Kentucky, and who married Catherine Nutt. They were the parents of the following children: David, Cicero, William and Martin. Sylvester Van Laningham was a farmer of Marion county, Indiana, and owned a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He was a member of the Christian church and was a man who was unusually interested in local affairs. Cicero Van Laningham was a farmer in Marion county until he went into the mercantile business and conducted a general store, which he later sold, and went into the lumber business in both Fortville and Noblesville. He died in 1899. He belonged to the Indpendent Order of Odd Fellows and was a Mason. He was always interested in local affairs. He was the father of the following children: W. C., who is the subject of this sketch, and Dora, now deceased, who married Albert McBride, of Noblesville, Indiana. The second wife of Cicero Van Laningham was Harriet Trittipo, who is now deceased. There were no children born to this union. Elizabeth (Mock) Van Laningham, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in 1864.

W. C. Van Laningham was educated in the common schools. He was married on March 4, 1884, to Alice Cory, who is the daughter of Jackson and Sarah Cory, of Marion county. To this union the following children were born; Alonzo, now at Terre Haute, and who married Cozie George; Lola, Cora L., of Fortville, Indiana, who married Kenneth Waite, and who is the mother of one child, Keith; Forest and Quitman. The second wife of the subject of this sketch was Mary Wiseman. No children were born to this marriage. She belongs to the Christian church. W. C. Van Laningham is a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been in the lumber business at Fortville, Indiana, since 1893. He was elected to the office of township trustee, and took his office on January 1, 1915.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Page 1039-1040.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI October 31, 2001.

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