Thomas C. Lanier was a wealthy planter and an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Lanier was born and raised in Pickens County, Alabama. He built a flourishing business, Sipsey Mill. He joined the newly formed Bethesda Presbyterian Church in 1838, along with his wife Sarah D. Lanier. Following the war, Colonel Lanier wrote these words: Lanier moved to Florida following the war and founded Lanier, Florida. He was Master of the Masonic Lodge of Leesburg, Florida in 1870.