Latta HomeLocales:
Bulk Dates: 1824-1830.
Languages: English.
Summary: Letters written to James Latta, his wife Jane, and their daughter Nancy. Writers are Robert Latta (James's son from his first marriage to Elizabeth Houston in Ireland), William A. Latta (Robert's second son from his first marriage to Jane Allison), and Eliza Dilworth Latta (Robert's second wife), who are writing from their home in Yorkville, S.C., to Robert’s parents and sister at their Mecklenburg County home. Also includes one letter by a non-family member who is writing to James from Havana and mentions that Robert is in Cuba.
Index Terms:
Source: Gift of Cornelia McAlister, 1997.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Not held by UNC Charlotte Library.
Citation: Latta Family Papers, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Library.
Compilers: Randy Penninger, February, 1997.
Location: RS 35.6 (Oversize File: box OF8:9).
James Latta was born in Ireland on August 31, 1755 to Robert and Jane Latta. He and his first wife, Elizabeth Houston (birth date unknown; d. ca. 1792), had two sons, William (1781-1829) and Robert (1783-1852).
James immigrated to the United States in 1785, apparently in order to settle his father’s estate in Rowan County, N.C. He purchased land in Statesville, N.C. in 1792. After the death of Elizabeth, he married Jane Allison Knox (1775-1864) of Lincoln County, N.C., on April 12, 1796. Their union produced four children: Elizabeth (Betsy) (1797-1838; m. Benjamin Wilson Davidson), Mary (Polly) (1799-1824; m. James G. Torrance), Nancy Angelina (1804-33; m. Maj. Rufus Reid), and Ezekial (1810-20).
In 1799, James purchased 200 acres in Mecklenburg County and around 1800 built his home on this land. Later, in 1805, he purchased land in Yorkville (now York), S.C., where he operated a store. James died in 1837 and was buried in the cemetery at Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Mecklenburg County. His home, Latta Place, is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.
Robert Latta was born near Londonderry, Ireland, on August 21, 1783. After the death of his mother, he and his older brother, William, joined their father in North Carolina. By 1812, Robert had acquired part of his father's mercantile business, which sold goods in the Carolina Piedmont towns of Statesville and Lincolnton, N.C., and Yorkville, S.C. He first married Jane Allison (1785-1819) and they had two children, John Allison and William Albert. After Jane's death, Robert married Philadelphia-native Eliza Dilworth in 1821. He built a home in Yorkville, S.C. on property he purchased from his father.
[For more information, see James Orr Boyte, The James Latta Plantation: A Living Historical Farm (Charlotte: Latta Place, Inc. 1973 (1994 printing)).]
CONTAINER LIST
Box: Folder Contents
OF8:9 LATTA FAMILY PAPERS (1824-30): includes 11 letters that are primarily routine, i.e., weather, health, etc. Items of note include a letter (5-14-1825) from William A. Latta to his grandfather in which he recounts being bitten by a snake and a letter (1826) from a W. A. Moore (?) in Havana to James Latta in which the former comments about Robert Latta (his reference is "Mr. R. Latta") in Cuba.