Immigration & Passenger Records
Latta Immigrants to Maryland and Pennsylvania
Family tradition holds that several early branches first immigrated to the area southwest of Philadelphia. Branches 8, 19, 22, 27/47, and 32 are said to have first settled in southeast Philadelphia, Cecil County, Maryland, and Chester County, Pennsylvania; many other branches (1, 7, 15, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 36, 41, 42, 43, and 45) are first identified farther west in Pennsylvania.
Because the Mason-Dixon survey that settled the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary wasn’t completed until 1763–1767, families living near that border — including James Latta of Branch 8, said to have arrived near Elkton, MD with his sons in 1738 — may have recorded their birthplace as either colony depending on when they left. Matthew Latta (probably Branch 8) appears as a freeman in East Nottingham Township on Chester County, PA’s 1749 tax list; his estate was settled there in 1750.
Many Lattas are believed to have landed at the port of Philadelphia, a popular destination for Scots-Irish immigrants throughout the 1700s and 1800s, though few passenger lists from Northern Ireland survive from that century.
The Latta Emigrant Database
A structured research database tracks individual emigration records tied to Latta family connections — name, year, town, townland, parish, barony, county of origin, source, and research notes. A representative sample:
- Allison, Francis — Donegal, 1705 (Matriculated Students 1727–1897, Univ. of Glasgow archives); brother of Mary Allison, mother of Rev. James Latta, Branch 8.
- McCobb, James — 1774 (Robert H. Latta Collection, Library of Congress, Branch 3); brother of Mary McCobb, wife of Samuel Latta, tying the McCobb and Latta families together across Branches 3 and 4.
- Ervin family — Convoy, Donegal, 1833 (Convoy Presbyterian Church records, researched by Alex Latta, Branch 16).
- Chambers, Elizabeth — Taughboyne, Raphoe, Donegal, 1824; husband James Latta, son James baptized there in 1823.
The full database spans four source files (A–B, C–J, L, M–Z) and is available from the editor on request.
Passenger & Immigration Lists
Compiled from the West Virginia University Library’s Passenger & Immigration Lists Index (P. William Filby with Mary K. Meyer). A sample of documented Latta arrivals:
- James Latta — Pennsylvania, 1738 (from records of Ulster Presbyterian ministers and licentiates, 1680–1820)
- James Latta — no port listed, 1738 (Carl Boyer III, Ship Passenger Lists, National & New England, 1600–1825)
- William Latta — Boston, MA, 1768 (Whitmore, Port Arrivals & Immigrants to the City of Boston, 1715–1716 & 1762–1769)
- John Latta — Philadelphia, PA, 1852 and 1867 (WPA Index to Aliens Declarations of Intent, U.S. Circuit & District Courts, Philadelphia)
- Hamilton P. Latta — Philadelphia, PA, 1856 (same WPA index)
Questions about immigration research, or documentation to add to the emigrant database, can be sent to the editor — see the subscription page.