Individual Profiles & Obituaries
Lieutenant Governor John Latta (Branch 3)
Born March 5, 1836 in Unity Township, Westmoreland County, PA, John Latta rose to become Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania. He was the son of Moses and Eliza (Graham) Latta and grandson of John Latta, who with his brother Moses had settled in Mount Pleasant Township on land later occupied by the Mammoth Coke Works. His biography was originally published in 1918 in Old and New Westmoreland. Robert H. Latta corresponded extensively with the Governor while establishing the branch-numbering system this project still uses.
Andrew Jackson Latta, 1869–1919 (Branch 52)
Born December 5, 1869 in Missouri to L. J. and Missouri Latty, Andrew Jackson Latta appears on the 1880 census for Madison County, Arkansas as an 11-year-old farm hand alongside a brother and sister. His story was preserved through his grandson, Frank Latta (1922–2000), and traces his first marriage to Nancy Henson in Indian Territory.
C. J. Latta, Army Doctor (Branch 3)
Excerpted from the History of Colorado (Baker and Hafen, Vol. 4): Clarence Johnston Latta, physician at Sterling, Colorado and a WWI veteran with an officer’s commission, was born in Mendon, Westmoreland County, PA on August 3, 1871, son of Joseph S. and Susan Latta, and was raised on a farm in Dickinson County, Kansas.
Frank De Vere Latta, Our Family Hero (Branch 29)
Commander Frank D. Latta, USN, commanded the WWII submarine USS Lagarto, lost in the Gulf of Siam. He was awarded both the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for his service as a submarine commander, and was remembered by his family as universally respected by his men and fellow officers alike.
Robert “Uncle Bob” Latta, Camden Police Officer
Nearly 80 years before the article was written, Camden, South Carolina police officer Robert “Uncle Bob” Latta was killed while attempting to protect a woman from her estranged husband, who reportedly intended to kill her. His community remembered him as having paid the ultimate price for justice.
The Autobiography of Samuel Rankin Latta
Samuel R. Latta was born December 2, 1827 in New Alexandria, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. His father, John Latta, was born in Lancaster County, PA on April 15, 1796, of Irish parentage. Samuel’s own account of his life — one of the fullest first-person narratives preserved in this archive — describes his upbringing and family in his own words.
“Pioneer Polly” Latta (Branch 1)
Mary A. “Polly” Latta, third daughter of Robert and Isabella Johnston Latta (Branch 1, family 7), was born March 21, 1805 near Bellefontaine, Ohio, and moved with her family to Champaign County at age nine.
Sarah Jane Latta Nally
Sarah Jane (Latta) Nally, youngest daughter of John and Annie (Hockenberry) Latta, was born August 29, 1840 in Monroe County, Ohio. Her descendant reflects that genealogical records often give us only a name and two dates — but sometimes enough besides to glimpse an otherwise unseen life.
Descendants of Lucinda Latta Mercer
Lucinda (Alcinda) Latta (1821–1894), “a quiet and soft-spoken Quaker from the mountains of Pennsylvania,” married Jeremiah Mercer in 1837, per the Tyler County West Virginia Families book. Jeremiah was described as a stout, six-foot man with blue eyes and fiery red hair.
Additional Family Lines
This archive also preserves descendant charts for the following individuals, available in full from the branch captain or editor: Descendants of Albert Latta, Descendants of Charlotte Latta, Descendants of Clarissa Latta, Descendants of Louisa Ellen Latta Matz, Emmit Latta (“A Persistent Young Soldier”), and John L. B. Latta (Monroe Co., OH obituary, 1935).
Have a family profile of your own to contribute? See the subscription page for how to reach the editor.