Latta Ancestry - Emigration from Ireland to United States to Canada (Stage 1)

Emigration from Ireland began as early as 1603, when people emigrated to areas such as continental Europe, the islands of the Caribbean, the British colonies, and other parts of the British Isles. Emigration increased during periods of civil or religious unrest or famine in Ireland as well as during various gold rushes in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.

Throughout history, the Irish had many reasons for leaving Ireland (refer to the Family Search website under Ireland Emigration and Immigration). It is important to remember, however, that many among those remaining in Ireland would have emigrated but were unable to, due to poverty or impoverishment. Many Irishmen during the Great Famine years who did embark were in such sickened and critically weakened condition that death followed many while traversing the high seas to their new world home. The period of greatest emigration began around 1780 and reached its peak from 1845 to 1855, when between one and two million people left Ireland because of the potato famine (more information is available in an online history paper on Urban America).

 The Latta Family Tree has many branches with origins in Ireland and Scotland. In fact, extensive research has been done on Latta individuals (for example, refer.  to the online Latta Genealogy  at Wiki Tree and online Latta Databases). In addition, more than 50 Latta branches have been researched over the years (refer to the branch migration list on the Latta website at http://www.latta.org/Branches/branches.htm).

Our direct Latta lineage (Branch 13) begins with James Latta who emigrated from Donegal, Londonderry, Ireland in 1768 arrived at Boston, Massachusetts and settled in Albany County, New York, United States. Research indicates that James Latta was born on January 11, 1727 and may have come to America along with three or four of his sons about the time of the Revolutionary War (1776-1783). He settled at Wallkill, New York. James Latta was a merchant at Wallkill and New Windsor, Orange County, New York and a farmer at Seneca Ontario County where he purchased 1200 acres of land at $2.50 in 1789 from Phelps and Gorh. One of his sons, William John Latta also had a son, John William Latta who subsequently emigrated from the United States to Hastings County, Ontario, Canada in 1833.

Flag of Canada

The Latta family history unfolds in the life stories that follow in the posting Latta Ancestry - Emigrationfrom Ireland to United States to Canada (Stage 2).

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Latta Ancestry - Emigration from Ireland to United States to Canada (Stage 2)

William John Latta (1761-1796) and Anne Jackson (1761-1847)

William John Latta was born in 1761 in Donegal, Londonderry, Ireland. At that time, his father James Latta (1727-1800) was age 34 (research has yet to identify William’s mother). The ancestry records indicate that he was christened on October 21, 1762 in Dalry, Ayr, Scotland. He emigrated to the United States with his father and siblings about 1768 at the age of 7 years, arriving at Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

On October 30, 1776, William John Latta enlisted in Captain John A. Bradt’s company of State Rangers, being discharged on January 23, 1777, as unfit for duty. His name appears on the rolls of the 3^rd Albany County Militia. In 1778, when he was 17 years old, he married Anne Jackson in New York. As their family tree shows, they had eight children in 17 years.

Family of William Latta and Anne Jackson

When their son, John William Latta was born on August 11, 1782, in Manhattan, New York, William and Anne were both 21 years old. The 1790 United States Federal Census shows that William and Anne, along with their five children, lived in Watervliet, Albany, New York. In the 1790 Watervliet Township census, William is listed as a lime maker by trade but educated for sea captain. William John Latta died in 1796 in New Scotland, Albany, New York, at the age of 35, and was buried there.

United States Federal Census 1790 (click to enlarge)

When Anne Jackson was born on May 15, 1761, in Tyringham, Massachusetts, United States, her father, Colonel Giles Jackson (1733-1810) was 28, and her mother, Anna Thomas (1740-1780) was 21. She married William John Latta in 1878. When William died, she remarried and had four sons and four daughters with David Manning (1759-1816). She died on August 5, 1847, in New Scotland, Albany, New York, having lived a long life of 86 years, and was buried in Broome, New York.

Family of Giles Jackson and Anna Thomas

Latta Ancestry – Five Generations in Canada

The Latta family lineage originates in Ireland with emigration in 1768 to the United States and then to Canada in 1833, as explained in the previous posting Latta Ancestry - Emigration from Ireland to United States to Canada (Stage 1).

Four Generations of Latta Men in Canada, c.1906

The above photograph (Four Generations of Latta Men in Canada, c.1906), presents our direct Latta lineage in Canada. Gilbert James Latta, the son of John William Latta, was the first in the Latta family tree to be born in Canada in 1822, almost 200 years ago. The stories of the following five generations of Latta men in Canada are based on family history and Ontario vital records (birth, marriage and death).

•  John William Latta (1782-1846).
•  Gilbert James Latta (1822-1906), seated.
•  James Gilbert Latta (1852-1938), left rear.
•  Walter James Latta (1873-1932), right rear.
•  James Cyril Latta (1901–1986) at 5 years of age.

The Ontario Birth Records indicate that James Cyril Latta was born on March 18, 1901 in Thurlow, Ontario. He was the first-born and only son of Walter James Latta (1873-1932) and Sadie Elizabeth Coulson (1881-1941). Cyril had only one sister, Marjorie Uldean Latta, who was born in Toronto, Ontario on April 28, 1905. Marjorie Uldean Latta and Harold William McConnell were married on January 9, 1924 in Campbellford, Ontario. At that point, the Latta family history became inter-twined with the McConnell family history (refer to the posting McConnell Ancestry in Canada – An Overview).