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).

Latta Ancestry – Emigration from the United States to Canada

John Latta (1782-1846) and Susannah Pitman (1783-1854)

John William Latta (1782-1846)

When John William Latta was born on August 11, 1782, in Manhattan, New York, United States, his father, William John Latta (1761-1796) and his mother, Anne Jackson (1761-1847), were both 21 years old. It is noteworthy that William John Latta was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States with his parents about 1768 at the age of 7 years.

John William Latta married Susannah Pitman on November 17, 1800, when he was 18 years old at Adulphustown, Lennox Addington Prince Edward, Ontario (known as Upper Canada at the time). The family tree of John William Latta and Susannah Pitman shows that they had 13 children (6 boys and 7 girls) over a 30-year period. Our direct Latta lineage is with Gilbert James Latta (1822-1906), who was their youngest son.

Family of John William Latta and Susannah Pitman
(click to enlarge)

According to family records, John William Latta was a Quaker. He moved to Canada where he acquired and developed the Latta Mills property in 1833. He put up a flour mill, saw mills and a factory about 11 miles north of Belleville, Ontario. There, he followed the trade of his ancestors in manufacturing flour.

Latta Mills Painting

Latta Mills Ruins (click to enlarge)

John William Latta died of dropsy on December 5, 1846, in Latta Mills (pictured above), Thurlow, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 64. He is buried at Denyes Cemetery. In his will, dated April 5, 1847, he leaves all his property to his sons Archibald and Gilbert Latta.

Susannah Pitman (1783-1854)

When Susannah Pitman was born about 1783 in North Hero, Vermont, United States, her father, Russell Pitman (1750-1815), was 33, and her mother, Diannah Fraser (1760-1837), was 23. Susannah was the oldest of 5 children in their family (3 girls and 2 boys).

Family of  Russell Pitman and  Diannah Fraser

According to the 1851 Canada Census, Susannah Pitman (age 68) was living with her son Archibald Latta. She died about 1854 in Thurlow, Ontario, at the age of 71, and was buried there.

Exploring Our Ancestry – Genealogy Internet Resources

CanadaGenWeb

GenWeb projects now exist for dozens of countries worldwide. The purpose of each GenWeb Project is to create a global library for genealogy research on the Internet. The CanadaGenWeb Project was established in 1996. The goal was the collection and distribution of genealogical data available online. Researchers in Canada are very fortunate because there is an enormous amount of Canadian information available on the Internet. The role of the Canada GenWeb Project is to assist researchers in locating this information, as well as to add to the existing online data. CanadaGenWeb is organized into regional GenWeb’s. The national site is the gateway linking to each Canadian province and territory GenWeb.

Family Search

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use these records, resources and services to learn more about their family history. To help, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilySearch has 6.875 billion historic records on microfilm that are being digitized and eventually indexed. These records contain an estimated 20.6 billion names. FamilySearch has over 200 digital record preservation camera teams in 45 countries who produce more than 100 million new digital images for free online publication each year. The FamilySearch Indexing program is available in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish with more language interfaces and international projects coming.

Recap of the Roy-Apted Ancestry

The previous posts provide a lot of insight on the Roy-Apted ancestry. For each of the eight family lines, this genealogy research captures the family history data back to the time our ancestors made the journey to Canada and, in many cases, before that.

Here is a recap, with a focus on the first generation of non-living ancestors:

1.     Emile Roy and his ancestors from France;

2.     Angeline Hogue and her ancestors from France;

3.     Russell Smith and his ancestors from the United States and England;

4.     Margaret Mumford and her ancestors from England;

5.     Ralph Apted and his ancestors from England and Scotland;

6.     Catherine Duff and her ancestors from Scotland;

7.     Harold McConnell and his ancestors from Ireland

8.     Marjorie Latta and her ancestors from Ireland.

Much of the data that forms the foundation for this family genealogy is currently available in online family trees. More is being added as time goes by. The data includes family group sheets that provide a profile for the individual person, a timeline of key events in that person’s life, the names and lifespan of the parents and children, and the names and lifespan of the siblings. That data also includes many historical records for the Roy-Apted families to view, inspect and treasure now and in future generations.

What’s next? Expect to read short stories about key events that had an impact on the first generation of non-living ancestors.

Smith Ancestry – England to United States to Canada (second stage)

As noted in the previous post on the Smith Ancestry, Abijah Smith (1783-1869) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was the first Smith to be born as a Canadian. Abijah had a son named Caleb Nickerson Smith (1814-1893) who was also born in Halifax and died there at the age of 79. In turn, Caleb had a son named John Caleb Smith (1852-1940). John Caleb married his second wife Emmeline Deborah Boutilier (1859-1940) in 1881.

John was 42 years old and Emmeline was 34 years old when Ernest Milburn Smith was born on May 5, 1894 in Tantallon, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ernest was the sixth of nine children (seven boys and two girls). According to the Nova Scotia Certificate of Death, Ernest was a cobbler (shoemaker), he died on November 9, 1948 at the age of 54 and he was buried at Fort Massey Cemetery in Halifax.

Ernest Milburn Smith, circa 1919

Ernest enlisted for service in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on December 21, 1915. He was sent to fight in World War 1 and survived. During the war, Ernest met Bessie Cannon. When the war was over, Ernest Milburn Smith and Bridget “Bessie” Cannon were married on January 15, 1919 in Govan Parish, Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Scotland. Ernest was 24 and Bridget was 27. Their marriage lasted 29 years. Ernest and Bessie sailed from Scotland to Canada in 1919. Russell Cannon Smith, their first child, was born the following year in Halifax on March 18, 1920. They had three more children, all girls.

It is noteworthy that, on November 29, 1915, Ernest’s younger brother Malcolm Russell Smith (1896-1917) enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force. He served in World War 1 as a member of the 10^th Machine Gun Company (Regimental Number 488787). He was killed in action on August 21, 1917 in the battle at Vimy Ridge. He was only 21 years old. Malcolm was buried at Villers Station Cemetery, France. Several online memorials honour his sacrifice, including: Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Canada at War and First World War - Books Of Remembrance. Perhaps Ernest and Bessie named their only son, Russell Cannon Smith (born March 18, 1920), in his memory as well. The name “Russell” has not been observed in the Smith family lineage dating back to Robert Smith (1539-1590).

Russell Cannon Smith,  1939

Russell Cannon Smith (1920-1995) married Margaret Cecilia Mumford (1922-1998) on December 28, 1944 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At that time, he had enlisted for one of many terms of service for the Canadian Army as an artillery instructor (his photo in uniform is shown above). 

Russell was 24 and Margaret was 22 when they wed. Their marriage lasted 50 years. They had five children, a boy and four girls. Their children, grandchildren and several great grandchildren can now explore their Smith ancestry all the way back to England in the 1500s and back to Canada in the mid 1700s when Abijah Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and whose parents emigrated from the United States.