This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Size | 62 items |
Abstract | The collection includes chiefly bills and accounts for purchases, mostly 1799-1816, legal papers, and a few business letters of James Latta (1755-1837), farmer and merchant of Mecklenburg County, N.C., and York District, S.C. |
Creator | Latta (Family : Latta, James, 1755-1837) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Timothy A. Long, September 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
James Latta (1755-1837), merchant and plantation owner, was born in Ireland. He emigrated to the United States, probably in 1785, and soon established himself as a merchant in York County, S.C., and Mecklenburg, Iredell, Lincoln, and Rowan counties, N.C. His first wife died in Ireland while he was in the United States. In 1795, he married Jane Knox (1776-1864). She gave birth to three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Nancy. From 1799 to 1800, James Latta contracted to have a plantation house, Latta Place, built for his new family in Mecklenburg County, N.C.
By 1812, Robert Latta, James's son with his first wife, was able to become a merchant in Yorkville, S.C. Robert acquired much wealth and a considerable business reputation. He remained in South Carolina for most of the rest of his life.
James Latta's daughters married prominent planters of the region. Elizabeth married Benjamin Wilson Davidson of Mecklenburg County, N.C., and, after the death of her husband, married her sister Nancy's widower Major Rufus Reid of Iredell County, N.C. Mary married James Torrance of Mecklenburg County, N.C.
James Latta died in 1837. His wife survived him and their daughters and died in 1864.
(Sources:J. B. Alexander, Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers of the Hopewell Section, 1897; and Maurice Moore, Reminiscences of York, reprint edition, 1981.)
Back to TopChiefly financial and legal papers, 1799-1836, of the Latta family of Mecklenburg County, N.C., and York County, S.C., and a few other items.
Most items pertain to James Latta (1755-1837), merchant and farmer of Mecklenburg County, N.C., and York County, S.C. These include bills, receipts, accounts, promissory notes, items with references to slave ownership, and other business papers, 1799-1836. Also included are a 1799 cure for "yellow water;" an 1808 letter signed by James Latta concerning money owed to him; an 1809 sworn deposition of John Armstrong; an 1812 letter from David McEwen, a Tennessee business associate of James Latta; an 1814 account of Mary Latta's expenses as a student at Salem Boarding School; an 1816 business letter from John Matthews, a Tennessee business associate; an 1822 will of James Latta naming his wife Jane, his son Robert, and several grandchildren; an 1826 letter from C. W. Cozens, a South Carolina business supplier and family friend; an 1848 letter from Mary Smith to her daughter-in-law, Isabella Reid, regarding family matters; and an 1878 letter to Emma C. Reid from her sister Floy, containing mostly family information.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
1799-1815 |
Folder 2 |
1816-1837; 1848; 1878 |