Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#1076-z
LATTA FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Chiefly bills, receipts, a few financial items
with references to slave ownership, and some business
letters, 1799-1836, of James Latta, 1755-1837,
merchant and farmer of Mecklenburg County, N.C., and
York County, S.C. Also included are a cure for
"yellow water," 1799; a sworn deposition, 1809;
letters from Tennessee business associates, 1812 and
1816; an account of expenses incurred at Salem
Boarding School, 1814; and two family letters, 1848
and 1878.
Online Catalog Terms:
Depositions--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Farmers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Farmers--South Carolina--History--19th century.
Iredell County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Latta, James, 1755-1837.
Latta family.
Mecklenburg County (N.C.)--Economic conditions--19th century.
Medicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptions--History--18th
century.
Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Merchants--South Carolina--History--19th century.
Plantation owners.
Plantations--North Carolina.
Slavery--North Carolina.
Salem Boarding School--Students--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Tennessee--Economic conditions--19th century.
York County (S.C.)--Economic conditions--19th century.
Size: About 64 items.
Provenance: Received from Dr. Chalmers Davidson in 1946.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: 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.
Related Collections: Rufus Reid Papers (#2712);
Robert Latta Papers, South Caroliniana
Library,
University of South Carolina;
George F. Davidson Papers, Manuscripts
Department, Duke University.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
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.)
DESCRIPTION
Chiefly 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.
Folder 1 1799-1815
2 1816-1837; 1848; 1878