Join Us For A Genealogy Show and Tell

Posted on August 1, 2007 by lewistonpubliclibrary

To all of you family tree huggers (thanks Jinny Parks!): 
Join the Lewiston Public Library for our very first Genealogy Show and Tell event on Monday, August 13th at 6:00 pm in the Community Room.  Please bring whatever you are working on and share your exciting discoveries with others.  Beginners are always welcome.  Learn some tips for effective internet research and enjoy a discussion about cemetery records and genealogy featuring special guests, Eugene and Lela McCollum, Manager and President of Riverdale Cemetery.  This is only the beginning…

By Michelle Kratts

Jon F. Popkey Genealogy Room

Filed under: Genealogy Room

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5 Responses

  1. Michelle Latta Brown, on August 3rd, 2007 at 12:32 am Said:

    Dear Lewiston Public Library!

    HELP! My dad is in the process of having a headstone made for a family gravesite in Lewiston where he was born and raised. There is a James Latta who will be mentioned on the monument. James Latta is buried in the cemetery and his death date is on the stone with his age: 1816 and 71. However, all the records we can find say that James Latta–he is the second–his father was born and died in Ireland–and he is not the famous Rev. James Latta of MD–say that he was born in 1748 which if he died in 1816, would make him 68!

    Can you help us? Did the grave “engraver” misread the birth date? Or are our records wrong?

    Thanks–

    Michelle Latta Brown

    Reply
  2. Michelle Latta Brown, on August 3rd, 2007 at 12:34 am Said:

    Thanks

    Reply
  3. lewistonpubliclibrary, on August 3rd, 2007 at 8:44 pm Said:

    Michelle:
    It is not uncommon to find errors in dates on stones, or in any kind of record. Sometimes it is difficult to read the writing, as writing itself has changed so much through the years.

    Through a record posted on FamilySearch.org (the popular LDS genealogy site) I found James Latta born in Ireland in 1748, died in Lewiston,NY, on 13 November 1816 (buried at the Lewiston Village Cemetery). He is listed as being married to Sarah Jackson on 23 February 1773. I also found some information on the Latta family with the University of Rochester. There is a collection called “The Latta Family Papers” and it includes boxes of business correspondences and financial and legal papers belonging to George Latta and son of Greece, NY. This information also includes data about James and Sarah. You may want to contact them at http://www.library.rochester.edu. I also posted a message on a message board with rootsweb (another popular genealogy site) and hopefully someone will respond. Another possibility could be to look into Revolutionary War records. James may have been a veteran and those records may contain an accurate birth date. Look at ancestry.com as they have recently added many mililtary records to their collection.

    Hope this helps you and your family with their headstone. If you are in a hurry, you will probably have to use the research of others. If you have the time, it may be an exciting ancestor hunt!

    Michelle Kratts
    Jon F. Popkey Genealogy Room

    Reply
  4. Michelle Latta Brown, on August 5th, 2007 at 8:47 pm Said:

    My Dad said that you had also replied to him–we SO very much appreciate your efforts on the behalf of the Lattas–very interesting stuff. When my kids are older and out of the house, I would love to spend some serious time learning more about my roots!

    Have a wonderful rest of the summer and thank you.

    Michelle Latta Brown

    Reply
  5. George Latta, on August 30th, 2007 at 1:59 pm Said:

    For more Latta family information please look on the web site:

    http://www.Latta.org The Latta family you talked about can be found under Branch # 4. All information on this site is freely available to anyone with internet access.

    More about Branch 4 Latta’s:

    Subject: Branch 4 Latta Brothers Collection, ca. 1880-ca. 1925

    Latta Brothers Collection, ca. 1880-ca. 1925

    INVENTOR NAME: Latta Brothers

    REPOSITORY:
    Friendship Free Library
    PO Box 37
    40 West Main Street
    Friendship, NY 14739
    585-973-7724
    ; http://www.stls.org/Friendship/

    PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
    26 items
    SUMMARY:
    The Latta brothers—Emmitt G. Latta and Adrian C. Latta of Friendship, NY
    manufactured bicyles. The collection contains catalogs, copies of patents,
    clippings, photographs, memorabilia, and genealogical data on Latta and
    family.

    AND;

    http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/allegany/Genealogies/LATTA%20Families/LATTA%20Family%20-%20Friendship,%20Allegany%20County,%20NY.htm

    AND;

    http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/LATTA/

    Have a nice day,

    George Latta (Branch 13)

    Reply

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