The Latham Family

Garnett F. Latham

Garnett F. Latham
Garnett F. Latham
at his graduation
image from Leslie Thomas
Birth: 26 May 1888 in Syene, Dane county, Wisconsin, United States

Father: John Cuthbert Latham

Mother: Theresa (Hasler) Latham

Helen Florence (Canton, Sterrett) Latham
Helen Florence (Canton, Sterrett) Latham
image from Leslie Thomas
Married: Helen Florence (Canton) Sterrett in 1913 in Kankakee county, Illinois, United States

Garnett and Helen were divorced by the time of the 1930 census.

Helen was born on 17 May 1885, in Evansville, Indiana, the daughter of Florence Powell. She was adopted in 1894 by William Henry Sterrett and Mary Elizabeth Grismer. She attended college in Louisville, and spoke four languages fluently. Helen worked as a milliner. Her grandson says that "she told us she was full blood Cherokee Indian, however we believe her father was Irish and perhaps Shawnee Indian.", although the census and death records show her race as white. Helen died on 19 September 1972 in Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, and was
Gravestone of Helen Florence (Canton, Sterrett) Latham
Gravestone of Helen Florence (Canton, Sterrett) Latham in Mt Hope cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
photograph by DaveH posted at findagrave.com
buried on 22 September 1972 in Mt Hope cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, in section 14.
Census & Addresses:
1900: 6131 Kimbark Ave., Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1910: Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1914: 1914 Grove Street, Morgan Park, Illinois   (birth certificate of son Robert)
1916: 11365 S Irving Ave, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Lucy)
1917: 11365 S Irving Park, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Dorothy)
1920: Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1921: 11365 S Irving Ave, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Lenetta)
1930: Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1935: 6722 Yale Avenue, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (1940 census)
1940: 6722 Yale Avenue, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1972: 6751 S. Campbell, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1972 #625705)

Occupation: Dentist

Notes: After his divorce, Garnett lived with his secretary. Garnett's granddaughter says that "he divorced her after my mother was born and went to live with his secretary, putting her two children through college and ignoring his own children until death." Garnett is living on his own in the 1940 census.

Death: 1960, in Whitley county, Indiana, United States

Census & Addresses:
(note: Garnett is recorded twice in the 1910 census - both with his family in Fitchburg and with his aunt in Chicago)
1900: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1905: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1916: 11365 S Irving Ave, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Lucy)
1917: 11365 S Irving Park, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Dorothy)
1920: Chicago, Cook county, Illinois
1921: 11365 S Irving Ave, Chicago, Cook county, Illinois   (birth certificate of daughter Lenetta)
Main Street Syracuse, IN
Main Street, Syracuse, Indiana c1930
image from wikipedia
1935: Main Street, Syracuse, Kosciusko county, Indiana   (1940 census)
1940: Main Street, Syracuse, Kosciusko county, Indiana
1942: Syracuse, Kosciusko county, Indiana   (draft registration card)

Sources:

Gladys (Latham) Lawton

Birth: 12 August 1886 in Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin, United States

Father: John Cuthbert Latham

Mother: Theresa (Hasler) Latham

Jay Waldemar Lawton
Jay Waldemar Lawton
image from The Farmer 9 March 1918 p1
Married: Jay Waldemar Lawton in 1914
Jay was born on 7 March 1891, in Viola, Wisconsin, the son of James W. Lawton and Sarah Elizabeth Saubert. He was a member of the 1907 class of Lafarge High School, and graduated B.S.A from the University of Wisconsin in 1914.
University of Wisconsin Alumni Register p196 (1921)
Lawton, Jay Waldimar, B.S.A. 14. County Agricultural Representative. Lac Qui Parle County, Minn.

After Gladys's death, Jay married Mollie Thoreson in 1916 and had three daughters. He taught at the Dawson high school in Minnesota, and in 1918 was the director of the agricultural department at the high school in Chatfield, Minnesota, then county agricultural agent for Wabasha county, Minnesota and in 1920 was the manager of Underwood Farms in Lake City, Minnesota. Jay was the inventor of the the Lawton Seed Corn tester, a major improvement in testing seed corn rapidly, cheaply and accurately. He was awarded a patent for a seed tester in 1919, but he gave the invention free to the world without royalties. The invention is described in great detail in The Farmer 9 March 1918 pp1-3 in an article headlined:
A Wonderful New Method Of Testing See Corn
The "Lawton Tester" the Most Practical and Efficient Method of Testing Corn Ever Devised - It Will Test Accurately Six Hundred Ears at a Time and Any Farmer Can Have it Made for Less Than Three Dollars
In 1945, Jay's occupation is listed as "Army Air Base".
RUS: A register of the rural leadership in the United States and Canada p272 (L. H. Bailey, 1920)
Lawton, Jay Waldemar, manag. Underwood Farms, Lake City, Minn.
  Formerly co. agrl. agt., Wabasha, Minn. Originator of the Lawton seed-corn tester, given to the public without patent rights. Auth.: The Awakening, 1914. - b. Viola, Wis., Mar 7, 1891; s. J. W. and Sarah (Saubert) L.; reared on dairy farm; m. Mollie Thoreson, July 29, 1916. c. Beatrice June. B.S.A. Univ. Wis., 1914.
Census:
1900: Forest, Richland county, Wisconsin
1905: Forest, Richland county, Wisconsin
1910: Forest, Richland county, Wisconsin
1920: Wabasha county, Minnesota
1921: Lac Qui Parle county, Minnesota   (University of Wisconsin Alumni Register p196)
1945: 1000 S Menlo Ave, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Death: 1915

Census:
1900: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1905: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin

Sources:

Gwendoline (Latham) Hargrave

Birth: 2 April 1894 in Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin, United States

Father: John Cuthbert Latham

Mother: Theresa (Hasler) Latham

Education: University of Wisconsin, where Gwendoline graduated B.A. in 1916.
University of Wisconsin Alumni Register p138 (1921)
Hargrave, Mrs. M. (Latham, Gwendoline) B.A. 16. 1313 Leland Ave., Chicago, Ill.

Married: Frederick M. Hargrave on 11 April 1914, in Winnebago county, Illinois, United States. Fred Hargrave is recorded as aged 23. Gwendoline Latham is recorded as aged 21.
Frederick was born in March 1892, in Iowa, the son of Richard G. and Frances Hargrave. In 1936 he was awarded a patent for a disking device.
Census:
1900: Colfax City, Whitman county, Washington
1910: Colfax, Whitman county, Washington
1920: Dane county, Wisconsin
1930: Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa
1936: Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa    (United States Patent Office)

Census & Addresses:
1900: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1905: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1920: Dane county, Wisconsin
1921: 1313 Leland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois   (University of Wisconsin Alumni Register p138)
1930: Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa

Sources:

John Cuthbert Latham

Birth: 17 February 1860 in Hindley, Lancashire, England

Baptised: 28 March 1860, in All Saints, Hindley, Lancashire, England

Father: John Latham

Mother: Mary Ann (Whaley) Latham

Education: The 1940 census states that John completed two years of college.

Married: Theresa Hasler on 24 October 1884

Children:
Occupation: Shipping Clerk (1881); Farmer (1900)

Notes: John emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on 31 August 1882. He was naturalised as a citizen of the United States in Wisconsin on 21 February 1927. In the 1940 census, the house that John owned in Fitchburg was valued at $5500.

Biography:
History of Dane County pp546-8 (1906):
John Cuthbert Latham, a progressive farmer of the town of Fitchburg, where he has won an evitable position by dint of honest effort and superior mental qualifications, was born in Lancashire, England, on February 17, 1860, and is one of five children born to John and Mary Ann (Whaley) Latham, also natives of England, where the father died in 1878, aged seventy seven years. He was an eminent physician and was twice married, five children being born to each of the unions, making a total of ten in the family, and it is proper to incorporate in this review interesting facts concerning them. Dr. P. W. Latham of Cambridge, England, a son of the first marriage and a half-brother of our subject, is the father of the wife of James Avon Clyde, Scotland's present solicitor general. Mr. Clyde is the second son of Dr. James Clyde, formerly rector of Edinburgh academy, and he was born in 1863, was called to the bar in 1887 and became king's counsel in 1901. His success as an advocate has been remarkable and it is said that he has acquired one of the largest practices of modern times. He is a unionist in British politics. Of the five children born to the second marriage of Dr. John Latham, Adah Anne is deceased; Mary Zilla Eva Linda is unmarried and resides in the city of Madison; Helen married Thomas William Oldham (deceased), and is given a more extended mention on another page in a review dedicated to her husband; Vida Annette is unmarried and resides in Chicago; and John C. is he whose name introduces this memoir. Miss Vida Annette Latham, mentioned above is a lady of much prominence, and was elected one of the vice presidents of the American Microscopic society at its recent meeting in Buffalo, where she took a prominent part. At the time of the meeting the Buffalo Courier gave her the following complimentary notice: "It is to be expected that a gathering of scientists from all over the United States would not fail to bring together some interesting characters, and the American Microscopical Society convening here this week brought to the city a number of people prominent in the world of science. One of the most distinguished and interesting scientists at the convention proves to be a woman. Dr. Vida Latham of Chicago, who was one of the most interested observers at yesterday's sessions, is a woman with an unusual history. Born in England at a time when women had not yet invaded the professional field, Dr. Latham became imbued with the idea that she would like to study medicine. She met with manifold difficulties, the strongest of which was the traditional prejudice against 'woman out of her sphere.' She however entered the doors of one of London's medical colleges and made a specialty of tuberculosis. Coming to America, she entered college at Ann Arobor, where she was graduated. On leaving college Dr. Latham went to Chicago, where she has since lived. She is considered by authorities to be one of the cleverest teachers of histology and pathology in the medical world. She occupies the chair of professor of histology in the Northwestern University; she is a member of the American Medical Association and chairman of one of its sections; a member of the Chicago medical societies, and has a large practice. Dr. Latham is a striking example of grit and perseverance, and for one who meets her, a woman of delicate appearance and modest manners, it is difficult to believe that she has overcome almost colossal difficulties to attain such a degree of proficiency in her chosen profession. Dr. Latham has visited England several times since making her home in America." John Cuthbert Latham, who is the immediate subject of this review first attended the Wiggins grammar school at Lancaster, England, in which he received a very good education, and in 1882, at the age of twenty-two years, he migrated to America. Comng directly to Wisconsin, he worked as a farm hand in the town of Sun Prairie, Dane county, about one year, after which he purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land in the town of Fitchburg and began general farming on a somewhat extensive scale. He remained on that farm about two years, and then sold it and purchased the farm where he now resides near Syene in the same town. He has made many necessary improvements on his present homestead, which comprises one hundred and eighty acres of exceptionally fertile land, and the progress which he has made and is making is a striking example of what can be accomplished by singleness of purpose and intelligent effort. Mr. Latham was married on October 24, 1884, to Miss Theresa Hasler, born near Birmingham, England, July 22, 1867, daughter of William Frederick and Frances (Slater) Hasler, also natives of England, where they still reside, as do also their children with the single exception of Mrs. Latham. In the Hasler family there were nine children, five of whom are living. Theresa, who is now Mrs. Latham, is the only one residing in America. The others, Ida, Winifred, Blanche and Gwendoline, remaining in England. To Mr. and Mrs. Latham there have been born four children: Gladys, Garnet, Nellie and Gwendoline. In politics our subject gives an unswerving allegiance to the tenets of the Democratic party, and his worth has been appreciated by his fellow citizens. Although he has never been an aspirant for public office he has served four terms as town assessor and for ten years as treasurer of the school district in which he resides. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.

Death: 1944

Census & Addresses:
1860: The Grove, Hindley, Lancashire   (parish register of All Saints, Hindley)
1861: 9 Wigan Road, Hindley, Lancashire: John Cuthbert Latham, son, is aged 1, born in Hindley, Lancashire
1871: Latham's Yard, Wigan, Lancashire: John Gathbert Latham, son, is aged 11, born in Hindley, Lancashire
1881: 29 Sumner Road, Croyden, Surrey
1885: Fitchburg Town, Dane county, Wisconsin
1900: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1905: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1927: Madison, Wisconsin   (Naturalization record)
1930: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1935: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin   (1940 census)
1940: Fitchburg Town, Dane county, Wisconsin

Sources:

Nellie Latham

Nellie Latham
Nellie Latham
image from Rachelle Herrin
Birth: December 1892 in Wisconsin, United States

Father: John Cuthbert Latham

Mother: Theresa (Hasler) Latham

Death: 1914

Census:
1900: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1905: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin
1910: Fitchburg, Dane county, Wisconsin

Sources:
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