Re: African-American Lattas from Orange County, NC (Chapel Hill area)
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In reply to:
Re: African American Latta
Roxanna Latta 4/18/08
Hi Roxanna. I have info on Abram (Abraham?) Latta (ca. 1810-ca. 1900), an A-A male from Orange County, NC. On 08/11/1866 in Wayne County (Goldsboro), NC, Abram registered his 30-year "cohabitation" with my ggg-grandmother, Harriet Hogan (ca. 1826-ca. 1890).
I believe that Abram and Harriet had a daughter named Jane (b. 1865), but I've been unable to find any record of her beyond the 1870 census, when she was recorded as living with them in Goldsboro. My own mother's first and middle names were Harriet Latta (her surname was Simmons) and she was the namesake of Harriet Hogan-Latta.
Harriet had been enslaved in the Orange County household of Thomas Lloyd Hogan. Although Abram was Harriet's husband, he's not my ggg-grandfather: Harriet bore an out-of-wedlock son with a white male Hogan--most likely Thomas Lloyd Hogan's son, William Johnston Hogan, who was named by my gg-grandfather, Haywood Hogan (Harriet's son), as his father on his (Haywood's) 1870 marriage certificate. Recent DNA testing done by one of our A-A male Hogan family members has confirmed this lineage.
My gg-grandfather, the above-referenced Haywood Hogan, married a woman named Zilphia (alternately presented as Zepha and Zelpha) whose surname is listed on some documents as Cameron; others as Latta. Given that she was Zilphia Latta at the time of her marriage to Haywood, I've surmised that she was perhaps first enslaved on the Stagville Plantation--which was owned by the Bennehan and Cameron families and was just up the road from Chapel Hill--and then enslaved later on the Latta Plantation (which is near Charlotte). My theory is further supported by documentation that states that Zilphia was the mother of Haywood's two sons, James Hogan (1862-1932) and Benjamin Harrison Hogan (1865-1926). James was my g-grandfather.
Since Haywood and Zilphia would likely have had to be in fairly close proximity to one another in order to produce a child, it makes sense that Zilphia might've been on the nearby Cameron Plantation around the time the first son, James, was born in 1862. Benjamin was born in June 1865, so I've yet to figure out how Zilphia and Haywood might've been near one another at the time of his conception, if she'd been subsequently "sold / transferred" to the Latta Plantation--unless her "relocation" occurred right around Sep 1864 (the approximate date of conception).
Since Haywood's mother, Harriet, married Abram Latta, I also surmise that there MIGHT be a familial connection between Abram and Zilphia--but I've yet to find documentation to support this:
It's important to note that the Latta Plantation had an estimated 30+ enslaved individuals and it probably shouldn't be assumed that they were all related. It's also important to note that enslaved individuals were typically given their "owners'" surnames--and that the surnames might change if they were "sold / transferred" to another slave-owner. Consequently, multiple enslaved individuals surnamed Latta might or might not be related. This online booklet - http://www.lattaplantation.org/LATTAFILES/Adobe%20PDF%20Files/Back%20of%20the%20Big%20House%20Guide.pdfhttp://www.lattaplantation.org/LATTAFILES/Adobe%20PDF%20Files/Back%20of%20the%20Big%20House%20Guide.pdf - provides a list of some of the named individuals who were enslaved on the Latta Plantation. It might be of help in your search.
I have a lot of info on my family's Hogan branch up to the present day. Their history is fascinating, and I've been able to document much of it through official records. Given that Zilphia Latta was my gg-grandmother, we're most likely cousins if she's related to your Lattas.
I'd love to exchange info with you and perhaps, together, we can put some of the pieces of this puzzle into their proper place. Thanks...