Member Biography

John Latta 

Member
Sessions Office Position District Party
1863       22 Democrat
1864       22 Democrat
1865       23 Democrat
1866       23 Democrat

Biography

03/02/1836 - 02/15/1913


John Latta (D22) 1863-1864 (D23) 1865-1866 Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland Counties

Early Life: 

John Latta born March 2, 1836, Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; son of Moses and Eliza Graham Latta; Sewickley Academy; Elder's Ridge Academy; read law; Yale Law School, 1857-1859; admitted, Westmoreland County bar, 1859; private law practice, Greensburg, Pennsylvania,1859-1913; married, Emma Hope 1865 (d. 1876), children, Cuthbert H., Mary Maud, Isabel G., remarried, Rose McClellan, 1877, children, Rose, Marie Josephine, John, Thomas Pollard, Sarah Marguerite; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1863-1856; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1872-1873; elected, Democrat, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 1875-1879; died, February 15, 1913, Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; interment, Saint Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Read law under D.H. Hazen in Pittsburgh, private law practice, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 1859-1913.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Mason, Knight Templer, Royal Arch Mason, Ancient Order of United Workmen

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 22nd district, 1863-1864.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 23rd district, 1865-1866.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1872-1873.

Elected, Democrat, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 1875-1879.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=7366&body=H

Legacy:

Under the new Pennsylvania Constitution that went into effect on January 1, 1874, he was the first elected lieutenant governor and served under Republican Governor John F. Hartranft

Cited: 

Biographical:  Fenwick Y. Hedley, editor, Old and New Westmoreland, volume III (New York: American Historical Society, 1918)
 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57807937/john-latta