Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) Vendor of Fruits and Vegetables on Long Island Railroad; Sodbuster and Gold Prospector in Black Hills of North Dakota; Manager of Stern's Pickle Works on Powell Place off of Melville Road in Farmingdale; Republican Party Deputy Sheriff of Glen Cove; and Farmer in Cuba (b. May 29, 1853, Farmingdale, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, USA - d. February 21, 1941, Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida, USA)Birth and siblings:
Jarvis was born in 1853 in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York to Henry K. Lattin (1806-1894) aka Henry K. Latting and Julia Wood (1813-1873). Jarvis had the following siblings: Mary E. Lattin (1833-1874) who married Charles Powell; George Lattin (1837-?); Julietta Lattin (1839-aft1850); William H. Lattin (1842-1871) who married Ella T. X; Phebe Maria Lattin (1845-?); Susannah Lattin (1848-1868) who died post partum in a medical scandal; Smith Lattin (1849-?); Charles G. Lattin (1850-1869); and Deborah Jane Lattin (1858-1861). The family appears in the 1850 US Census listed in Oyster Bay which is where Farmingdale resided. Jarvis followed the railroad out to Iowa in 1874.
Marriage and children:
Jarvis married Mary Jane Puckett (1854-1927) on October 15, 1874 in Jasper Township, Carroll County, Iowa and had the following children: Mary Esther Lattin (1875-1895) who was born on Iowa and later married Richard Arlington Brush (1874-1944); Catherine Lavinia Lattin (1878-1964) who married Richard Arlington Brush (1874-1944) as his second wife, after her sister died; Julia Ann Lattin (1880-1960) who married Alfred William Poole (1881-1959); William Henry Lattin (1882) who died as an infant; Myrtle Adelia Lattin (1884-1970) who married Charles Haley Williams (1884-1960) after they met in Cuba; Deluth Andrew Lattin (1886-1887) who died as an infant; Jennie Alice Lattin (1888-1958) who married Charles Henry Pilkington (1887-1956); Charles A. Lattin (1890-1891) who died as an infant; Eva Ariel Lattin (1892-1939) who married Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975) after they met in Cuba; Frederick E. Lattin (1894) who died as an infant; Effie Jeanette Lattin (1895-1989) who married Josiah Barnes Pomeroy (1882-1956) after they met in Cuba; Dewey Ernest Lattin I (1898-1985) who lived in Cuba from 1909 to 1915 and married Elizabeth Henry (1903-1987); Theodore Roosevelt Lattin (1901-1980) who lived in Cuba from 1909 to 1915 and married Bertha Christina Nelson (1905-1980). All the children except Mary Esther Lattin were born in Farmingdale.
Market man:
The family appears in the 1880 US Census living in Oyster Bay and Jarvis is listed as a "marketman". Living with him was his widowed father, Henry Lattin. Jarvis in 1880 was selling foodstuffs on the trains of the Long Island Rail Road.
Farming in Nebraska then to Black Hills of Dakota:
Jarvis moved to Nebraska near the Niobrori River, which was about 20 miles from Atkinson. He had bought farm implements on credit, but he wasn't successful, so he could not pay for them, and they were repossesed. He next tried prospecting for gold in the Black Hills of Dakota. His daughter, Julia Ann Lattin (1880-1960) wrote: "That left my mother alone with the children right across the river from the Indians, but they were friendly and traded many things which were allowed them from the government. I remember especially some blankets from them. They were rather dark blue with a black border. My mother used to leave the baby in bed of a morning when she had come to cross a stream on a foot log to milk her cow. One day starting back with her milk, she saw the child starting to creep across the foot log to meet her, and just in the middle of the stream the child fell overboard in the water. Mother sat her milk pail down and ran and jumped in after her, catching hold of her night dress. It was a puzzle to know how she got herself and the child on the foot log again, as the water was deep in places. Finally she managed to get her skirt off in the water and fastened the child with that until she climbed up herself. We only had a cook stove for heat, and when I was a little more than a year old, I was sitting in a high chair near the stove to keep warm and my mother was combing her hair with her head bent over when she heard a terrible scream. I had fallen on the stove. My sister (Catherine Lavinia Lattin), 1 1/2 years older had pushed the chair. My left eye had hit one of the galvanized balls on the stove leaving the skin on it, causing me to lose sight in that eye. The eye was almost closed. The doctor operated on it three times, but it did not improve the sight. I was seven years old the last operation, and they laid me right on the floor."
Pickle Factory:
In 1888 Jarvis started a pickle and sauerkraut factory in Farmingdale. There were many companies already established in the area. He had a house built on the land next to the factory. The factory in 1894 was sold to Aaron Stern and it became the "Stern and Lattin Pickle Company" and later "Stern and Brauner". It was also listed as "Stern Pickle Products, Inc." and "Stern's Pickle Works". It was at 111 Powell Place off of Melville Road and lasted until 1985.
Deputy sheriff:
Harold Lawrence McPheeters (1923- ) writes: "Jarvis Lattin was for some time a Constable in Farmingdale. Someone accused him of charging too many trips to Jamaica [New York] on the Long Island Railroad, but his response was that his responsibilities included arresting 'tramps' and taking them to County headquarters in Jamaica for booking." The Brooklyn Eagle, Wednesday, June 29, 1898 reports on the inquiry.
Isle of Pines, Cuba:
The Isle of Pines was ceded to the United States during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Platt Amendment defined Cuba's boundaries at the end of the war, but because the island wasn't specifically mentioned in the amendment, it was claimed by both the United States and the new Cuban government. In 1907, the United States Supreme Court made a decicion on the island, declaring it bvelonged to Cuba. In 1909 Jarvis moved with his wife and unmarried children to the island. On Tuesday, March 23, 1909; Tuesday, August 30, 1910; and Monday, June 24, 1912, Jarvis returned to New York City from Havana, Cuba. This must have been his first trips back from Cuba to buy land and a dry goods store near Santa Barbara on the Isle of Pines. His daughter, Julia Ann Lattin (1880-1960), wrote: "We celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (October 15, 1924) there, and my sister Eva, and I made them a surprise visit. They were so happy to see us. The boat made only two trips a week between Cuba and the island. We had our luggage inspected in Havana and spent one night there. It took about two hours to cross Cuba by train, and the boat was waiting for us. It was just an overnight trip to the Isle of Pines, and it was so calm there was hardly a ripple on the water. But we did experience a very bad hurricane while there. Every one boards up their windows when they see the storm approaching. After Cuba took over the island, many of the Americans left and went back to the States as my parents did." The island was formally ceded to Cuba in 1925.
Florida:
Jarvis on his return from Cuba in 1924, settled in Lake Helen in Florida and his wife passed away in 1927. By 1930 had married Agnes M. Dimmock (1861-1937). Harold Lawrence McPheeters (1923- ) writes: "I do know that grandpa Lattin regularly drank whiskey. He wanted an inch (25 mm) of whiskey a day, and much preferred that it be in a milk bottle rather than in a regular shot glass. Uncle Dewey told me that they lived nearby his parents in Lake Helen at that time, and they often found Jarvis quite well lubricated with a bottle of whiskey in which he had placed [a] considerable [amount of] sugar. They felt that Jarvis treated Agnes badly in that he would not buy her new clothes or shoes and expected her to shoo away the flies attracted by the spilled sugar and whiskey. Elizabeth, Dewey's wife, told me how she once embarrassed Jarvis into buying Agnes a new pair of shoes. Dewey had ... told me, 'My father was as close to the Devil as there was, and my mother as close to an Angel.'
Death and Burial:
Jarvis died in 1941 in Lake Helen, Florida, and is buried in Powell Cemetery in Hempstead.
Timeline:
* 1853 Birth of Jarvis Andrew Lattin in Farmingdale, Queens County, Long Island on May 29th
* 1870 (circa) Selling food on Long Island Railroad trains
* 1870 (circa) Migration westward following railroad
* 1870 (circa) Settle in Carroll County, Iowa
* 1874 Marriage to Mary Jane Puckett in Carroll County, Iowa on October 15th
* 1875 Birth of Mary Esther Lattin, his child, in Iowa
* 1976 (circa) Move from Iowa back to Farmingdale, Queens County, Long Island
* 1878 Birth of Catherine Lavinia Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on May 11th
* 1880 Birth of Julia Ann Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on January 7th
* 1880 Henry Lattin, his father, living in his household
* 1880 Working as marketman on Long Island
* 1880 US Census with Jarvis as Head of Household in April
* 1881 (circa) Move to Holt County, Nebraska
* 1881 (circa) Julia Ann Lattin, his daughter, age 1, falls into stove and loses use of one eye
* 1882 (circa) Mary Esther Lattin, his daughter, age 7, is bitten by rattlesnake
* 1882 Birth of William Henry Lattin, his child, in Holt County, Nebraska on April 24th
* 1882 Death of William Henry Lattin, his child, in Holt County, Nebraska on August 12th
* 1884 Birth of Myrtle Adelia Lattin, his child, in Holt County, Nebraska on March 28th
* 1885 (circa) Lose farm to creditors
* 1885 (circa) Move to The Black Hills, Dakota Territory to mine gold
* 1886 Birth of Deluth Andrew Lattin, his child, in Holt County, Nebraska on August 5th
* 1887 Death of Deluth Andrew Lattin, his child, in Holt County, Nebraska on September 19th
* 1888 Move from Holt County, Nebraska back to Farmingdale, Long Island, New York
* 1888 Blizzard leaves 40 inches (1 m) of snow in New York on March 11th to 12th
* 1888 (circa) Working at pickle and sauerkraut factory
* 1888 (circa) Build house in Farmingdale, Long Island
* 1888 Birth of Jennie Alice Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on July 9th
* 1890 Birth of Charles A. Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on December 9th
* 1892 Birth of Eva Ariel Lattin in Farmingdale on February 19th
* 1894 Birth of Frederick E. Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on March 13th
* 1894 Death of Frederick E. Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on April 24th
* 1895 Birth of Effie Jeanette Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on July 9th
* 1895 Death of Mary Esther Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on October 1st
* 1898 Birth of Dewey Ernest Lattin I, his child, in Farmingdale on September 16th
* 1901 Birth of Theodore Roosevelt Lattin, his child, in Farmingdale on August 31st
* 1904 Treaty recognizing Cuba's sovereignty over Isle of Pines negotiated
* 1909 Purchase of 20 acres (81,000 m²) on the Isle of Pines, Cuba in October
* 1909 Return from Havanna, Cuba to New York City on March 23rd
* 1910 Return from Havanna, Cuba to New York City on August 30th
* 1910 Return from Havanna, Cuba to New York City on June 24th with Mary Jane, his wife
* 1924 Eva Lattin and Earl Winblad trip to Cuba
* 1924 Celebration of 50th wedding anniversary on Isle of Pines, Cuba on October 15th
* 1924 Treaty recognizing Cuba's sovereignty over Isle of Pines ratified
* 1925 (circa) Move from Cuba to Lake Helen, Volusia County, Florida
* 1927 Death of Mary Jane Puckett, his wife, on October 29th
* 1941 Death of Jarvis Andrew Lattin in Florida on February 21st
* 1941 Burial in the Powell Cemetery, Farmingdale, Nassau County, Long Island, New York
References:
* McPheeters, Harold; Ancestors and descendants of Jarvis Andrew Lattin
* Brooklyn Eagle, Wednesday, June 29, 1898, "Deputy Lattin's bills"
