This site is mainly a genealogical site but it also includes some pages that contain useful, downloadable resources, Civil War and Revolutionary War Records, 4th Infantry Division Band Music, Army Band Music, and some non-historical stuff I hope you find amusing.

The site includes a number of surnames other than Lathan. If a search engine brought you here look carefully. You don't want to miss that special person!

Robert Leathan, and two of his brothers, William and David, immigrated from County Antrim Northern Ireland to the United States shortly after the American Revolution. On his citizenship papers, Robert, attests that he first set foot in America on December 5, 1788. Records show that he and his brother William went first to Williamsburg County, South Carolina then Lancaster County, South Carolina and then after a few years settled in Fairfield County, South Carolina. David is said to have settled in Genesee County, New York. I have no proof of this and have not researched David's line. No records of William exist after 1800.

My Lathans were Presbyterians. It is believed that they were "resettled" in Ireland along with many other Protestants sometime between 1605 and 1688. After researching Irish records that are available in this country, I have uncovered a number tantalizing leads on Robert Leathan's ancestors. The problem is that these records are sketchy at best and do not prove a link between Robert Leathan and anyone in Ireland. Judging by their religious affiliation with the Associate Reform Presbyterian Church in S.C. they were most likely Covenanters while in Ireland.

The fire in the National Archives in Dublin during the Irish Revolution makes finding and proving the Lathan line in Ireland very difficult. Church records, and in particular records of the Covenanters, may be the only definitive records available. Northern Ireland's strict privacy laws make the export of religious records such as Church Registers very difficult to get hold of with out visiting Ireland in person. Unfortunately, it appears that the only way to find a link between Robert Leathan and any Leathan/Lathans in Ireland will be through a personal visit to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland which I can not afford at this time.

It is my goal to find out more about the Irish and Scottish family history. But it is a slow process. Recently, I have been researching 18th Century newspaper articles and advertisements published in the Belfast News-Letter. Those issues already viewed show a number of Leathans, in the Crumlin. One issue shows, a James and a Robert Leathan/en in a list of men at a meeting in a Dissenting Presbyterian Church near Crumlin. This implies to me that these men might be worth further study.

As more data becomes available it will be posted to this site. Posting is almost as time consuming as research, I may have information that is not yet posted. So, if you have a question, please email me. You can find my email address on the Contacts and Credits page of this site.