James P. Latta

Who was James P. Latta?

James Polk Latta was a Nebraska Democratic politician.

Born near Ashland, Ohio, he moved with his parents to Jackson County, Iowa in 1846. He attended school and worked on a farm. In 1863 he moved to the Nebraska Territory to teach school in Tekamah, Nebraska. He farmed and raised stock in Burt County, Nebraska, eventuality becoming interested in banking. He organized the First National Bank of Tekamah in 1890 and served as its president until his death.

He was elected to the Nebraska house of representatives in 1887 and to the Nebraska senate in 1907. He ran and won to represent as a democrat Nebraska's 3rd district to the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses serving from March 4, 1909 to his death on September 11, 1911 in Rochester, Minnesota. He is buried in the Tekamah Cemetery.