 William was born to Canute and Justine Lattergrass LaFrance on 19 January 1930 in Belcourt, Turtle Mountain Reservation, Rolette County, North Dakota. His siblings included Charles, Irene, Bertha (1921), John (1923), Ella (1925), and Maurice (1928).
William was a resident of McHenry County when he enlisted into the U. S. Army on 25 July 1950. He was serving as a Private Light Weapons Infantryman of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division when he was killed in action while fighting the Chinese enemy in South Korea on 4 February 1951 on Hill 402 near Ochon-ni. His actions leading up to his death are more detailed in his FindAGrave Memorial (see link below). Posthumously he was awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Korean War Service Medal.
Burial, Photos, Silver Star Award Article from Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Page 1183:
WILLIAM H. LATTIN, a prominent merchant and stock raiser, residing in Towner, North Dakota, is a pioneer settler of McHenry county. He was born in a village in the state of New York [Allegany County], December 22, 1853.
The father of our subject, John Lattin, was an American and followed contracting. He was born in Chemung county. New York. The grandfather of our subject, Lewis Lattin, was born in Connecticut and was a canal boatman in New York. His great-grandfather was Bijah Lattin, born in Connecticut. Our subject's mother bore the maiden name of Orpha Wells, and she was born in New
York and was of American parentage. Her father, Peter Wells, was a hotel keeper. The parents were married in New York and of their seven children our subject was the eldest. When he was twelve years of age the family moved to Wisconsin by team and settled in Jackson county, and there the father worked on the Black river and the Mississippi. The family moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in 1869, and after about five years there again removed, locating in Red Wing, Minnesota. They later moved to Herman, Minnesota, and in 1883 to South Dakota, and there located on a ranch on the Missouri river above Forest City. Our subject and
his father engaged in cattle raising on the ranch three years. In the meantime our subject hauled ten thousand feet of lumber, the first hauled into Ipswich, South Dakota, and he hauled the stock for the first lumber yard at Labeau on the Missouri river and also followed farming. The father and son went to Towner, McHenry county, North Dakota, in 1886, taking the trip by team as all preceding trips had been made. They camped out and slept under the wagon and many times had nothing but roast potatoes to eat. In 1886 they started in the ranch business on the Mouse river, and our subject also teamed and hauled supplies from Devils Lake to Towner and later to Minot. He built the first hotel in Towner and followed that business for some time and then devoted himself to ranching. The family moved to Towner in 1900 and our subject and his brother, Fay Lattin, purchased the mercantile business of A. N. Eidsness [Andrew Eidsness] and put in a large stock of general goods and now have a good patronage. Mr. Lattin in 1900 built a brick hotel, 40x60 feet, and this is the finest building of Towner. He and his brother have a ranch of four hundred and eighty acres and have made a success in North Dakota. The father died at Towner in December, 1897, at sixty-eight years of age.
Our subject was married, in 1888, to Miss Margaret Taylor, who was born [February 1856] in Indiana and came to Illinois, where she was raised. She is of American birth and parentage.
Mr. Lattin is a Republican in political faith and is prominent in local affairs and has held various offices, proving himself a worthy citizen and gentleman of ability and enterprise."
Margaret died in November 1900, close to the time the above was published. This writer could find no children from the marriage. In 1908 William moved to the state of Washington where he married Eliza Connelly, widow of Joseph Michael Wies.
William died on 27 February 1918 in Port Angeles, Clallam County, Washington.
Margaret's Burial, Tombstone Photo, Links to Some Family Members Eliza's Burial, Tombstone Photo, Links to Some Family Members |