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            The surname Latimer is derived from a corruption of the ancient Norman word, latinier, meaning a speaker of Latin, or more generally, an interpreter, since the term Latin included languages in general at the time. According to the Peerages, the noble families of this surname are descended from Wrenock, the son of Meirric, who held certain lands on the Welsh border, under the ancient Norman kings, by the service of being latimer, or interpreter, between the Welsh and the English.

            Early records of the Latimer names show, in 1086, Hugo Latinarius; in 1273, Alan le Latimer and Symon le Latimer; and in 1513, William Latymere.

            One of the best known, perhaps, of the English Latimers was Bishop Hugh Latimer, Protestant martyr, and one of the principal promoters of the Reformation in England. One of the historic episodes in Bishop Latimer’s career, his being burned at the stake at Oxford in 1548, has been depicted in a mural painting by the English artist, Ernest Board, and is displayed in the British House of Commons.    

            Our ancestors have been researched back to Robert LATIMER I, first of this family in this country. He came to America on the “Hopewell,” arriving in Boston on April 3, 1635. He moved to New London, Connecticut about 1660. In Boston, Robert met Ann, the widow of Matthew Jones and they were married on September 1, 1662 in Charleston, Massachusetts.

            In New London, Connecticut, between the years 1660 and 1664, three ships were constructed. The ships, the Speedwell, the Hopewell, and the Endeavor, were called barques (barks) and ranged in burden from twelve to twenty tons and in value from fifty to eighty-two pounds sterling. A barque was a three to five masted ship. All masts were square rigged except the after-mast which was for-and-aft rigged. In 1662, Robert Latimer and Robert Chanell purchased as joint owners and commanders the Hopewell and made several voyages doing coastal trading. Most of the coastal trade was done from Boston and goods were then carried up and down the coast providing the settlers needed provisions. Items such as clothing, household goods, implements of husbandry, military accouterments, powder and lead, were carried. Inland routes were few, rugged, and far between, and people totally depended upon the sea and water ways for travel. Latimer and Channel traveled to Rhode Island, Long Island, New York, and as far south as Virginia. As owners, the two men were masters of the ship, they owned the cargo, and they were their own factor, agent and tradesman. They were totally independent and went from place to place, changing course whenever they desired, not being on a set schedule or pattern. They would barter and sell and often received wampum, pelts, dried hides and buckskins that could be sold or traded in Boston or at one of their other stopping points.

            Robert was a mariner, being master, part owner and finally full owner of a coasting vessel. According to some records he died at New London in 1671, but other records state that he was probably lost at sea about 1671. In 1690 his widow petitioned the court for a distribution of his estate, and it was divided equally between the two Latimer children, Robert LATIMER II, and Elizabeth and and the two Jones children, Matthew Jones II and Sarah, surviving from his wife’s first marriage.

            Robert Latimer II married Elizabeth DYMONDon January 5, 1692/1693. They had one child, Robert Jr, (b: 1664) and Elizabeth died in childbirth. Robert then married a widow, Elizabeth (Buck) BUTTOLPH, whose first son, Jonathan, is our ancestor. Robert Latimer II amassed a considerable estate in land. Beside the homestead in town, he purchased the Royce and Comstock lots, on Williams and Vauxhall Streets, covering the ridge of Post Hill. Westward of the town plot, he inherited a considerable tract of swamp and cedar land, on one portion of which Cedar Grove Cemetery was laid out in 1851, the land having to that time remained in the possession of his descendants. He owned likewise a farm at Black Point, and an unmeasured quantity of wild land in the woods, in what is now Chesterfield Society, in Montville.

            Jonathan LATIMER I married Borodell Denison April 6, 1721.

            Jonathan LATIMER II married Lucretia GRISWOLD, who was the 26th granddaughter of royal descent from Charlemagne. There in New London, Connecticut they had 14 children, 10 of them boys, and he once bragged that himself and 6 of them measured 42 feet, which meant they were all 6 foot tall, a rare occurrence in those days. Colonel Latimer served in several capaigns against the French upon the northern frontier, and during the War of Independence, and was much of the time in the field. Two of his sons, George and Jonathan III were also in the service.

            Major Jonathan Latimer III was in Webb's regiment and had for his first lieutenant Nathan Hale. Nathan Hale, took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was later an American spy, and who upon capture by the British and ultimate hanging said “I regret that I only have one life to give for my country”.

            About 1790 Colonel Jonathan Latimer and his entire family, their wives and children left for Sumner County, Tennessee. His 8th child Robert Latimer, his wife Lucinda (nee: unknown) and 4 of their children, including first born Ann (Fannie) Latimer, 4 years old, made the move.

(Source: "The Latimer Legacy" by Nancy M. Sayford, 1985)

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