Biography:

William Lattimore was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 9, 1774; after an academic education he prepared for the practice of medicine, and with his brother, David, also a physician, came to Natchez in 1801. In 1802 they were given charge of the smallpox camp established by Governor Claiborne, also of the vaccination of the inhabitants. In 1803 William Lattimore was elected by the general assembly as delegate in Congress to succeed Thomas M. Green. He was re-elected in 1805 and again in 1813 and 1815, succeeding George Poindexter. In 1817 he was a member of the constitutional convention. In 1819 he was appointed one of the seven censors of the medical profession, under the law of that period.

Lattimore settled in that part of Wilkinson County, which subsequently became the county of Amite, and in 1823 he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor against Walter Leake. His last public service was as commissioner, in connection with General Thomas Hinds and Judge Peter A. Van Dorn, to select a site for the seat of government for the state. They selected the site of the present city of Jackson. Dr. Lattimore died in Amite County on April 3, 1843.

Scope and Content:

May 17, 1817, letter (ALS) written by Lewis Condict, Morris Town, New Jersey, to Lattimore "at or near Natchez," introducing a young physician, Dr. Phoenix, who was entertaining the possibility of settling to practice his profession in Mississippi.

Series Identification:

1. Letter. May 17, 1817.