What Northern Ohio means to me

When I think of home, I think of my deep family roots in Ohio. My dad, Del Latta, was the second of six children, and was born in Weston and spent the formative years of his life growing up in McComb. My paternal grandfather had a one chair barbershop in Hoytville. The Lattas most probably came to the Ohio territory before 1800. My mom, Rose Mary (Kiene) Latta, was the second of seven, and was born and raised on the family homestead farm in Putnam County that our ancestors had settled on in the 1840s. Moving from McComb, my parents came to Bowling Green, and this is where our family called home. I am fortunate that so many of my relatives lived nearby. I believe I have learned much from them throughout my life. Hard work and thrift are a common thread that has been passed down from one generation to the next. I marvel at the early settlers who came to a region where they cleared the land, drained the swamps, established towns that would grow into cities, and businesses that grew and employed their neighbors and newcomers. They discovered oil that would fuel vehicles, natural gas that made our region the glass capital of the world, a lake port that would send our agricultural commodities across the globe, and colleges and universities to educate our population. Our region also produced the first person to take that first step on the moon, Neil Armstrong. Before statehood, our region witnessed the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, in now Lucas County, where General Anthony Wayne and the American Legion defeated the native coalition of the Miami and Shawnee. This led to the Treaty of Greenville, which ended the Northwest Indian War. The treaty helped to establish the path for Ohio statehood in 1803. Ohioans have fought to secure our freedoms from our earliest beginnings. In the War of 1812, Fort Meigs was constructed by William Henry Harrison in what is now Perrysburg. In 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British navy on Lake Erie. In the American Civil War, Ohio sent the third highest number of Union troops, 320,000, to save the nation. From Revolutionary soldiers who settled in the Ohio territory to our current men and women in uniform, Ohioans have served our great country throughout every war. Ohio is called the Mother of Presidents with seven presidents being born here and one adopting Ohio as his home. Our nineteenth president, Rutherford B. Hayes established his home and library, Spiegel Grove, in Fremont, Sandusky County. In our nation's 250th year, Ohio has played an important role in shaping our country. We believe in our freedoms that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights have given us. I believe that we have taken to heart the challenge that Benjamin Franklin said when asked what the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had given the people, a Republic if you can keep it. Our region will continue to be a place where you want to keep your roots to live, raise your children, and work. I am proud to call it home. It is my deepest and most sacred honor to represent the citizens of the Fifth District in the United States House of Representatives. Latta is U.S. House Representative of Ohio's 5th District.