Originally from Yorkshire, England, Henry Leathem resettled in Tonagh Townland, Castleterra Parish, County Cavan, Ireland in the mid-1700s. His son Robert and grandson, Robert worked the land as farmers. However, between 1820-24, Abraham Leathem emigrated to Canada settling south of Montreal in Franklin Centre near Sherrington, Quebec just north of the US border. It was then that the public records reflected the spelling of the surname as LEATHAM and subsequently as LATHAM. About 1870 several family members would relocate to Spokane, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho. Others would move south and settle in Deer River, in upstate New York.