賴德烈的祖先原本是法國人,於十八世紀中期遷居至北美。賴德烈出生於美國北部俄勒岡州的老城市俄勒岡城,他的父母也都是在此城出生、長大,[5]他的父親是個還算成功的銀行家。他們全家在一個歷史悠久的浸信會教會West of Rockies聚會,那裡也是賴德烈得救、受浸、成長的地方。他的生活以父親的事業、家庭以及教會為中心。賴德烈在一個信仰堅定的家庭中長大,每個早晨太陽剛升起,家中都有家庭崇拜,並且不會因為任何事情而暫停或改變。他的父母要求孩子們必須堅定在與神的關係,而且從小要求他們背聖經,一節背過一節,一章背過一章,這對賴德烈往後有極大的影響與幫助。
^ Norman Kutcher, "'The Benign Bachelor': Kenneth Scott Latourette between China and the United States," Journal of American-East Asian Relations. 2.4 (Winter 1993): 399-424.
^ 4.04.1Walls, Andrew F. “KENNETH SCOTT LATOURETTE.” Christian History 20, no.4 (November 2001): 44. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed December 20, 2012).
^Kenneth Scott Latourette, ‘My Guided Life’, in Frontiers of the Christian World Mission, ed. Wilber C. Harr(Grand Rapids NY: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1962), 281-30.
《Kenneth Scott Latourette》,收錄於《Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions》,1998年,作者:Gerald H. Anderson。
Wilbur C. Harr, ed. Frontiers of the Christian world mission since 1938; essays in honor of Kenneth Scott Latourette. (1962)
Norman Kutcher, "'The Benign Bachelor': Kenneth Scott Latourette between China and the United States,"
Journal of American-East Asian Relations. 2.4 (Winter 1993): 399-424.
William Allen Speck, The Role of the Christian Historian in the Twentieth Century as Seen in the Writings of Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christopher Dawson, and Herbert Butterfield (1965)
James Edward Wood, Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884-1968): Historian, Ecumenicist, and Friend (1969)