Preceded by William G. Brown | Name George Latham Resigned March 3, 1867 Role Politician | |
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Born March 9, 1832Haymarket, Virginia, U.S. ( 1832-03-09 ) Died December 16, 1917, Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States | ||
Political party Unconditional Union Party | ||
George Robert Latham (March 9, 1832 – December 16, 1917) was a 19th-century politician and lawyer from Virginia and West Virginia and a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Biography
Born near Haymarket, Virginia, on March 9, 1832, Latham attended common schools as a child, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859, commencing practice in Grafton, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was a delegate to the Wheeling Convention in 1861 and served in the Union Army as captain of Company B of the 2nd West Virginia Infantry Regiment during the civil war.
Latham was promoted to colonel of the 6th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment but was court-martialed for neglect of duty in allowing New Creek Station, West Virginia to be captured by Confederates in late 1864 with almost no resistance. Although convicted and sentenced to be dismissed from the service he nonetheless returned to duty and was brevetted brigadier general on March 13, 1865. He was elected an Unconditional Unionist to the United States House of Representatives in 1864, serving from 1865 to 1867. Afterwards, he was appointed consul at Melbourne, Australia in 1867, serving until 1870, was school superintendent of Upshur County, West Virginia from 1875 to 1877 and supervisor of census for the first census division of West Virginia. Latham engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in Buckhannon, West Virginia on December 16, 1917. He was interred in Heavner Cemetery in Buckhannon.