George Robert LATHAM, Congress, WV (1832-1917)

LATHAM, George Robert, a Representative from West Virginia; born near Haymarket, Prince William County, Va., March 9, 1832; attended the common schools; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and commenced practice in Grafton, Va. (now West Virginia); delegate to the convention at Wheeling for the formation of West Virginia; during the Civil War served in the Union Army as captain of Company B, Second Regiment, Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and later colonel of Volunteers; elected as an Unconditional Unionist to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); was not a candidate for renomination in 1866; United States consul at Melbourne, Australia, 1867-1870; school superintendent of Upshur County, W.Va., 1875-1877; supervisor of census for the first census division of West Virginia; engaged in agricultural pursuits; died in Buckhannon, W.Va., December 16, 1917; interment in the Heavner Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present