Milton Slocum LATHAM, Congress, CA (1827-1882)

LATHAM, Milton Slocum, a Representative and a Senator from California; born in Columbus, Ohio, May 23, 1827; pursued classical studies and graduated from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1845; moved to Russell County, Ala.; taught school; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1848 and commenced practice; circuit court clerk for Russell County 1848-1850; moved to San Francisco, Calif., in 1850; clerk of the recorder’s court in 1850; district attorney for the Sacramento district in 1851; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1855); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1854; collector of the port of San Francisco 1855-1857; Governor of California 1859-1860, when he resigned, having been elected Senator; elected as a Democrat on January 11, 1860, to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of David C. Broderick; took his seat March 5, 1860, and served until March 3, 1863; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; engaged in the practice of law in San Francisco, Calif.; manager, London & San Francisco Bank (Ltd.) 1865-1878; moved to New York City in 1879, where he became president of the New York Mining and Stock Exchange; died in New York City on March 4, 1882; interment in Lone Mountain (later Laurel Hill) Cemetery, San Francisco, Calif.; reinterment in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, Colma, Calif.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Latham, Milton. “The Day Journal of Milton S. Latham, January 1 to May 6, 1860.” Edited by Edgar Robinson. Quarterly of the California Historical Society 11 (March 1932): 3-28; Thompson, William F., Jr. “M.S. Latham and the Senatorial Controversy of 1857.” California Historical Society Quarterly 32 (June 1953): 145-59.

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