Milton S. Latham

californiagovernors.ca.gov

Date	Party	Office	Votes	Result
11-02-1852	Independent	CD-AL	1843	Win
09-07-1859	Lecompton Democratic	Governor	62255	Win
01-11-1860	Democratic	Senate1	0	Win
09-03-1862	Democratic	Senate1	0	Loss

Candidate Biography:

Born: May 23, 1827 in Columbus, Ohio
Married: Sophie Birdsall (m. 1853), Mary McMullen
Children: Milton Latham
Died: March 4, 1882 in New York, New York

1848-1850: Circuit Court Clerk for Russell County [Alabama]
1850: Court Clerk Recorder, San Francisco
1851: District Attorney, Sacramento District
1855-1857: Customs Collector, Port of San Francisco
1860: Resigned as Governor on January 14.

• Latham had the shortest term as Governor: five days. Only one California constitutional officer served a shorter period; Sean Wallentine who was an acting member of the SBOE for three days.
• PLACENAME: Milton (in Calaveras County) was likely named for Governor Latham.
• QUOTABLE: "In a new State nothing can be so disastrous to its permanent prosperity as a continual change of her polity... Alterations in her statutes cannot result in anything but continual confusion, while our advancement absolutely demands their stability and permanence." (1860)
• QUOTABLE: "All attempts to introduce into our Legislative Halls, discussions upon national political topics, should be frowned upon and discouraged." (1860)

Source: History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 by Winfield J. Davis (1893)
Source: "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present" (U.S. Library of Congress) [http://bioguide.congress.gov/]