George Robert Latham

George Robert Latham (March 9, 1832 – December 16, 1917) was a 19th-century Virginia farmer, lawyer, soldier, and politician who played a notable role in the formation of the state of West Virginia during the American Civil War. He was born near Haymarket, Prince William County, Virginia, and later moved with his family to what was then northwestern Virginia. Before the war, he pursued agricultural work and local civic affairs, establishing himself as a farmer and community leader in a region that would become central to the movement for West Virginia statehood.

Latham’s early education was obtained in local schools, and he read law in the traditional manner of the period rather than through formal law school training. After his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law, combining his legal work with farming. By the late 1850s and early 1860s, he had become identified with the Unionist cause in the western counties of Virginia, an area where opposition to secession was strong. His legal background and standing as a landholder positioned him to take part in the political reorganization that followed Virginia’s decision to secede from the Union.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Latham emerged as an active supporter of the Union. He helped organize Unionist resistance in what would become West Virginia and took a direct role in military affairs. He entered the Union Army and ultimately served as a colonel, commanding troops from the region and contributing to the defense of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and other key lines of communication. His military service coincided with the political process that led to the creation of West Virginia in 1863, and he was recognized as one of the figures who helped secure the new state’s place in the Union through both political advocacy and military leadership.

Latham’s prominence as a Unionist and his military record led to his election to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Unconditional Unionist Party. He represented West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district for one term, serving from 1864 to 1866, during the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses. In Congress, he participated in the legislative process at a critical moment in American history, as the nation confronted the final years of the Civil War and the initial challenges of Reconstruction. As a representative of a new loyal state carved out of Confederate Virginia, he worked to represent the interests of his constituents in matters involving war policy, reconstruction of loyal governments, and the reintegration of the seceded states.

After leaving Congress, Latham continued his public service on the international stage. In 1867 he was appointed United States Consul in Melbourne, Australia, a post he held until 1870. As U.S. Consul, he represented American commercial and maritime interests in one of the principal ports of the British Empire in the Southern Hemisphere, facilitating trade, assisting American citizens abroad, and reporting on economic and political developments of interest to the United States. His consular service extended his career beyond domestic politics and reflected the growing global reach of American diplomacy in the postwar era.

Upon completing his consular assignment, Latham returned to West Virginia, where he resumed farming and reengaged in local civic life. Drawing on his experience as a lawyer, soldier, legislator, and diplomat, he held various civic offices in his community, contributing to the governance and development of the state he had helped to bring into being. He remained a respected figure in West Virginia public affairs well into his later years, known for his steadfast Unionism and his role in the state’s early history.

George Robert Latham died on December 16, 1917. His long life spanned the antebellum era, the crisis of secession, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the emergence of the United States as a more unified and outward-looking nation. Remembered as a farmer, lawyer, Union Army colonel, congressman for West Virginia’s 2nd district, and U.S. Consul in Melbourne, he occupies a distinct place in the political and military history of both Virginia and West Virginia.