Hollis Latham

Hollis Latham
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
1862–1862
Preceded byWyman Spooner
Succeeded bySamuel Pratt
Member of the Second Wisconsin Constitutional Convention
In office
1847–1848
Personal details
Born(1812-03-12)12 March 1812
Northfield, Vermont
Died22 February 1886(1886-02-22) (aged 73)
Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic

Hollis Latham (March 12, 1812 – February 22, 1886) was a Wisconsin farmer and politician.

Born in Northfield, Vermont, where he went to school, Latham moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, in 1836. In 1837, he moved to the town of Spring Prairie, Wisconsin Territory and then settled on February 27, 1837, in Elkhorn where he was a farmer; he would remain there for the rest of his life. He married Lemira Bradley in April 1838.

He served as the town justice of the peace, as county clerk, treasurer and superintendent of the poor, and as a trustee of the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. Latham served in the second Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1847–1848, and was one of the seven-member "Committee on Executive, Legislative and Administrative Provisions" assigned to create new provisions for the second proposed constitution.[1][2]

In 1852, he was captain of the town's unit of the state militia.[3] As of 1854, he was one of the secretaries of the Walworth County Agricultural Society.,[4] a title he would hold for some time, although by 1880 he would be its treasurer[5]

Latham was elected a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for 1862, where he (a Democrat) replaced Republican Wyman Spooner.[6][7] He was succeeded for the 1863 session by Republican Samuel Pratt. In 1869 Latham was the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin's 12th State Senate district, losing with 1129 votes to 2235 for the same Samuel Pratt.[8] In 1870, he was the nominee for the 2nd Walworth County Assembly district (the Towns of Linn, Geneva, Elkhorn, La Fayette, Bloomfield, Lyons and Spring Prairie), losing with 620 votes to 990 for Republican Amzy Merriam.[9] In 1879 he ran as both the Democratic and Greenback Party nominee for what was now Walworth's renumbered 1st Assembly district, gaining 710 votes to 941 for Republican Ely Bruce Dewing.[10]

Lemira L. Latham died July 25, 1885.[11] Hollis died February 22, 1886, after several weeks' illness.[12]

  1. ^ H. A. Tenney and David Atwood. Memorial Record of the Fathers of Wisconsin Containing Sketches of the Lives and Careers of the Members of the Constitutional Conventions of 1846 and 1847-8. Madison: David Atwood, 1880, pp. 238-239.
  2. ^ Albert Clayton Beckwith, ed. (1912). History of Walworth County Wisconsin, vol. 1. Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen. pp. 534–535. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  3. ^ Utley, William (1853). Annual report of the adjutant-general of the Wisconsin militia. Madison: Brown & Carpenter, Printers. p. 17. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Walworth Co. Agricultural Society". Wisconsin and Iowa Farmer, and Northwestern Cultivator. VI (5). Janesville, Wisconsin: Mark Miller and S. P. Lathrop: 99. May 1854. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  5. ^ Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. "List of officers of agricultural societies for 1880, with their P.O. address, and place and date of holding fair in 1879". Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, including proceedings of the state agricultural convention, held in February, 1881, with practical and useful papers. Madison: Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. p. 429.
  6. ^ "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848 – 1999" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  7. ^ John H. Warren & John S. Dean (eds.). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin. Madison: Smith & Cullaton, 1862, p. 84.
  8. ^ "Wisconsin state government and state institutions". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin; comprising Jefferson's manual, rules, forms and laws, for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference. Ninth Annual Edition (9th ed.). Madison: Atwood and Rublee, State Printers, Journal Block. 1870. p. 352.
  9. ^ Compiled by the Secretary of State for the year 1871 (1871). "Official directory". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin; comprising Jefferson's manual, rules, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference Tenth Annual Edition (10th ed.). Madison: Atwood and Culver, State Printers, Journal Block. p. 385. Retrieved 28 July 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Warner, Hans B., ed. (1879). "Biographical sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin, for 1879. Containing the constitutions of the United States and of the state; Jefferson's manual; rules and orders of the senate and assembly, and annals of the legislature; also, statistical tables and history of state institutions Eighteenth Annual Edition (18th ed.). Madison: David Atwood, State Printer. p. 506. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Lemira Latham death notice". Lake Geneva Herald. Vol. XIV, no. 17. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: The Herald. August 1, 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 28 July 2021. via Newspapers.com
  12. ^ "Obituary. Hon. Hollis Latham". Lake Geneva Herald. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: The Herald. February 26, 1886. p. 4. Retrieved 28 July 2021. via Newspapers.com