Milton Slocum Latham (May 23, 1827 – March 4, 1882) was an American politician, who served as the sixth governor of California and as a U.S. Representative and U.S.

A Lecompton Democrat, Latham resigned from office (the second governor to do so) after being elected by the state legislature to a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1827, Latham was educated in classical studies at Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1845.

Following his graduation, Latham moved to Russell County, Alabama, working briefly as a school teacher while studying law.

He was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1848, working as Russell County's circuit court clerk for two years until 1850, when he relocated to San Francisco, California following the Gold Rush.

After serving for one year, Latham entered politics, and in 1852, ran as a Democrat and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

During the 1859 general elections, Lecompton Democrats voted Latham, who had briefly lived in the American South, as their nominee for governor.

[2] Despite the party split and Republican entrance to the campaign, Latham won the election, garnering sixty percent of the vote.

In 1872, Latham bought and began renovating a 50-room Menlo Park mansion, Thurlow Lodge, as a gift to his bride, only for the estate to burn down before completion.

In 1874, Latham commissioned Carleton Watkins to photograph the huge estate and produce two presentation albums of mammoth plate prints.