Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, 49th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, 49th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825 - January 23, 1893) was a Confederate soldier, American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Secretary of the Interior, and was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He also served as an official in the Confederate States of America.

Born and educated in Georgia, he moved to Oxford, Mississippi, to establish a legal practice. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1856 and served until January 1861, when he helped draft Mississippi's Ordinance of Secession. He helped raise the 19th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and worked on the staff of his wife's cousin, General James Longstreet. In 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Lamar to the position of Special Confederate Commissioner to Russia. Following the Civil War, Lamar taught at the University of Mississippi and was a delegate to several state constitutional conventions.

Lamar returned to the United States House of Representatives in 1873, becoming the first Mississippi Democrat elected to the House since the end of the Civil War. He remained in the House until 1877, and represented Mississippi in the Senate from 1877 to 1885. He opposed Reconstruction and voting rights for African Americans. In 1885, he accepted appointment as Grover Cleveland's Secretary of the Interior. In 1888, the Senate confirmed Lamar's nomination to the Supreme Court, making Lamar the first Southerner appointed to the court since the Civil War. He remained on the court until his death in 1893.

 

Family and education

Lamar was born on September 17, 1825 in Putnam County, Georgia, near Eatonton, at the family's 900 acres (3.6 km2) plantation home known as "Fairfield". His parents were Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar and Sarah Bird; he had five siblings. His paternal grandparents were first cousins. The elder Lamar, a lawyer and state judge in Georgia, suffered from depression and committed suicide when Lamar was nine years old.Contemporary accounts explained the suicide as resulting from either insanity or severe dyspepsia.Several members of Lamar's family reached prominence in various levels of government. His uncle, Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, participated in the Texas Revolution and served as the second president of the Republic of Texas. He was a cousin to Associate Justices of the Supreme Court Joseph Rucker Lamar and John A. Campbell and was related to U.S. Representatives Absalom Harris Chappell and William Bailey Lamar.

Lamar was briefly educated in the Milledgeville school system before being enrolled at the Manual Labor School in Covington, Georgia, from 1837 to 1840. The school consolidated with Emory College (now known as Emory University) located in nearby Oxford, Georgia, in 1840, leading to Lamar's mother and one of his uncles moving to the town. Lamar was an average student, faring well in subjects he enjoyed and poorly in those he did not. Beyond his studies, he participated in campus debating activities, where he gained experience in public speaking and knowledge of important issues of the time such as slavery. He completed his studies in 1845.

At Emory, Lamar began a relationship with Virginia Longstreet, the daughter of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, president of the college. The couple married in July 1847, and they had four children: L.Q.C. Lamar III, Virginia, Sarah, and Frances. On December 29, 1884, Virginia died from lung disease that had plagued her since 1880. They were married in the President's House at Emory College in Oxford, GA—today the Dean's Residence at Oxford College of Emory University.

 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Loveginsburg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Loveginsburg
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joanruthbaderginsburg

This page was created by the Independent Director of the Supreme Court of the United States, Abraham Lincoln Ginsburg. (Reference 28 U.S. Code §608 - Seal, Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression. See 37 C.F.R. 201.2(a)(3). Contact Email: i.love.ruth.bader.ginsburg@gmail.com)