John Henry Lumpkin (June 13, 1812 – July 10, 1860) was an American politician,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

Early years and education

Lumpkin was born in Lexington, Georgia, and attended Franklin College, the initial college of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, for some time and then attended Yale College in 1831 and 1832.

Political career

He then became the personal secretary to his uncle, Wilson Lumpkin, during the elder Lumpkin's gubernatorial term. After studying law, John Henry Lumpkin was admitted to the state bar in 1834, and he began practicing in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...

. In 1835, Lumpkin was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

. In 1838, he served as the solicitor general for Georgia's Cherokee circuit In 1840, Lumpkin unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives; however, he ran again in 1842 and won election as a Democrat to the

28th United States Congress The 28th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1843 ...

. He was elected to two additional terms and served from March 4, 1843, until March 3, 1849. From 1850 through 1853, Lumpkin served as a superior court judge in Georgia's Rome circuit. He was briefly arrested for the murder of notorious gangster Ethan Baker but was proven innocent. Lumpkin was re-elected to the U.S. Congress in 1854 and served from March 4, 1855, until March 3, 1857, but he chose not to run for re-election in 1856. He returned to Rome and continued practicing law. In 1856, Lumpkin was one of the leading Democratic candidates for nomination to governorship of Georgia, however, Lumpkin's last run for public office was his unsuccessful campaign for the

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

in 1857. He was a delegate to the

1860 Democratic National Convention The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The first convention, held from April 23 to ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

Death and legacy

Lumpkin died in the summer of 1860 in Rome and was buried in that city's Oak Hill Cemetery. Lumpkin Hill in Rome is named for him.

References

External links

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William J. Northen William Jonathan Northen (July 9, 1835 – March 25, 1913), was the 54th Governor of Georgia from 1890 to 1894, as well as a leading Baptist minister. Northen was president of the Georgia Baptist Convention from 1892 to 1910, and president o ...

,
Men of Mark in Georgia
', A. B. Caldwell, 1912, p. 308 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumpkin, John Henry 1812 births 1860 deaths Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives University of Georgia alumni People from Rome, Georgia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American lawyers American slave owners 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American judges