Joseph Rucker Lamar (October 14, 1857 – January 2, 1916) was an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. A cousin of former associate justice

Lucius Lamar Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825January 23, 1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Secr ...

, he served from 1911 until his death in 1916.

Biography

Born in Ruckersville,

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samuel ...

, Lamar was the son of a minister and attended the

Academy of Richmond County The Academy of Richmond County is a high school located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Known previously as Richmond County Military Academy, it is commonly known as Richmond Academy or ARC. Chartered in 1783, it is listed as the sixth old ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

and the Martin Institute in

Jefferson, Georgia Jefferson is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 9,432 at the 2010 census, up from 3,825 at the 2000 census. As of 2019 the estimated population was 12,032. The city is the county seat of Jackson County. History ...

. Lamar descended from William Speer Sr. (1745–1830) a Presbyterian immigrant from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. During his time in Augusta, he lived next door to and was the "closest friend" of future president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, whose father was the local Presbyterian minister. They both also attended Joseph T. Derry's school for boys in a local warehouse, a school whose other students would also become a future Congressman, major newspaper owner/ambassador and the dean of

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. After Lamar graduated from the Penn Lucy School near

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, he attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

where he was a member of the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...

. After his family moved he completed his degree at Bethany College in 1877, where he was a member of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

. After attending law school at

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate law school of Washington and Lee University. It is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley reg ...

, he left and completed his legal education by reading law with a prominent Augusta attorney, then returned to Bethany College to teach Latin for a year, afterward practicing law in Augusta. From 1886 to 1889, he served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

, and then was appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1893 as a member of the Commission to Recodify the Laws of Georgia, which prepared a code of laws for the state. Two years later, that code was adopted by the state

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. On January 1, 1901, Lamar was appointed to fill an unexpired term of Justice William A. Little in the Supreme Court of Georgia, then was re-elected in 1903. He wrote more than 200 opinions before resigning in 1905 to again practice law, defending railroads and many other large corporations. On December 12, 1910, Lamar was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

by President

as an

associate justice of the United States Supreme Court An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...

, to a seat vacated by William H. Moody. Lamar was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on December 15, 1910, and was sworn into office on January 3, 1911. At a reception after Woodrow Wilson's inauguration in 1913, the two friends were able to meet again and swapped stories of their Georgia youth. They remained in contact while they were in Washington. In 1915, Lamar wrote two short individual opinions in the famed

Leo Frank Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His trial, conviction, and appeals attracted national at ...

case. He declined to grant a petition for ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' brought by Frank to challenge the fairness of his trial, but subsequently granted a

writ of error In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

allowing Frank to bring his claims before the court. The full Court went on to reject Frank's claim in ''Frank v. Mangum''; Lamar voted with the majority but did not write a separate opinion. Lamar, together with Frederick W. Lehmann, was selected in 1914 to represent the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the ABC Powers Conference convened to avert a war over the

Veracruz Incident The United States occupation of Veracruz (April 21 to November 23, 1914) began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months. The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States, and was re ...

. In the fall of 1915, Lamar suffered a paralytic stroke. Legislation was proposed to allow Lamar to retire with full pay, but his death just months later made the issue a moot point. He died in Washington, D.C., on January 2, 1916.

Legacy and honors

Lamar's professional papers, including correspondence concerning his years as a Justice, are archived at the

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, and available for research. The Joseph Rucker Lamar Boyhood Home in

is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

was built in

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest urban area on the Georgia coastline after Sa ...

, and named in his honor.

References

External links

*
Augusta, Georgia, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
from the

Digital Library of Georgia The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) is an online, public collection of documents and media about the history and culture of the state of Georgia, United States. The collection includes more than a million digitized objects from more than 200 Georg ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamar, Joseph Rucker 1857 births 1916 deaths 20th-century American judges Academy of Richmond County alumni American Disciples of Christ American people of Scotch-Irish descent Bethany College (West Virginia) alumni Bethany College (West Virginia) faculty American Latinists Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives People from Elbert County, Georgia Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) United States federal judges appointed by William Howard Taft Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States University of Georgia people Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni

Biography

Legacy and honors

See also

References

External links