Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (July 15, 1797 – July 4, 1834) was an attorney and jurist in his native Georgia. His son Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II followed him into law and was appointed from Mississippi as a

U.S. 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 ...

Justice.

Early life and education

Lucius was the first son in his family, and born on his father's plantation in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to buil ...

, where he grew up. His parents, John and Rebecca (Lamar) Lamar had allowed his mother's brother to name their sons; he named them after his favorite historical heroes. Lamar was named for the Roman statesman

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus ( – ) was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Cincinnatus was ...

. His younger brother was

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an Lawyer, attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Republic of Texas, Texas ...

, who became known for fighting for the independence of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

and was elected as its second president. Their family was well-connected in Georgia and the South; first cousins

Gazaway Bugg Lamar Gazaway Bugg Lamar (1798–1874) was an American enslaver and merchant in cotton and shipping in Savannah, Georgia, and a steamboat pioneer. He was the first to use a prefabricated iron steamboat on local rivers, which was a commercial success. In ...

and his brother G. W. became bankers in Augusta, Savannah, and New York City. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II - Brady-Handy

Lucius Lamar studied law at

, and at

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university. (Whi ...

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorporat ...

. He was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1819. He set up his practice in his hometown of Milledgeville. After getting established, he married and started a family.

Law career

Lamar revised

Augustin Smith Clayton Augustin Smith Clayton (November 27, 1783 – June 21, 1839) was a jurist and politician from the American state of Georgia. Clayton was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, attended the Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia, and graduated with ...

's ''Georgia Justice'' about 1819. He was commissioned by the legislature to

compile In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

''The Laws of Georgia from 1810 to 1819'' (Augusta, 1821). He gained respect as an attorney. In 1830, Lamar was elected as judge of the Superior Court, succeeding

Thomas W. Cobb Thomas Willis Cobb (1784February 1, 1830) was a United States representative and Senator from Georgia. Biography Born in Columbia County, Georgia, he pursued preparatory studies, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Le ...

. In 1834, he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by gunshot. He was said to have been despondent after learning that a man he had convicted of murder and sentenced to death was in fact innocent of the crime."Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar"
The Political Graveyard website But this account has been questioned.Harrington, Hugh T. ''Remembering Milledgeville: Historic Tales from Georgia's Antebellum Capital''. The History Press (2005). He was buried at Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamar, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus 1797 births 1834 deaths Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Litchfield Law School alumni Burials in Georgia (U.S. state) 19th-century American judges 1830s suicides 19th-century American lawyers