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Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (II)
Encyclopedia
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (September 17, 1825 January 23, 1893) was an American
politician and jurist from Mississippi
. A United States Representative and Senator
, he also served as United States Secretary of the Interior
in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland
, as well as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
, Putnam County
, Georgia
, and was named after ancient Roman
consul
and dictator
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
. He was a cousin of future associate justice Joseph Lamar
, and nephew of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, second president of the Republic of Texas
. He graduated from Emory College (now Emory University
), then located in Oxford, Georgia
, in 1845, and married the daughter of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
, one of the school's early presidents. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity and was among the first initiates in that fraternity's chapter at the University of Mississippi
.
In 1849, Lamar's father-in-law, Professor Longstreet, moved to Oxford, Mississippi
to take the position of Chancellor at the recently established University of Mississippi
. Lamar followed him and took a position as a professor of mathematics for a single year. He also practiced law in Oxford, eventually taking up the role as planter, establishing a cotton plantation named Solitude in northern Lafayette County
, near Abbeville
.
In 1852 Lamar moved to Covington, Georgia
where he practiced law, and in 1853 he was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives.
and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856, beginning his service in 1857. When Mississippi seceded
from the Union
and joined the Confederacy
on January 9, 1861, Lamar said:
Lamar retired from the House in December 1860 to become a member in the Mississippi Secession
Convention. The state's Ordinance of Secession
(see also Mississippi Ordinance of Secession) was drafted by Lamar. Lamar considered a staff appointment, but abandoned that to co-operate with his former law partner, Christopher H. Mott. Lamar raised, and funded out of his own pocket, the 19th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry. Mott was made Colonel
, as he had served as an officer in the war with Mexico, and Lamar elected Lieutenant Colonel
. Lamar then resigned his professorship in the university and was, on May 14, in Montgomery, offering his regiment to the Confederate War Department. On May 15, 1862, Colonel Lamar, while reviewing his regiment, fell with an attack of vertigo
, which had previously disabled him, and his service as a soldier was ended. After this he served as a judge advocate, and aide to his cousin, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
. Later in 1862, Confederate States President Jefferson Davis
appointed Lamar as Confederate minister to Russia
and special envoy to England and France. When the Civil War was over, he returned to the University of Mississippi where he was a professor of metaphysics, social science and law. In 1865, 1868, 1875, 1877, and 1881, he was also a member of Mississippi's constitutional conventions. After having his civil rights restored following the war, Lamar returned to the House in 1873, the first Democrat from Mississippi to sit in the U.S. House of Representatives since the Civil War. He served there until 1877. Lamar would go on to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1877 to 1885.
Lamar served as United States Secretary of the Interior
under President Grover Cleveland
from March 6, 1885 to January 10, 1888. As part of the first Democratic administration in 24 years, and as head of the corrupt Interior Department rife with political patronage, Lamar was besieged by visitors seeking jobs. One day a visitor came that was not seeking a job and, as The New York Times
later reported:
As secretary, Lamar removed the Department's fleet of carriages for its officials and only used his personal one-horse rockaway.
During an 1884-85 Geological Survey
, Geologist Arnold Hague
named the East Fork of the Yellowstone River
in Yellowstone National Park
the Lamar River
in his honor. The Lamar Valley, or the Secluded Valley of Trapper Osborne Russell
and other park features or administrative names which contain Lamar are derived from this original naming in honor of Secretary of the Interior Lamar.
President Cleveland appointed Lamar to the Supreme Court of the United States
, and he was confirmed on January 16, 1888. He served on the court until his death on January 23, 1893. He is the only Mississippian to have served on the court.
Lamar was originally interred at Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia
, but was reinterred at St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford, Mississippi
, in 1894.
Three U.S. counties
are named in his honor: Lamar County, Alabama
; Lamar County, Georgia
; and Lamar County, Mississippi
. Lamar was also featured in John F. Kennedy
's book, Profiles in Courage
, both for his eulogy speech for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner
in 1874, and for his unpopular vote against the Bland-Allison Act
of 1878.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and jurist from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. A United States Representative and Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, he also served as United States Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, as well as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Early life and career
Lamar was born near EatontonEatonton, Georgia
Eatonton is a city in Putnam County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,480. The city is the county seat of Putnam County. It was named after William Eaton, an officer and diplomat involved in the First Barbary War...
, Putnam County
Putnam County, Georgia
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 18,812. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 21,251...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and was named after ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
and dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Cincinnatus
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was an aristocrat and political figure of the Roman Republic, serving as consul in 460 BC and Roman dictator in 458 BC and 439 BC....
. He was a cousin of future associate justice Joseph Lamar
Joseph Rucker Lamar
Joseph Rucker Lamar was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft...
, and nephew of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, second president of the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
. He graduated from Emory College (now Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
), then located in Oxford, Georgia
Oxford, Georgia
Oxford is a city in Newton County, Georgia, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,892. It is the location of Oxford College of Emory University. The entire town is also designated as a shrine of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, Confederate soldiers are...
, in 1845, and married the daughter of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet was an American lawyer, minster, educator, and humorist, known for his book Georgia Scenes.-Biography:...
, one of the school's early presidents. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...
fraternity and was among the first initiates in that fraternity's chapter at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
.
In 1849, Lamar's father-in-law, Professor Longstreet, moved to Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
to take the position of Chancellor at the recently established University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
. Lamar followed him and took a position as a professor of mathematics for a single year. He also practiced law in Oxford, eventually taking up the role as planter, establishing a cotton plantation named Solitude in northern Lafayette County
Lafayette County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,744 people, 14,373 households, and 8,321 families residing in the county. The population density was 61 people per square mile . There were 16,587 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, near Abbeville
Abbeville, Mississippi
-Education:The Town of Abbeville is served by the Lafayette County School District.The University of Mississippi also owns and operates the University of Mississippi Field Station, which is located in Abbeville. It is a natural laboratory used to study, research and teach about sustainable...
.
In 1852 Lamar moved to Covington, Georgia
Covington, Georgia
Covington is a city in Newton County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 13,118. The city is the county seat of Newton County...
where he practiced law, and in 1853 he was elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives.
Congressional career and Civil War
In 1855 he returned to MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856, beginning his service in 1857. When Mississippi seceded
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
and joined the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
on January 9, 1861, Lamar said:
"Thank God, we have a country at last: to live for, to pray for, and if need be, to die for."
Lamar retired from the House in December 1860 to become a member in the Mississippi Secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
Convention. The state's Ordinance of Secession
Ordinance of Secession
The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding from the United States of America...
(see also Mississippi Ordinance of Secession) was drafted by Lamar. Lamar considered a staff appointment, but abandoned that to co-operate with his former law partner, Christopher H. Mott. Lamar raised, and funded out of his own pocket, the 19th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry. Mott was made Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, as he had served as an officer in the war with Mexico, and Lamar elected Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. Lamar then resigned his professorship in the university and was, on May 14, in Montgomery, offering his regiment to the Confederate War Department. On May 15, 1862, Colonel Lamar, while reviewing his regiment, fell with an attack of vertigo
Vertigo (medical)
Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
, which had previously disabled him, and his service as a soldier was ended. After this he served as a judge advocate, and aide to his cousin, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
James Longstreet
James Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
. Later in 1862, Confederate States President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
appointed Lamar as Confederate minister to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and special envoy to England and France. When the Civil War was over, he returned to the University of Mississippi where he was a professor of metaphysics, social science and law. In 1865, 1868, 1875, 1877, and 1881, he was also a member of Mississippi's constitutional conventions. After having his civil rights restored following the war, Lamar returned to the House in 1873, the first Democrat from Mississippi to sit in the U.S. House of Representatives since the Civil War. He served there until 1877. Lamar would go on to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1877 to 1885.
Later career
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
under President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
from March 6, 1885 to January 10, 1888. As part of the first Democratic administration in 24 years, and as head of the corrupt Interior Department rife with political patronage, Lamar was besieged by visitors seeking jobs. One day a visitor came that was not seeking a job and, as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
later reported:
- In the outer room were several prominent Democrats, including a high judicial officer, several Senators, and any number of members of the House. Mr. Lamar waved his visitor to a chair without saying a word. . . . By and by his visitor said that he would go away and return at some other time, as he feared that he was keeping the people outside. "Pray sit still," requested Mr. Lamar. "You rest me. I can look at you, and you do not ask me for anything; and you keep those people out as long as you stay in."
As secretary, Lamar removed the Department's fleet of carriages for its officials and only used his personal one-horse rockaway.
During an 1884-85 Geological Survey
Geological survey
The term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....
, Geologist Arnold Hague
Arnold Hague
Arnold Hague was a United States geologist who did many geological surveys in the U.S., of which the best known was that for Yellowstone National Park. He also had assignments in China and Guatemala. He became a member of the U. S...
named the East Fork of the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
the Lamar River
Lamar River
The Lamar River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 40 miles long, in northwestern Wyoming in the United States. The river is located entirely within Yellowstone National Park.-History:...
in his honor. The Lamar Valley, or the Secluded Valley of Trapper Osborne Russell
Osborne Russell
Osborne Russell was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine....
and other park features or administrative names which contain Lamar are derived from this original naming in honor of Secretary of the Interior Lamar.
President Cleveland appointed Lamar to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, and he was confirmed on January 16, 1888. He served on the court until his death on January 23, 1893. He is the only Mississippian to have served on the court.
Lamar was originally interred at Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, but was reinterred at St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
, in 1894.
Three U.S. counties
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
are named in his honor: Lamar County, Alabama
Lamar County, Alabama
Lamar County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, member of the United States Senate from Mississippi. As of 2010 the population was 14,564...
; Lamar County, Georgia
Lamar County, Georgia
Lamar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 15,912. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 16,961...
; and Lamar County, Mississippi
Lamar County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 39,070 people, 14,396 households, and 10,725 families residing in the county. The population density was 79 people per square mile . There were 15,433 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
. Lamar was also featured in John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's book, Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage
Profiles in Courage is a 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators throughout the Senate's history. The book profiles senators who crossed party lines and/or defied the public opinion of their constituents to do what they felt was...
, both for his eulogy speech for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...
in 1874, and for his unpopular vote against the Bland-Allison Act
Bland-Allison Act
The Bland–Allison Act was an 1878 act of Congress requiring the U.S. Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. Though the bill was vetoed by President Rutherford B...
of 1878.