# Joseph Rucker Lamar *United States Supreme Court justice from 1911 until his death in 1916* Joseph Rucker Lamar (October 14, 1857 – January 2, 1916) sat as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1911 until he died in 1916. He had been appointed by President [[William Howard Taft]].[^1] He was a cousin of [[Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar]], who had earlier served as an associate justice of the same Court.[^1] Before his federal appointment Lamar was a Georgia lawyer, legislator and judge. He sat in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1886 to 1889. From 1893 he served on the commission that recodified Georgia's laws, and he sat on the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1901 to 1905.[^2] He was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court on December 12, 1910.[^2] ## Biography Lamar was a minister's son, born in Ruckersville in Elbert County, Georgia.[^2] His schooling included the Academy of Richmond County in Augusta and the Martin Institute in Jefferson, Georgia.[^2] In Augusta he lived beside the family of Woodrow Wilson, whose father was the town's Presbyterian minister. The source describes Lamar as the future president's "closest friend".[^2] Both boys attended Joseph T. Derry's school for boys, which was held in a local warehouse. Other pupils there went on to become a member of Congress, a major newspaper owner and ambassador, and dean of Columbia Law School.[^2] After finishing at the Penn Lucy School near Baltimore, Maryland, Lamar entered the University of Georgia, where he joined the Phi Kappa Literary Society.[^2] When his family relocated he moved to Bethany College, joined Beta Theta Pi, and took his degree there in 1877.[^2] He began law school at Washington and Lee University School of Law but left. He finished his legal training by reading law under a prominent Augusta lawyer. He then spent a year teaching Latin at Bethany before opening a law practice in Augusta.[^2] Lamar was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives between 1886 and 1889.[^2] In 1893 the Supreme Court of Georgia named him to the Commission to Recodify the Laws of Georgia, a body that drafted a code of state law. The General Assembly enacted that code two years later.[^2] Lamar joined the Supreme Court of Georgia on January 1, 1901. He was appointed to complete the unexpired term of Justice William A. Little, and he won re-election in 1903.[^2] He authored more than 200 opinions on that court. He resigned in 1905 and returned to private practice, where his clients included railroads and many other large corporations.[^2] He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States on December 12, 1910. He served from 1911 until his death on January 2, 1916.[^1][^2] ## Legacy and honors The University of Georgia in Athens holds Lamar's professional papers, among them correspondence from his years on the Court, and makes them available to researchers.[^3] His boyhood home in Augusta, the Joseph Rucker Lamar Boyhood Home, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[^3] A Liberty ship built in Brunswick, Georgia, during World War II, the SS *Joseph R. Lamar*, was named for him.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Rucker Lamar* (revision 1355301867, retrieved 2026-10-26) — gives his dates, his appointment by Taft as an Associate Justice, his service from 1911 until his death in 1916, and his kinship to Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rucker_Lamar [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Rucker Lamar*, "Biography" section (revision 1355301867, retrieved 2026-10-26) — covers his birth, schooling, friendship with Woodrow Wilson, Georgia legislative and code-commission service, Supreme Court of Georgia tenure from 1901 to 1905, and the December 12, 1910 nomination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rucker_Lamar [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Rucker Lamar*, "Legacy and honors" section (revision 1355301867, retrieved 2026-10-26) — covers the University of Georgia papers, the National Register listing of the boyhood home, and the Liberty ship named for him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rucker_Lamar