The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the SouthwestSparks, W. H. (William Henry)
History
The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the Southwest
Sparks, W. H. (William Henry)
Georgia -- History -- 1775-1865; Southwest, Old -- History; United States -- Biography
As a poet, he was above mediocrity, and his "Sully Riley," and many of
his fugitive pieces, will long survive, to perpetuate the refined
delicacy of his nature, when, perhaps, his deeds as a soldier and as
President of Texas shall have passed away. In stature he was below the
medium height, but was stout and muscular. His face was oval, and his
eyes blue, and exceedingly soft and tender in their expression, save
when aroused by excitement, when they were blazing and luminous with
the fire of his soul, which enkindled them. He was free from every
vice, temperate in living, and remarkable for his indifference to
money--with a lofty contempt for the friends and respectability which
it alone conferred. If there ever lived four men insensible to fear, or
superior to corruption, they were the four brothers Lamar. They are all
in eternity, and their descendants are few, but they wear unstained the
mantle of their ancestry.
L.Q.C. Lamar, the elder brother of the four, was educated at Franklin
College, and studied law in Milledgeville. Very soon after, he was
admitted to the Bar. He became distinguished for attention to business,
and for talent, as well as legal attainments. Like his brother, M.B.
Lamar, he was remarkable for his acute sense of honor and open
frankness, a peerless independence, and warm and noble sympathies. He
married, while young, the daughter of D. Bird. The mother of his lady
was one of the Williamson sisters, so remarkable for their superiority,
intellectually, and whose descendants have been, and are, so
distinguished for talent.
The character of L.Q.C. Lamar as a man, and as a lawyer, prompted the
Legislature of the State to elevate him to the Bench of the Superior
Court when very young; and at thirty-two years of age, he was known
throughout the State as the great Judge Lamar. This family had
contributed perhaps a greater number of men of distinguished character
than any other family of the State. Zachariah Lamar, the uncle of Judge
Lamar, was a man of high order of mind, distinguished for his love of
truth, stern honesty, and great energy. He was the father of Colonel
John B. Lamar, who fell in the service of the South, in the recent
conflict. He was one of Georgia's noblest sons, and his memory is
cherished by all who knew him. Henry G. Lamar, a former member of
Congress, and Judge of the Superior Court of the State, was a cousin of
both John B. and M.B. Lamar; and the eminent and eloquent Lucius Lamar,
of Mississippi, who was considered, when young, the best orator of the
House of Representatives of the United States Congress, is the son of
Judge L.Q.C. Lamar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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