Hiram Warner

Hiram B. Warner (October 29, 1802 – June 30, 1881) was an American politician, lawyer, educator, and jurist from Georgia who played a prominent role in the legal and political life of the state in the mid-nineteenth century. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1846 to 1853, represented Georgia in the United States Congress from 1855 to 1857, and later held the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia on two occasions, first from 1867 to 1868 and again from 1872 to 1880.

Warner was born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, on October 29, 1802. In 1819, as a young man, he moved south to Georgia, where he initially worked as a schoolteacher, teaching for three years. During this early period in Georgia he began to study law, and, after completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the state bar. In 1825 he commenced the practice of law in Knoxville, Georgia, establishing himself professionally in the state that would be the center of his public and judicial career.

Warner entered public life through state politics. He was elected to the Georgia General Assembly and served as a member from 1828 until 1831. During this time he did not seek reelection at the close of his term. Around this period he moved within the state, relocating to Talbotton, Georgia, in 1830 and later settling in Greenville, Georgia. His growing reputation as a lawyer and public figure led to his election as a judge of the Georgia Superior Court, where he presided from 1833 to 1840. In 1846 he advanced to the state’s highest tribunal when he became a judge on the Supreme Court of Georgia, serving on that court until his resignation in 1853.

Following his initial judicial service, Warner entered national politics. In 1854 he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth United States Congress as the Representative from Georgia’s 4th congressional district. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. During this period he participated in the national legislative debates of the pre–Civil War era. He chose not to run for reelection in 1856 and returned to Georgia at the conclusion of his term, resuming his legal and judicial pursuits.

After the Civil War, Warner was again called to judicial service in a period of reconstruction and political transition. In 1865 Georgia Governor Charles J. Jenkins appointed him judge of the Coweta Circuit Court, a position he held until 1867. That year he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, marking his first tenure as head of the state’s highest court, serving from 1867 to 1868. He later returned to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice in 1872, this time by election, and remained in that capacity until his resignation in 1880. Across these years he was a central figure in reestablishing and guiding Georgia’s judiciary during and after Reconstruction.

Warner spent his later years in Georgia, where he continued to be regarded as a leading jurist and public figure until his retirement from the bench. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 30, 1881. His remains were returned to the community where he had long resided, and he was buried in Town Cemetery in Greenville, Georgia, closing a career that had spanned education, state legislation, national office, and decades of judicial service.