Lott Warren

Lott Warren (October 30, 1797 – June 17, 1861) was a United States Representative from Georgia, a state legislator, militia officer, jurist, and Baptist minister. He was born in Burke County, Georgia, near Augusta, on October 30, 1797, into the agrarian society of the early post-Revolutionary South. He attended the common schools of his native region, receiving a basic education typical of rural Georgia in the early nineteenth century. In 1816 he moved to Dublin, in Laurens County, Georgia, a developing frontier community where he began to establish himself as a young adult and prepare for a professional career.

In 1818, during the period of conflict known as the First Seminole War, Warren served as a second lieutenant of Volunteers in an expedition against the Seminoles, gaining early experience in military service and public duty. After his return, he read law in the traditional manner of the time and was admitted to the bar in 1821. He commenced the practice of law in Dublin, Georgia, building a reputation as a capable attorney on the circuit. During this period he was also regularly ordained as a Baptist minister, reflecting the strong religious currents of the region, although he never accepted or filled a definite pastoral charge and instead continued to focus on his legal and public careers.

Warren’s early public service in Georgia combined military and legislative responsibilities. In 1823 he was elected a major of the state militia, a position that underscored his standing in the community and the importance of local defense forces in the era before a large standing army. In 1824 he entered elective office as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing his constituency in the state’s lower chamber. In 1825 he moved to Marion, Georgia, continuing his legal practice while remaining active in public affairs. He returned to the Georgia House of Representatives again in 1831, demonstrating sustained support among his constituents and growing influence in state politics.

In addition to his service in the House, Warren held office in the upper chamber of the state legislature, serving in the Georgia Senate in 1830. His legislative work coincided with a period of rapid growth and political realignment in Georgia, including debates over internal improvements, banking, and relations with Native American nations. In 1831 he was appointed solicitor general of the southern circuit of Georgia, and he subsequently served as judge of that circuit from 1831 to 1834. In these judicial and prosecutorial roles he presided over and participated in the administration of justice across a large and largely rural region of the state, further enhancing his legal reputation.

By the mid-1830s Warren had become a prominent Whig in Georgia politics. In 1836 he moved to Americus, Georgia, a growing town in Sumter County, from which he sought national office. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1843. His tenure in Congress coincided with the presidencies of Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler, a period marked by economic recovery efforts following the Panic of 1837 and intense partisan conflict between Whigs and Democrats over banking, tariffs, and federal power. Representing a largely agricultural constituency, Warren participated in the legislative work of the House during these debates. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1842, choosing instead to return to judicial service in his home state.

In 1842 Warren moved to Albany, Georgia, in Dougherty County, which would remain his home for the rest of his life. The following year he was appointed judge of the superior court of Georgia, a position he held from 1843 to 1852. As a superior court judge he presided over major civil and criminal cases during a formative period in Georgia’s legal development, when issues of property, slavery, commerce, and local governance were central to the state’s jurisprudence. After leaving the bench in 1852, he resumed the private practice of law in Albany, continuing to be regarded as a leading member of the bar and a respected figure in the community.

Warren remained in Albany through the 1850s, a decade of mounting sectional tension that would culminate in the Civil War shortly after his death. He continued his legal work and maintained his connections to the Baptist faith, though he still did not assume a formal pastoral role. He died in Albany, Georgia, on June 17, 1861, in the early months of the Civil War. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery in Albany. His career, spanning military service, state and national legislative office, and long judicial tenure, reflected the trajectory of many antebellum Southern leaders who combined law, politics, and local military service in shaping their state’s public life.