William H. Lamar

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William Harmong Lamar (December 11, 1859 – February 10, 1928) was an American lawyer and government official best known for prosecuting mail fraud. He was born in Auburn, Alabama, to Dr. William Harmong Lamar and Ann Maria Glenn, and grew up with five siblings. He married Virginia Longstreet in 1887, and they had four children. Lamar earned a BA from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1881 and law degrees (LLB in 1884; LLM in 1885) from Georgetown University. He practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Rockville, Maryland, and served in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1894 as a Democrat. He worked as an assistant attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1906 to 1913, then served as assistant attorney-general and solicitor of the Post Office Department from 1913 to 1921. He was targeted by anarchists during the 1919 bombings. After leaving office in 1921, he practiced law privately with his son Lucius until his death in 1928. He died at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.