James Sanford Lamar (1829-1908) was a minister in the Church of the Disciples of Christ. He was the son of Philip and Margaret Anthony Lamar and grew up in Muscogee County, Ga. His father was Baptist and his mother was Methodist. He was admitted to the bar in Columbus, Ga., in 1850, but became interested in the church and attended Alexander Campbell's Bethany College, W.Va., graduating in July 1854. He served pastorates at Augusta, Atlanta, Valdosta, and elsewhere in Georgia and in Kentucky. He was also prominent in his church's conventions, and as editor of the Christian Union and later an associate editor of Christian Standard, and as author of Memoirs of Isaac Errett, The Organon of Scripture, and numerous shorter works and tracts. His brother Philip was also a minister in Georgia. Lamar first married Mary Rucker and later Sarah May Ford. His oldest son was Joseph Rucker Lamar (1857-1916), jurist.
From the guide to the J.S. Lamar Notebook, 1859-1896, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)
