William Harmong Lamar was born on July 13, 1827 to Harmong and Martha Ann (Young) Lamar at Augusta, Georgia. He attended the academy at Apling, Georgia, Emory College, Oxford, Georgia and graduated from the Southern Botanical Medical College in Macon, Georgia. He began praticing medicine at Auburn, Alabama in 1854 and remained in the city until 1895 when he relocated to Jasper, Alabama. During the American Civil War war he was a member of the Auburn Home Guards and was listed a soldier in Company H of the 50th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Following the war, Lamar served as a member of the board of trustees to the East Alabama Male College (presently Auburn University) from 1866 to 1875. He was an author of a book of poems and wrote many articles for the state press. He died in Jasper, Alabama in 1906. (see History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography)