Representative George Washington Lent Marr

George Washington Lent Marr (May 25, 1779 – September 5, 1856) was an American politician and attorney who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives. Born near Marrs Hill in Henry County, Virginia, on May 25, 1779, he spent his early years in a rural setting and attended local country schools. He later pursued higher education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, preparing for a professional career in the law at a time when the trans-Appalachian West was rapidly developing.

After completing his studies, Marr read law and entered legal practice in the Tennessee frontier. He quickly rose in prominence within the territorial and early state legal system. From 1807 to 1809 he served as attorney general for west Tennessee, a region then undergoing settlement and organization, and from 1809 to 1813 he was attorney general for Tennessee’s fifth district. In these roles he was responsible for prosecuting cases on behalf of the state and helped establish the foundations of civil authority in a growing part of Tennessee.

Marr also had an active military career. During the War of 1812 he served under General Andrew Jackson, participating in campaigns that defended the southwestern frontier of the United States. He took part in the Creek War campaign of 1813–1814, a related conflict against the Red Stick faction of the Creek Nation, during which he was wounded. His wartime service under Jackson linked him to one of the most prominent military and political figures of the era and enhanced his standing in Tennessee public life.

Entering national politics as a member of the Republican Party—then commonly known as the Democratic-Republican Party—Marr was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican from Tennessee to the Fifteenth Congress. He served a single term in Congress from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819. During this period he participated in the legislative process in a formative era of the early republic, representing the interests of his Tennessee constituents in debates over national development and governance. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1818, which ended his brief but notable tenure in the federal legislature.

After leaving Congress, Marr remained an influential figure in Tennessee. He became one of the largest landowners in west Tennessee, reflecting both his personal success and the broader expansion of settlement in the region. In 1821 he moved from Clarksville to Obion County, Tennessee, where his extensive landholdings and legal experience made him a leading citizen. As the state matured, he continued to play a role in shaping its institutions and laws.

Marr’s prominence in state affairs was further demonstrated by his service as a member of the Tennessee State Constitutional Convention in 1834, which revised the state’s fundamental law and addressed issues arising from Tennessee’s growth and changing political landscape. In the evolving party system of the 1830s and 1840s, he became associated with the Whig Party after its formation, aligning himself with a political movement that often drew support from professionals, large landowners, and those favoring legislative supremacy and internal improvements.

George Washington Lent Marr died at his residence on Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River, near New Madrid, Missouri, on September 5, 1856, at the age of 77 years and 103 days. The island on which he lived has since been washed away by changes in the course of the river. He was interred at Troy Cemetery in Troy, Tennessee. His name is believed to be associated with “Fort Marr,” originally constructed around 1814 near what is now Old Fort, Tennessee, to house troops assigned to protect white travelers and Cherokees from Creek retaliation. The fort, later renovated into a stockade and used during the forced removal of the Cherokee people to the west, was moved to Benton, Tennessee, in 1965. In 1980 Fort Marr became the property of the Tennessee Department of Conservation, to be maintained and used as a historic site, preserving a tangible link to the era in which Marr lived and served.