Born on November 13, 1886, in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, Lumpkin moved with his parents to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1898.[1] There were seven siblings, who by birth order were: Elizabeth (teacher), Hope (clergyman), Alva (politician), Morris (lawyer), Grace (writer), and Katharine (academic).[2] He attended the public schools in Milledgeville and Columbia,[1] then received a Bachelor of Laws in 1908 from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to the bar the same year. He entered private practice in Columbia from 1908 to 1939. He was an assistant clerk for the South Carolina Senate from 1906 to 1908. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913. He was a member of the Conciliation Commission for Advancement of Peace between the United States and Uruguay in 1914. He was an acting assistant attorney general for South Carolina in 1918. He was a member of the South Carolina Board of Pardons from 1922 to 1923. He was an acting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina from 1926 to 1934.[1][3]