George Pettus Raney was born on October 11, 1845 at Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida, the son of David G. and Frances (Jordan) Raney. His parents were from Petersburg, Virginia, but they had removed to Florida in 1826 and had settled at Apalachicola in 1834.
He attended the local schools for his elementary education and then entered the University of Virginia. Before completing his academic work he enrolled in the Confederate army, seeing considerable service in Florida and Georgia until the end of the war. He reëntered the University in the Law School and after a year's study returned to Apalachicola.
After graduating he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law.
In 1868 Raney began his long public career with his election as a Democrat from Franklin County to the lower house of the Florida legislature. After two years in this office, during which time he served as chairman of the judiciary committee, he returned to private life and spent the next seven years practising law at Tallahassee, where he had established his residence in 1869.
His increasing influence in the Democratic party led to his selection as a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee in 1876 in which capacity he took part in the redemption of the state from Carpet-bag rule.
He was one of the counsel for Governor Drew before the Florida supreme court in the gubernatorial contest and in January 1877 he was appointed by Drew attorney-general of the state. The appointment was renewed by Governor Bloxham in 1881. While in this position Raney was ex-officio reporter of the state supreme court.
He held the office of attorney-general until 1885 in which year he was appointed associate justice of the court and in 1888 was continued in office by election. In 1889 he was made chief justice by his colleagues and in that capacity he remained on the bench until 1894. In this latter year he resigned as chief justice and resumed the practice of law at Tallahassee.
He remained in private life for five years, holding no public office except that of presidential elector in 1896.
In 1897 he was a candidate for United States senator but withdrew from the contest before the election. In 1899 he was elected from Leon County to the Florida House of Representatives and served until 1902. He was a member of the Florida Senate from 1902 until 1906.
Upon his retirement from the Senate he was appointed counsel for the Seaboard Airline Railway and continued in this employment until his death.
His greatest achievements were as a jurist. His most important decision as chief justice was in the case of The Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad Company vs. Florida in which he laid down the principle that a railway was not subject to such regulation as would deprive it of a reasonable profit. He was for thirty years a controlling influence in the Democratic party in Florida as a member not only of the state committee but from 1900 to 1904 as a member of the national committee. His service as a legislator was creditable but was overshadowed by his juristic career.
Raney was married on November 4, 1873, to Mary Elizabeth Lamar of Athens, Georgia, by whom he had four children. She died in 1899 and in 1901 he was married to Evelyn Byrd Cameron, who died in 1902.
