Born near Chapel Hill, Tennessee, Warner attended the public schools and graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1858.

He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Lewisburg, Tennessee.

Warner served in the Confederate States Army from 1861 to 1865 and, after the end of the Civil War, returned to Lewisburg, Tennessee, to resume the practice of law.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1884, and resumed the practice of law in Lewisburg, Tennessee.

[3] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress