There wasn't as much as in the North but that doesn't mean it was non existent. Political office was arguably the easiest route, future president Andrew Johnson was born to a very poor family, didn't learn to read until adulthood and worked as a tailor until his stumping skills propelled him to the comfort of political office. Distinctive military service was one way to stand out in the political arena, as seen with both President Andrew Jackson and Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson. Until the end of the 19th century law school or a college degree wasn't a requirement to become a member of the bar, rather ambitious young men could read law under a supervising attorney for a few years, acting as both an apprentice and paralegal, helping the attorney draft and copy legal documents, and petitions in an era before Xerox or Word Processor, they would also closely observe attorney's in court, and by night would study law books. Lawyers were respected members of the community, because of their roles in surveying and conducting land transactions they would often be compensated with sections of frontier. Abraham Lincoln who was born on the Kentucky Frontier, and later became a respected railroad attorney, Congressman and President is the finest example of someone who took the legal path out of poverty. Nathan Bedford Forrest is another example. The future Confederate General and First Imperial Wizard of the Klan was born to a poor blacksmith, but by the outbreak of the Civil War was not only a millionaire but one of the richest men in the South, most of his money was made by perfecting slave trading, he sold slaves up and down the Mississippi delta via Steamboat, and invested his money back into the lucrative business and purchasing plantations.
Lawrence Friedman, "A History of American Law: Third Edition"

James W. Ely Jr. Abraham Lincoln as a Railroad Attorney