Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790 - 1870)

Augustus Baldwin Longstreet

Augustus Baldwin Longstreet was an American politician, lawyer, educator, and writer.

Longstreet received a broad education: he attended Moses Waddell Academy in Willington, South Carolina, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. He served as a Superior Court judge for the Okmulgee Judicial Circuit.

From his youth, Augustus was a prolific and active publicist. In September 1835, Longstreet published his most famous book, Scenes, Characters, Incidents in Georgia, to which poet Edgar Allan Poe gave a rave review. He later published political and religious articles. As owner and editor of the State Rights Sentinel newspaper, he used this platform to express his political views, especially in defense of slavery. Longstreet held slaveholding and secessionist views, personally owning dozens of slaves throughout his life.

Longstreet also served as president at several southern universities, including the University of Mississippi, South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina), and Emory College (now Emory University).