Edmund Ruffin, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Edmund Ruffin

Virginia planter and slaveholder

Date of Birth: 05-Jan-1794

Place of Birth: Prince George County, Virginia, United States

Date of Death: 17-Jun-1865

Profession: writer, agronomist, soldier

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Edmund Ruffin (January 5, 1794 – June 18, 1865) was a wealthy Virginia planter and slaveholder.
In the last three decades before the Civil War, his pro-slavery writings received more attention than his agricultural work.
Ruffin staunchly advocated states' rights and slavery, arguing for secession years before the American Civil War and became a political activist with the so-called Fire-Eaters.
Ruffin is given credit for "firing the first shot of the war" at the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861 and fought as a Confederate soldier despite his advanced age.
When the war ended in Southern defeat in 1865, he committed suicide rather than submit to "Yankee rule."Ruffin's chief legacy may be his pioneering work in methods to preserve and improve soil productivity.
He recommended crop rotation and additions to restore soils exhausted from tobacco monoculture.
Early in his career, he studied bogs and swamps to learn how to correct soil acidity.
He published essays and, in 1832, a book on his findings for improving soils.
He has since become known as "the father of soil science" in the United States.