“L” is for Longstreet, Augustus Baldwin (1790-1879)

“L” is for Longstreet, Augustus Baldwin (1790-1879). Educator, author, clergyman. Born in Augusta, Georgia, Longstreet was educated at Yale and the law school in Litchfield, Connecticut. In the wake of a family tragedy, he became deeply religious and a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1835 he published Georgia Scenes one of the best examples of southern backwoods humor. In 1839 he became president of Emory College at Oxford, Georgia, and in 1849 of Centenary College in Louisiana. From 1850 to 1856 he was president of the University of Mississippi. In 1856 he became president of the South Carolina College. He was known as a strict disciplinarian. Longstreet was a passionate defender of states’ rights and became extremely popular in South Carolina. Augustus Baldwin Longstreet remained as president of the college until the fall of 1861.