Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
1790 - 1870
Educated at Yale University, A. B. Longstreet served as the second president of Emory College from 1839 to 1848. He had previously been an exceptionally successful lawyer, politician, writer, farmer, and minister. During the precarious financial condition of the college in the early years, Longstreet sometimes used his own funds to keep the school operational and the salaries paid. Due in large part to his excellent bona fides, he was able to attract patronage and increase student enrollment. Perhaps the most distinguished of these early graduates of Emory College was Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, who became a United States Senator, Secretary of the Interior, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Longstreet married Frances Eliza Parke in 1817 and they had eight children, only two of whom survived to adulthood. In 1821, Longstreet became a representative in the Georgia General Assembly, but his term was interrupted when he was appointed to serve on the Superior Court of the Ocmulgee Judicial District. In 1824, while campaigning for a seat in the United States Congress, his first-born son, Alfred Emsley died, causing Longstreet to withdraw from the race. Prior to the death of his son, Longstreet was not a religious man; but his grief was so acute, he began to study the Bible in earnest and soon became converted to Christianity. He and his family joined the Methodist church in 1827. The following year he became a minister.
In 1835, Longstreet published Georgia Scenes, Characters, Incidents, Etc. in the First Half Century of the Republic. It was the first important literary work to come from the state of Georgia and was given a rave review by author Edgar Allan Poe. His earliest publications have been lost and some were not discovered until long after they had been published. In 1864, Longstreet published his first and only novel, Master William Mitten; or A Youth of Brilliant Talents, Who Was Ruined by Bad Luck, which was not well received. Most of his later works were political in nature, including two lengthy defenses of slavery entitled Letters on the Epistle of Paul to Philemon (1845) and A Voice From the South (1847).
Longstreet’s career as a minister ended when he became president of Emory College in 1839. He resigned his position in 1848 and moved to Oxford, Mississippi to join his wife who had taken ill and was living there with their daughter. During the Civil War, when Union troops reached their home in Mississippi, the soldiers used Longstreet’s papers as kindling to burn down their house. The Longstreets then moved back to Oxford, Georgia for the duration of the war.
In the year 2000, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
Longstreet married Frances Eliza Parke in 1817 and they had eight children, only two of whom survived to adulthood. In 1821, Longstreet became a representative in the Georgia General Assembly, but his term was interrupted when he was appointed to serve on the Superior Court of the Ocmulgee Judicial District. In 1824, while campaigning for a seat in the United States Congress, his first-born son, Alfred Emsley died, causing Longstreet to withdraw from the race. Prior to the death of his son, Longstreet was not a religious man; but his grief was so acute, he began to study the Bible in earnest and soon became converted to Christianity. He and his family joined the Methodist church in 1827. The following year he became a minister.
In 1835, Longstreet published Georgia Scenes, Characters, Incidents, Etc. in the First Half Century of the Republic. It was the first important literary work to come from the state of Georgia and was given a rave review by author Edgar Allan Poe. His earliest publications have been lost and some were not discovered until long after they had been published. In 1864, Longstreet published his first and only novel, Master William Mitten; or A Youth of Brilliant Talents, Who Was Ruined by Bad Luck, which was not well received. Most of his later works were political in nature, including two lengthy defenses of slavery entitled Letters on the Epistle of Paul to Philemon (1845) and A Voice From the South (1847).
Longstreet’s career as a minister ended when he became president of Emory College in 1839. He resigned his position in 1848 and moved to Oxford, Mississippi to join his wife who had taken ill and was living there with their daughter. During the Civil War, when Union troops reached their home in Mississippi, the soldiers used Longstreet’s papers as kindling to burn down their house. The Longstreets then moved back to Oxford, Georgia for the duration of the war.
In the year 2000, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.