Edmund Ruffin

Edmund Ruffin III (January 5, 1794 – June 17, 1865) was an American planter, politician, scientist, and activist best known as an early advocate for secession of the Southern slave states from the United States. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1823 to 1827. In the three decades before the American Civil War he published polemics in support of states' rights and the protection of chattel slavery, earning notoriety as one of the so-called Fire-Eaters. Ruffin was present at the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861 and fired one cannon shot at the fort. This gave rise to the legend that Ruffin fired the first shot of the Civil War. Ruffin did enlist as a Confederate soldier despite his advanced age. When the war ended in defeat in 1865, he died of suicide rather than accept what he called "Yankee rule."

Ruffin is also known for his pioneering work in methods to preserve and improve soil productivity. He recommended crop rotation and amendments 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.