Edmund Ruffin - the John Brown of the South?

[JohnTaylor]

Originally Posted by samgrant

The day after Lee surrendered , he shot himself.

That's pretty remarkable since he shot himself in the head and he didn't die until June 15th.

Originally Posted by samgrant

The I don't find any memorials/statues of this ultra secessionist. I wonder why? Is he considered a nut among fire eaters, or a mainstream type.

Also, were there any other such secessionists who did the suicide thing after the war rather than live under the Unionists?

No monuments in Virginia that I am aware of. Can't say if South Carolina has one to him, though. His house, Evergreen, is still standing in Prince George County, Virginia.

[JohnTaylor]

Originally Posted by OpnDownfall

I suspect he was a secessionist before he was an agriculturalist.

You suspicion would be incorrect.
See Eric Walther, The Fire-eaters, for a short bio on Ruffin.

[ole]

I read one author (maybe it was Hendrickson) who said there were only two nationalists in the entire south. One I don't remember, the other was Ruffin. The implication was that he gave his allegiance not to his state, but to the putative nation.

[JohnTaylor]

Originally Posted by ole

I read one author (maybe it was Hendrickson) who said there were only two nationalists in the entire south. One I don't remember, the other was Ruffin. The implication was that he gave his allegiance not to his state, but to the putative nation.

Before the secession of Virginia, Ruffin had said in public addresses that if Virginia didn't resist northern usurpations, he would move further south. Ruffins presence in South Carolina before the firing on Ft. Sumter would seem to support that interpretation.