Edmund Ruffin

Ruffin, Edmund (1794–1865), U.S. planter, father of soil chemistry in the United States. A strong supporter of slavery and secession, Ruffin is said to have fired the first shot on Fort Sumter, S.C., at the outbreak of the Civil War. He committed suicide rather than submit to the U.S. government. A noted agriculturalist, he pioneered crop rotation and founded the Fanner's Register (1833).