Jefferson F. Long

Who was Jefferson F. Long?

Jefferson Franklin Long was an American politician from Georgia. He was the first African American from Georgia to be elected to the United States House of Representatives.

Long was born a slave near the city of Knoxville and Crawford County, Georgia on March 3, 1836. He was self-educated. He became a merchant tailor in Macon, Georgia. Long was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused when the U.S. House declared Samuel F. Gove not entitled to the seat and served from January 16, 1871 to March 3, 1871. Long was not a candidate for renomination in 1870, but did serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880. He resumed business in Macon, Georgia, and died there on February 4, 1901. He was interred in Lynwood Cemetery.