Long, Jefferson Franklin, 1836-1901

Jefferson Franklin Long (March 3, 1836 – February 4, 1901) was an American politician from Georgia. He was the second African American sworn into the US House of Representatives, and the first African-American congressman from Georgia. He was the only African American to represent Georgia until Andrew Young was elected in 1972. Long was the first African-American Representative to speak on the floor of the U.S. House, opposing the Amnesty Bill that exempted former Confederates serving in the House from swearing allegiance to the Constitution.

Long was born a slave by a slave mother and a white father near the city of Knoxville in Crawford County, Georgia on March 3, 1836. He taught himself to read and write, an illegal act for slaves. Long became a successful 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 because of anti-Reconstruction efforts by the white-majority Georgia GOP, but did serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880.

Despite Long's brief tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, he was able to promote several Reconstruction efforts. He resumed business in Macon, Georgia, and died there on February 4, 1901. He was interred in Linwood Cemetery.