Albion Winegar Tourgée (1838-1905) was an American jurist, soldier, diplomat, writer, and civil rights activist.  A Union veteran of the Civil War, Tourgée was a staunch opponent of slavery. After the war, as a judge in North Carolina, he faced down the Ku Klux Klan.  His most famous novel, A Fool's Errand (1879) was based on his Reconstruction experiences.