James Thomas Elliott (April 22, 1823 – July 28, 1875) was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.
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Elliott was born in Columbus, Georgia. He attended the common schools and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in Camden, Arkansas. He was chosen President of the Mississippi, Ouachita & Red River Railroad in 1858. Married Augusta Brooks Elliott, they had four children.
Elliott House is located on west Washington Street in Camden, Arkansas; built in 1857 by James Thomas Elliott. The Union General Frederick Salomon occupied the home in 1864 during a stay in Camden. The family lived upstairs during the occupation; their son Milton Arteles Elliott was a 13 year old Private in the Confederate Army. Matthew Brady photographed their younger son, William Sells Elliott, on the front porch of the house.
The battle was the last significant fight the Confederate States won in the South. The Battle of Poison Spring took place on April 18, 1864, during the Arkansas phase of the Red River Campaign.
Elliott became a Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial District of Arkansas from October 2, 1865, serving until September 15, 1866. He established and edited the South Arkansas Journal in 1867. In this time period, the family lost 2 daughters, Belle and Emmaline Elliott to yellow fever on the same day.
During Reconstruction, the U.S. Representative James M. Hinds on October 22, 1868 was assassinated by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, by George A. Clark, Secretary of the Democratic Committee of Monroe County, who was drunk at the time.
James Thomas Elliott chose to run for the empty seat in a turbulent historical time. He was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Hinds, and served from January 13, 1869, to March 3, 1869.
United States Representative James Thomas Elliott April 22, 1823 – July 28, 1875
His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Milton Arteles Elliott, edited, and the ladies in Ouachita County, Arkansas Historical Society published a book, now held in the Library of Congress, called Garden of Memories.