Robert B. Elliott

Robert Brown Elliott
South Carolina Attorney General
In office December 14, 1876 – May 29, 1877
Governor	Contested between Daniel Henry Chamberlain and Wade Hampton III
Preceded by	Samuel W. Melton
Succeeded by	James Conner
28th Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
In office November 24, 1874 – April 14, 1876
Governor	Franklin I. Moses, Jr. Daniel Henry Chamberlain
Preceded by	Samuel J. Lee
Succeeded by	William Henry Wallace
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Aiken County
In office November 24, 1874 – April 14, 1876
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Barnwell County
In office November 24, 1868 – March 1, 1870
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1871 – November 1, 1874
Preceded by	Solomon L. Hoge
Succeeded by	Lewis C. Carpenter
Personal details
Born	(1842-08-11)August 11, 1842 Liverpool, United Kingdom (claimed)
Died	August 9, 1884(1884-08-09) (aged 41) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Resting place	St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
Political party	Republican
Profession	lawyer, civil servant
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	South Carolina National Guard
Years of service	1869–1871
Rank	Commanding General
Battles/wars	Reconstruction

Robert Brown Elliott (August 11, 1842 – August 9, 1884) was an African-American member of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1871 to 1874.

Early life and education

Not much is known about Elliott's early life. He claimed to have been born in Liverpool, United Kingdom to West Indian immigrants, but biographers have been unable to corroborate these facts.

Career

Elliott arrived in South Carolina in 1867 at the age of 25, where he established a law practice. Elliott helped organize the local Republican Party and served in the state constitutional convention.

In 1868 he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. The next year he was appointed assistant adjutant-general; he was the first African-American commanding general of the South Carolina National Guard. As part of his job, he helped form a state militia to fight the Ku Klux Klan.

Elliott was elected as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third United States Congress. He "delivered a celebrated speech" in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.^[1] He resigned on November 1, 1874, to fight political corruption in South Carolina. He served again in the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he was elected as Speaker of the House.

He ran successfully for South Carolina Attorney General in 1876. In the state elections that year, white Democrats regained dominance of the state legislature. The following year, 1877, when the last of the federal troops were withdrawn from South Carolina, he was forced out of office.^[2]

References

Further reading

• "Robert Brown Elliott". Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History & Preservation, U. S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office. 2008. ISBN 978-0-16-080194-5. 
• Lamson, Peggy (1973). The Glorious Failure: Black Congressman Robert Brown Elliott and the Reconstruction in South Carolina. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-05451-9. 
• Black Americans in Congress - Robert Brown Elliott: Representative, 1871–1874, Republican from South Carolina http://baic.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=4

External links

• Robert B. Elliott at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• African American Registry Board