Eli Thomas Stackhouse

Eli Thomas Stackhouse (March 27, 1824 – June 14, 1892) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina and an officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. He was born on March 27, 1824, in Little Rock, Marion (now Dillon) County, South Carolina. Raised on his father’s farm, he attended the common schools of the area and worked in agriculture from an early age. Through his paternal grandfather he was descended from the noted English theologian Thomas Stackhouse, a lineage that was recognized within his family and community.

As a young man, Stackhouse taught school for several years, reflecting both his education and his commitment to local civic life. After his period as a schoolteacher, he returned more fully to agricultural pursuits, managing and working farmland in his native region. This early combination of teaching and farming established the foundation for his later prominence in agricultural affairs and public service in South Carolina.

Stackhouse entered military service at the outset of the Civil War. He enlisted in the Confederate States Army on January 9, 1861, and served throughout the conflict in the Army of Northern Virginia. Over the course of the war he rose to the rank of colonel of the 8th South Carolina Volunteers, a regiment that saw extensive service in some of the principal campaigns of the Eastern Theater. His wartime experience and leadership in the Confederate forces contributed to his postwar standing in South Carolina political and agricultural circles.

In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, Stackhouse participated in the reorganization of state government during Reconstruction. He served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1865 to 1866, representing his home region in the state legislature. During this period he resumed his agricultural interests and became increasingly involved in efforts to advance the interests of farmers and to rebuild the state’s economy after the devastation of the war.

Stackhouse emerged as a leading figure in South Carolina’s agricultural and educational development in the late nineteenth century. In 1887 he was appointed to the first board of trustees of Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina, an institution founded to promote scientific agriculture and mechanical arts in the state. His role as a founding trustee underscored his commitment to agricultural education and modernization. In 1888 he became the first president of the South Carolina State Farmers’ Alliance, an influential agrarian organization that sought improved conditions, fairer markets, and greater political representation for farmers. Through this position he gained statewide prominence as a spokesman for agrarian interests.

As a member of the Democratic Party representing South Carolina, Stackhouse contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. He was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress and took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 4, 1891. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history marked by economic change, agrarian unrest, and debates over monetary policy and federal regulation. In Washington he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his largely rural constituents, bringing to national deliberations the perspective of a veteran, farmer, and leader of the Farmers’ Alliance.

Stackhouse’s congressional career was cut short by his death in office. He died in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 1892, while still serving in the Fifty-second Congress. His passing placed him among the members of the United States Congress who died in office in the nineteenth century. Following his death, he was interred in Little Rock Cemetery in Little Rock, South Carolina, returning to the community where he had been born, had farmed, and had first entered public life.