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December 21
Elliot was born and educated in Liverpool, England. After serving in the British navy, Elliott arrived in Boston in 1867. Robert Elliott was a brilliant lawyer who was admitted to the South Carolina bar and elected to the South Carolina legislature in 1868. In March of 1869, Elliott was appointed assistant adjutant-general becoming the first black commanding general of the South Carolina National Guard. Duties included the formation and maintenance of the state militia-often called the black militia-to protect white and black citizens from the murderous, fast growing Ku Klux Klan. He served as United States Congressman from 1871 to 1874. In 1876, Elliott was elected state attorney general, but with the withdrawal of federal troops and the subsequent end of reconstruction, he was forced out of office a year later and returned to private practice. Robert Elliott’s partnerships eventually failed and he lapsed into poverty. Robert Brown Elliott died in New Orleans in August of 1884. Reference: Black Americans In Congress 1870-1989. Bruce A. Ragsdale & Joel D. Treese U.S. Government Printing Office Raymond W. Smock, historian and director 1990 E185.96.R25 to be a Politician
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