Eli T. 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.

Early Life Stackhouse was born in Little Rock, South Carolina, on March 27, 1824, and attended the common schools. He worked on his father's farm, though he "sneaked off many a day to go a-fishing..." Stackhouse was wounded eight during the war, with three serious wounds from the battles of Antietam (September 1862), Gettysburg (July 2, 1863), and Second Deep Bottom (June 18, 1864), where he was wounded by a shell fragment during the latter.

Post-War Activities After the Union's victory and Emancipation Proclamation, Stackhouse alerted his slaves of their newfound liberation, "[explaining] to them that the result of the War had been to free them... [and] preferred them to seek employment under another employer rather than remain under him who had been their master. Keeping sufficient only for himself and his family he divided his crops among his former slaves."

It is written that "Eli Thomas Stackhouse, in appearance, was tall, stood perfectly erect, weighed about 180 pounds, had a large head, steel gray eyes and a ruddy complexion. He wore a beard which he kept closely trimmed." and was a "Methodist of the Methodists."

Congressman John L. McLaurin described Stackhouse's' disposition: Candor, sincerity, and conscientiousness were his predominant graces. Indomitable energy, scrupulous honesty, and fidelity were the mainsprings of his success in his industrial and political life. A combination of all these made him an American Cincinnatus. He was interred in Little Rock Cemetery, Little Rock, South Carolina.