Thomas Stanley Bocock

Democrat Representative of Virginia's 5th district

  • Representative

    Virginia, district 5

    December 5, 1859 - March 3, 1861

7

Congresses Served

7

House Terms

May 18, 1815 (76 years old)

Birthday

August 5, 1891

Death

  • Was a Confederate politician and lawyer.
  • Served as a United States Congressman before becoming the Speaker of the Confederate States House of Representatives during the American Civil War.
  • Born into a prominent family with connections to Thomas Jefferson and future political figures like Harry Flood Byrd.
  • Educated by private tutors and at Hampden–Sydney College, where he graduated in 1838.
  • Began his legal career after studying law under his eldest brother, eventually becoming the first prosecuting attorney for Appomattox County, Virginia.
  • Served in the Virginia House of Delegates before being elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served from 1847 to 1861.
  • As a U.S. Congressman, he chaired the Committee on Naval Affairs and was a committed slaveholder and Southern nationalist.
  • Elected to the Confederate States House of Representatives in 1861, serving until the end of the Civil War in 1865, including as Speaker from 1862 to 1865.
  • Broke with Confederate President Jefferson Davis over the issue of arming slaves.
  • Post-war, refused to pay his former slaves as workers, instead offering food and shelter, and attempted to purchase formerly enslaved people.
  • Practiced law in Lynchburg, Virginia, and was involved in forming the Virginia Conservative Party, supporting various Democratic Presidential candidates.
  • Served again in Virginia’s House of Delegates and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions.
  • Opposed the Virginia Readjuster Party and was one of the architects of Jim Crow Laws.
  • Died in Appomattox County, Virginia, and was buried at Old Bocock Cemetery near his plantation, Wildway.