He continued to be involved in politics , working on then-Treasury Secretary John Sherman 's campaign for President in 1880 , and was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention . In January 1881 he was part of a black delegation that met with President James Garfield to protest the lack of civil and political rights in the South . However , his law practice faltered . In 1879 , he was appointed a customs inspector for the Treasury Department in Charleston , South Carolina . He contracted malaria while working in that capacity on a trip to Florida . In 1881 , he was transferred to New Orleans , and in 1882 he was dismissed . In New Orleans he again attempted to practice law , but found few clients . Impoverished , he died in New Orleans on August 9 , 1884
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 Republican National Convention
Robert B. Elliott