Thomas Porcher Stoney was the fifty-third mayor of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, serving between 1923 and 1931. Stoney was born at Medway Plantation on December 16, 1889, in rural Berkeley County, South Carolina to Samuel Stoney and Eliza Croft Stoney. Stoney graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1911 and began a private law practice in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1915, he was elected solicitor (prosecutor) for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, the youngest solicitor elected at that time. He remained in that office until 1923 when he was elected mayor of Charleston. He was re-elected in 1927 and completed that term. One of his major accomplishments as mayor was the creation of a municipal airport. His administration also oversaw the construction of recreational facilities; such as a golf course, a playground named for

William Moultrie William Moultrie (; November 23, 1730 – September 27, 1805) was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charle ...

, and

Johnson Hagood Stadium Johnson Hagood Stadium, is an 11,500-seat football stadium, the home field of The Citadel Bulldogs football team, in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The stadium is named in honor of Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, CSA, class of 1847, ...

(then a municipal facility, but today the football stadium for The Citadel Bulldogs football team). He ran for a United States Senate seat, but lost in the Democratic primary to

James F. Byrnes James Francis Byrnes ( ; May 2, 1882 – April 9, 1972) was an American judge and politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in U.S. Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in the executive branch, ...

in 1936 by a margin of about 10-to-1. During his life he swung across the political spectrum. He was a solid democrat in his early political life, but grew disaffected with the New Deal. In 1936 he gave a speech about the New Deal and said, " l of this spending is like giving a drunk some drinks to sober him up." Stoney died on April 22, 1973, at the age of 83. He was struck while walking across a road. He is buried at Strawberry Chapel in

Berkeley County, South Carolina Berkeley County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 229,861. Its county seat is Moncks Corner. After two previous incarnations of Berkeley County, the current county was created in 1882. Be ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoney, Thomas Mayors of Charleston, South Carolina 1889 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American politicians South Carolina Democrats Old Right (United States)