George Eustis Jr; Statesman

George Eustis Jr., was a brother of James Biddle Eustis. He served in the US House of Representatives from Louisiana. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to George and and Clarice (Allain) Eustis on September 28, 1828.
 

He was graduated from Jefferson College, Convent, Louisiana and from the Law Department of Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New Orleans before being elected as the American Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1859).
He served as secretary to John Slidell and was taken prisoner with him from the British mail steamer Trent in 1861. He was held prisoner at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, but released when it was determined that the seizure was illegal. During the War Between the States, he served as secretary of the Confederate mission at Paris and remained in Paris after the close of the war. His intimate acquaintance with the French language, caused his arrest as a French spy during the Franco-German war-an incident , it is believed, of more amusement than serious inconvenience to him.
 

George Eustis was commissioned by Elihu B. Washburne, United States Minister at Paris, to negotiate a postal treaty with the French Government. He married Louise Corcoran of Washington, D.C. They were the parents of William Corcoran Eustice (July 20, 1862), George Peabody Eustis (July 21, 1864) and Harriet Louise Eustis (January 21, 1867).
 

George Eustis Jr. died in Cannes, France on March 15, 1872. His interment took place in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Bibliography: Tregle, Joseph G. “George Eustis, Jr., Non-Mythic Southerner.” Louisiana History 16 (Fall 1975): 383-90.