William Corcoran Eustis


William Corcoran Eustis was a captain in the United States Army and the personal assistant to General John J. Pershing during World War I. He was chairman of the inauguration committee for the first inauguration of Woodrow Wilson in 1913 and started the Loudoun Hunt in 1894.

Early life

He was born on July 20, 1862, in Paris to former U.S. Representative George Eustis Jr. and Louise Morris "Lulie" Eustis, who married in April 1859. His brother was George Peabody Eustis and his younger sister was Louise Marie Eustis, who married polo player Thomas Hitchcock Sr.
He was a grandson of Clarisse Eustis and George Eustis Sr., Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. His mother was the only surviving child of banker and philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran, co-founder of the Riggs Bank, and Louis Corcoran, a daughter of naval officer Charles Morris. His paternal uncle was U.S. Senator and Ambassador to France James Biddle Eustis.
Eustis was educated at Shadwell School in Albemarle County, Virginia, the Hanover Academy in Hanover County, Virginia before attending the University of Virginia from 1880 to 1882. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1887.

Career

After graduating from Harvard, "much of his time was taken up with the management of his large estate." While Joseph Hodges Choate was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Eustis served as the Third Secretary of the United States Embassy in London from 1901 to 1902.
During the first World War, William was a personal secretary to General John J. Pershing, achieving the rank of Captain.

Personal life

On April 30, 1900, he married Edith Livingston Morton, a descendant of many prominent families, including the Livingston family of New York. Edith, a daughter of Anna Livingston Reade Morton and Levi Parsons Morton, the 22nd U.S. Vice President under Benjamin Harrison, served as a member of the memorial commission for the District of Columbia War Memorial. Together Edith and William were the parents of five children, including:
He laid the cornerstone for the Corcoran Gallery of Art on May 10, 1894, which his grandfather funded. He was a member of the Metropolitan Club, the Alibi Club, the Knickerbocker Club, and the Meadowbrook Club on Long Island.

Thoroughbred racing

William Eustis owned and raced Thoroughbred horses and in addition to riding polo ponies was a very capable amateur Thoroughbred rider. As part of the undercard for the May 29, 1897 Belmont Stakes won by Scottish Chieftain at Morris Park Racecourse, William Eustis rode Hawarden in the one mile Amateur Cup. A race for "gentlemen riders," he finished third to winner Diversion ridden by Foxhall Keene.
Among the stakes races Eustis won with some of his horses were the Advance Stakes and the Pansy Stakes in 1899.

Passing

Eustis died at the Hotel Belmont in New York City, en route to the former country home of his father-in-law in Rhinecliff, New York, on November 24, 1921 of pneumonia due to complications related to the Spanish Flu, which he contracted during the war.

Descendants and legacy

Eustis owned and restored Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia until it was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation following his widow's death in 1964.
Through his youngest daughter Anne, he was a great-grandfather to Wendy Pepper, a contestant on season 1 of Project Runway.