William Corcoran Eustis

He was born on July 20, 1862, in Paris to former U.S. Representative George Eustis Jr. (1828–1872) and Louise Morris "Lulie" (née Corcoran) Eustis (1838–1867), 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.{{cite news|title=LOUISE MARY EUSTIS MARRIED.; THE HAPPY BRIDEGROOM IS THOMAS HITCHCOCK, JR., OF THIS CITY.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/08/28/103331823.pdf |access-date=15 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=28 August 1891}}{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New Tobk|title=T. HITCHCOCK SR, SPORTSMAN, DEAD; Head of a Family Long Noted in Polo, Steeplechase and Hunting Circles|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02EED8123BEF3ABC4850DFBF66838A659EDE&legacy=true|access-date=15 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=30 September 1941}}

He was a grandson of Clarisse (née Allain) 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 (née Morris) Corcoran, a daughter of naval officer Charles Morris.{{cite web |title=The Corcoran Mansion |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-corcoran-mansion |website=www.whitehousehistory.org |publisher=The White House Historical Association |access-date=23 July 2019 |language=en}} 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.

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.

On April 30, 1900, he married Edith Livingston Morton (1874–1964), a descendant of many prominent families, including the Livingston family of New York. Edith, a daughter of Anna Livingston Reade (née Street) 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:{{cite book |last1=Barringer, M.D. |first1=Paul Brandson |last2=Garnett, M.A. LL.D. |first2=James Mercer |title=University of Virginia; Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni, Vol. II |date=1904 |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |location=New York |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQM0Hid6ey0C&pg=PA260 |access-date=23 July 2019 |language=en}}

• Helen Louise Corcoran Eustis (1902–1979)
• Margaret Morton Eustis (1903–1977), who married David Edward Finley in 1931.{{cite news |title=MARGARET EUSTIS WED TO DAVID E. FINLEY; Becomes Bride of Mellon Aide at Home of Mother, Mrs. W. Corcoran Eustis. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/06/11/102238168.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=11 June 1931}} He was the first director of the National Gallery of Art, the founding chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and founding chairman of the White House Historical Association.{{cite news |last1=Saxon |first1=Wolfgang |title=David E. Finley Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/02/archives/david-e-finley-dies-art-gallery-leader-director-of-museum-in.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=2 February 1977}}
• Morton Corcoran Eustis (1905–1944), who was killed in action at Domfront, Normandy during World War II. Before the War, he had been the associate editor of the Theatre Arts Magazine in New York.{{cite news |title=M.C. EUSTIS IS KILLED; Grandson of Levi P. Morton Dies in Action in France |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/09/02/88608477.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=2 September 1944}}
• Edith Celestine Eustis (1912–1936), who died, unmarried, aged 23.{{cite news |title=Edith C. Eustis, 23, Member of Noted Families, Is Dead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34163366/edith_c_eustis_23_member_of_noted/ |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=13 Apr 1936 |language=en}} In 1932, she had been engaged, but not wed, to Lieut. Hubert Winthrop Chanler, son of Winthrop Astor Chanler.{{cite news |title=MISS EDITH EUSTIS ENGAGED TO MARRY; Her Betrothal to Lieut, Hubert Winthrop Chanfer Announced by Her Mother. BOTH OF NOTED ANCESTRY Bride-Elect, Now in Santa Fe, N. M., Is a Granddaughter of the Late Levi P. Morton. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/09/08/100802856.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=8 September 1932}}
• Anne Livingston Eustis (1915–1989), who married Grenville Temple Emmet Jr. (1909–1989), son of U.S. Minister to the Netherlands Grenville T. Emmet in 1937.{{cite news |title=Miss Anne Eustis of Washington Engaged To Grenville Temple Emmet Jr., Attorney |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/09/02/94420171.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=2 September 1937}}{{cite news |title=MISS ANNE L. EUSTIS TO BE BRIDE NOV. 20; Her Marriage to Grenville T. Emmet Jr. Will Take Place in Washington Home |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/10/27/94447642.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=27 October 1937}}

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. Eustis and his wife Edith were dedicated patrons of the Church of Our Saviour, the historic congregation on the Oatlands property{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Augusta |title=The Church of Our Saviour |date=2001 |publisher=The Church of Our Saviour Oatlands |location=Leesburg, Virginia |url=https://archive.org/details/churchofoursavio0000augu/ |pages=16–24 |access-date=6 November 2023}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpE3AAAAMAAJ&q=Eustis&pg=RA2-PA240 |title=The Turf - At Westchester |publisher=The Tribune Almanac and Political Register for 1898, page 240 |date=1897-05-29 |access-date=2020-01-11}}

Among the stakes races Eustis won with some of his horses were the Advance Stakes and the Pansy Stakes in 1899.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/drf1899070201 |title=Coney Island Form Chart |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1899-07-02 |access-date=2019-12-09}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/07/04/archives/racing-at-sheepshead-bay-sadducee-disqualified-in-a-race-in-which.html |title=Racing at Sheepshead Bay |publisher=New York Times, page 5 |date=1899-07-04 |access-date=2019-12-09}}

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,{{cite news |title=Wm. Corcoran Eustis Dies. Former Diplomat Was a Captain on Gen. Pershing's Staff |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/11/25/103576847.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=25 November 1921}} which he contracted during the war.{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/284290652.html?dids=284290652:284290652&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+25%2C+1921&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=W.+C.+EUSTIS+DIES+ON+NEW+YORK+TRIP&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525135457/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/284290652.html?dids=284290652:284290652&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+25,+1921&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=W.+C.+EUSTIS+DIES+ON+NEW+YORK+TRIP&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |title=W. C. Eustis Dies On New York Trip. Succumbs to Recurrence of Pneumonia He Contracted During War Service. Funeral Arrangements Incomplete. Was Long Prominent in National Capital Affairs. Family and Friends at Bedside. Funeral Plans Not Completed. |quote=Capt. William Corcoran Eustis, of Washington, D. C., personal secretary to Gen. John J. Pershing during the war, died tonight following the recurrence of an attack of pneumonia contracted in France. He was 60 [sic] years old.| date=November 25, 1921 |newspaper=Washington Post }} He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web |url=https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/1-15.pdf |title=Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Corcoran) - Lots 1-15 |website=Oak Hill Cemetery |access-date=2022-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302174046/https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/1-15.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-02 |url-status=live}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Ruhe |first1=Benjamin |title=VIRGINIA MANSION; Oatlands House, Built Around 1800, Is Now a National Trust Property |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/09/25/89654178.pdf |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=25 September 1966}}

Through his youngest daughter Anne,{{cite news |title=Mrs. Anne Pepper to Be Wed Nov. 24 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/14/archives/mrs-anne-pepper-to-be-wed-nov-24.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=14 October 1973}} he was a great-grandfather to Wendy Pepper, a contestant on season 1 of Project Runway.{{cite news |last1=Feldmeier |first1=Julie |title=Middleburg Woman Pursues Fashionable Ambitions |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18447-2005Feb12.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |work=www.washingtonpost.com |date=February 13, 2005 |page=PW14}}

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Category:1862 births

Category:1921 deaths

Category:Corcoran family

Category:People from Leesburg, Virginia

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Category:United States Army officers

Category:American racehorse owners and breeders

Category:University of Virginia alumni

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:American expatriates in France

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in New York City

Category:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)