William Eustis (1753-1825)

He served as a Surgeon in the Continental Army during the Revolution. He was Secretary of War (1809-1813) under President James Madison and U.S. Envoy to the Netherlands (1815-1818) under Presidents Madison and Monroe. He held various offices in Massachusetts, becoming a State Representative and State Senator before serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1801-1805 and 1820-1823). He was elected the 12th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1823, and died in office two years later. In 1819, he purchased the Shirley-Eustis House (see images) in Roxbury where among others he and his wife entertained the Marquis de Lafayette on his return tour of America in 1824. In 1801, he married Caroline, daughter of Woodbury Langdon and niece of the Governor of New Hampshire. His wife's brother was the husband of Dorothea Astor, daughter of John Jacob Astor. They died without children.