William EUSTIS, Congress, MA (1753-1825)

EUSTIS William , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Cambridge, Mass., June 10, 1753; attended the Boston public schools and was graduated from Harvard College in 1772; studied medicine and served in the Revolutionary Army as surgeon; resumed practice in Boston; was a surgeon in the expedition sent to suppress Shays' Rebellion in 1786 and 1787; member of the State house of representatives 1788-1794; elected as a Republican to the Seventh and Eighth Congresses (March 4, 1801-March 3, 1805); one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1804 to the Ninth Congress; appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Madison and served from 1807 to 1812; appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands and served from December 19, 1814, to May 5, 1818; elected to the Sixteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward Dowse; reelected to the Seventeenth Congress and served from August 21, 1820, to March 3, 1823; chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Seventeenth Congress); did not seek renomination but was elected Governor of Massachusetts and served from May 31, 1823, until his death in Boston, Mass., February 6, 1825; interment in the Old Burying Ground, Lexington, Mass.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present