Blake, Eugene W.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Blake, Eugene William, well-known jurist, of Thibodaux, was born in Iberville parish, Oct. 12, 1827. He was the son of Eugene William Blake and Adeline Dupuy, both of whom were born at Iberville parish, La., and whose lives alike were spent and ended at the place of their birth. The father was a planter and Eugene William, the son, was educated at the public school of Iberville, and shortly after the term of his schooling he removed to Thibodaux, where he was appointed clerk of the court, and continued to occupy that position for several years, during which time he was carefully saving that he might accumulate the means with which to continue his education. When this end had been gained he entered college at Lexington, Ky. On completing the course of instruction there, he returned home and shortly afterward entered Louisiana state university, from which he graduated in law in 1848. For a time he practiced at Iberville, and on April 20, 1857, he was married to Miss Cecilia Thibodaux, daughter of Bannon G. and Justine (Aubert) Thibodaux, granddaughter of ex-Gov. Henry S. Thibodaux, who was the founder of the town of that name. In November of that year he removed to Thibodaux and engaged in the practice of law with his father-in-law. This partnership was actively continued until the beginning of the Civil war, when the young man enlisted in St. Mary's battery and went to the front in the service of the Confederacy. He was engaged in several of the most sanguinary conflicts that mark the history of those dark days, but survived and returned to his home, where he resumed the practice of law. In March, 1866, his father-in-law died and he thereafter conducted the legal business of the firm alone. On Dec. 19, 1881, he was appointed to the bench as circuit judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeals, and continued in that position 8 years. Following this he became attorney for the Southern Pacific R. R. and represented that corporation in much of its important litigation. Judge Blake was a lifelong Democrat and a member of the Catholic church. He died Jan. 2, 1890, at his home in Thibodaux.

Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), p. 50. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century HistoricalAssociation.