E. D. Estilette

Edmond Ducre Estilette, known as E. D. Estilette (December 19, 1833 – November 7, 1919), was a politician and lawyer in Opelousas, Louisiana. He served in a number of public positions, most notably speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives at the end of Reconstruction in 1875. Estilette oversaw the creation of one of the most infamous Black Codes of the post-Civil War era, but he was later seen as a moderating force in the turbulent politics of that era. Early life Estilette was born in what is now Lake Arthur, Louisiana to a family of French origin who later moved to Opelousas. His parents were not wealthy, but his godfather was William Wikoff, one of the richest cattle ranchers in the United States at the time, and Wikoff's funds allowed Estilette to get an education. He attended St. Charles College in nearby Grand Coteau and then Yale University, where he studied law and was a member of the Class of 1857 and a member of Linonia. At Yale, he met and married a Connecticut woman, Fannie Thompson Bacon, a descendant of Jabez Bacon. Upon his return to Opelousas, he ran a school for boys and for a time edited a newspaper published in French and English, The Opelousas Patriot or Le Patriote des Opelousas, while continuing to study the law. In 1860, he was admitted to the bar in St. Landry Parish.