Statue of John Slidell

Originally a New York businessman, he moved to New Orleans and began practicing law from 1819-1843. He was district attorney from 1829-1833 and served in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was elected to the United States House of Representative in 1842, serving as a Democrat. He was elected as a Senator in 1853, but resigned when Louisiana succeeded from the Union during the onset of the Civil War on January 26, 1861. He was appointed as a diplomat to France for the Confederacy, but failed to convince France to recognize the Confederacy as a sovereign nation. After the Civil War in 1865, he moved to Paris France and died at the age of 78 in 1871. The town was founded in 1882 during the construction of the New Orleans Northeast Railroad and was officially chartered by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1888.