US Congressman, Entrepreneur. He was a United States Representative from the State of Louisiana. He was born one of five children as Alcee Louis La Branche to Alexandre La Branche, a Revolutionary War Regimental Commander whose family had immigrated to the State of Louisiana from Bavaria and had changed the surname from the German "Zweig," to the French "Branche," and his wife Marie Jeanne Piseros La Branche, whose family was of Spanish ancestry, near New Orleans, Orleans Territory, Louisiana, sometime in 1806, but the exact birthdate is currently unknown to historians. He was educated locally and later at the prestigious Université de Sorreze in Sorrèze, France. Following his education, he became a sugar planter in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, before he pursued an interest in politics. He served a term as a Member of the Louisiana State House of Representatives from 1831 to 1833, and as Speaker of the House of the Louisiana State House of Representatives in 1833. He was then personally chosen by then-President of the United States Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), who found him to be an exceptional man, to be the 1st United States Charge d'Affaires to the Texas Republic on March 3, 1837, (President Andrew Jackson's term ended the very next day and he was replaced in office by President of the United States Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), who LaBranche would finish his post under). Following his appointment to the post, the Republic of Texas welcomed him with open arms and eagerly wanted to know about the annexation of Texas to the United States of America. As the 1st United States Charge d'Affaires, he negotiated the settlement of the cases concerning the brigs Pocket and Durango and a temporary commerce agreement. He aggressively defended the United States' claim to disputed territory in Red River County (the present Bowie County, Red River County, Franklin County, Titus County, Morris County, and Cass County), although Texas maintained a land office there and Red River County had sent representatives to the United States Congress of the Republic of Texas. Eventually, on April 25, 1838, the two countries signed the Convention of Limits, which recognized Texas's claims to the contested county and the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Texas. However, tension continued between the Republic of Texas and the United States regarding Indian depredations along the northern border. He protested Texas Army crossings of the border in pursuit of Indians. He also believed that the majority of Indian attacks were caused by Texans' who were trespassing and surveying Indian lands. To determine which Indians belonged to which country and to install a United States military post at Shreveport, Louisiana, he would have solved the problem, he thought. His reports on real or rumored Mexican attacks expressed optimism about the Texans' ability to retain their independence. His clear, calm reports enabled his government to be sensitive to the Texas position on various issues. He served in that position from October 23, 1837, until he resigned his post to attend to personal affairs on June 5, 1840. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative John Bennett Dawson (1798-1845), eventually taking office on March 4, 1843. During the election, a man named John Hueston, who was also the Whig editor of the Baton Rouge Gazette Newspaper, wrote a slanderous attack on him. Following a very public argument, both men fought a duel, using double-barreled shotguns, and John Hueston eventually ended up dying of his wounds. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Louisiana's 2nd District (Twenty-Eighth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1845. While serving in the United States Congress on February 28, 1845, he voted for the joint resolution annexing Texas to the United States. Mexico immediately protested the annexation, particularly the claim of the Rio Grande as the southern border. Following his term in the United States Congress he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux (1812-1866), on March 4, 1845. After leaving the United States Congress he retired from politics and returned to private life. However, on April 26, 1846, General and future President of the United States Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), called for 5000 volunteers from Louisiana and Texas to defend the new state he took it upon himself and was able to recruit several men and helped to organize a mass meeting which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 5, 1846. The following year he became a naval officer in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was also a slaveowner and a co-owner of a plantation named "Glendale," along with Jean Baptiste Sarpy, which was located in St. John the Baptist, Louisiana, and which was operated under the name of A La Branche and Company. He continued with his naval career and business pursuits until his death. He passed away in Hot Springs, Virginia, on August 17, 1861, at the age of about 55. Following his death, he was buried in the Red Church Cemetery in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, but was later reinterred in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was married to Aimee Sarpy La Branche, the daughter of Pierre Lestang Sarpy and his wife Félicité Portier Sarpy, in St. Charles, Louisiana, on March 22, 1852, and they had three children together, Alcee Jr., Pauline, and Victorine. A street in Houston, Texas, is named in his honor.