Huger Lee Foote (1854–1915) was an American planter and politician. He served in the

Mississippi Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol i ...

. He later sold his plantations to pay for his gambling debts.

Early life

Huger Lee Foote was born on April 24, 1854, in

Macon, Mississippi Macon is a city in Noxubee County, Mississippi along the Noxubee River. The population was 2,768 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Noxubee County. History In 1817, Jackson's Military Road was built at the urging of Andrew Jackson to ...

.Ancestry.com
/ref> His father,

Hezekiah William Foote Hezekiah William Foote (a.k.a. Henry Foote) (1813–1899) was an American Confederate veteran, attorney, planter, slaveholder, and state politician from Mississippi. Early life Hezekiah William Foote was born on December 17, 1813, in Cheste ...

, was a planter and politician.Jim Fraiser, ''The Majesty of the Mississippi Delta'', Pelican Publishing, 2002, p. 4

/ref>Woody Woods, ''Delta Plantations - The Beginning'', 2010, p. 40
/ref> His mother, Lucinda Frances Dade Foote, inherited 3,000 acres of land in

Issaquena County, Mississippi Issaquena County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,406, making it the least populous county in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Its county seat is Mayersville. Wi ...

.Justin Glenn, ''The Washingtons: A Family History: Volume 1: Seven Generations of the Presidential Branch'', Savas Publishing, 2014, p. 189

/ref> She died when he was two years old. He was educated at Chillicothe Business College in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

.Robert L. Phillips, Jr., ''Shelby Foote: Novelist and Historian'', Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2009, pp. 50-5

/ref>

Career

Foote served as the Sheriff of

Sharkey County, Mississippi Sharkey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Part of the western border is formed by the Yazoo River. According to the 2010 census, the population was 4,916, making it the second-least populous county in Mississippi. ...

. He served as a member of the

. He later served as secretary and treasurer of the Mississippi Levee Board. Foote managed his father's four large plantations in the Mississippi Delta: *the Mounds Plantation near Rolling Fork in

. *the Egremont Plantation in Egremont, Mississippi. *the Hardscramble Plantation. *the Mount Holly Plantation in Foote, Mississippi. His father willed him the Mount Holly Plantation in the late 1880s. He later inherited the other plantations, but sold them to pay for his gambling debts. Indeed, by then, he had moved to

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. H ...

, where he played poker at the

Elks Club The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

Death and legacy

Foote died on July 18, 1915, in Greenville, Mississippi. His grandson,

Shelby Foote Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of '' The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three ...

, became a renowned author of historic novels. In his 1949 novel entitled ''Tournament'', the character of Hugh Bart is based on Huger Lee Foote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foote, Huger Lee 1854 births 1915 deaths Chillicothe Business College alumni People from Macon, Mississippi People from Washington County, Mississippi Politicians from Greenville, Mississippi Mississippi state senators American planters 19th-century American politicians People from Sharkey County, Mississippi