Hezekiah William Foote (a.k.a. Henry Foote) (1813–1899) was an American Confederate veteran, attorney, planter, slaveholder, and state politician from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Early life

Hezekiah William Foote was born on December 17, 1813, in

Chester County, South Carolina Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 32,294. Its county seat is Chester. Chester County is included in the Charlotte-Concord- Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistic ...

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

/ref> He moved to Macon, Mississippi, Macon,

Noxubee County Noxubee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, its population was 11,545. Its county seat is Macon. The name is derived from the Choctaw word ''nakshobi'' meaning "to stink". Geography According to ...

as a teenager.Woody Woods, ''Delta Plantations - The Beginning'', 2010, p. 40
/ref>John Griffin Jones, ''Mississippi Writers Talking'', Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1982, pp. 37-5

/ref> He studied the Law and passed the Mississippi Bar.

Career

Foote raised cattle in Noxubee County, becoming the first settler to raise pedigree cattle in Mississippi. Meanwhile, he started a newspaper called '' The Macon Intelligencer''. He then served as Chancery Clerk of Noxubee County and was elected as district judge. He joined the Whig Party and later the Constitutional Union Party. He ran and lost the election to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1856. Foote became an ardent secessionist in favor of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

by 1860. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

of 1861–1865, he served as a colonel in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

Battle of Belmont The Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861 in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the future Union Army general in chief and eventual U.S. president, ...

and the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

. Foote was elected as a member of the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

and 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 also served as president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Macon, Mississippi. Foote owned four plantations in the Mississippi Delta: *the Mounds Plantation near Rolling Fork in

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. ...

.Jim Fraiser, ''The Majesty of the Mississippi Delta'', Pelican Publishing, 2002, p. 4

/ref> *the Egremont Plantation. *the Hardscramble Plantation. *the Mount Holly (Foote, Mississippi), Mount Holly Plantation in

Foote, Mississippi Foote is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. Variant names include Colmere and Dudley. Location Foote is located on the east shore of Lake Washington.Google map On the West side is Yazoo National Wildl ...

. He acquired it in the early 1880s. Foote served as superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School in Macon, Mississippi, for fifty-six years. He was one of the co-founders of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, founded as a Methodist institution, and served on its board of trustees. He was related to Henry S. Foote, the governor of Mississippi from 1852 to 1854, who lived where the campus of Vanderbilt University was established.

Personal life

Foote married Lucinda Frances Dade (1816–1856) in 1836. She inherited 3,000 acres of land in Issaquena County, Mississippi. They had a son,

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

Death and legacy

Foote died on January 29, 1899, 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 ...

, where he was buried. His great-grandson was

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 ...

, the Civil War author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foote, Hezekiah William 1813 births People from Chester County, South Carolina People from Sharkey County, Mississippi People from Washington County, Mississippi Confederate States Army officers Mississippi Whigs 19th-century American politicians American lawyers American planters American bankers Mississippi state senators Vanderbilt University people Methodists from Mississippi 1899 deaths Vanderbilt University faculty People from Macon, Mississippi