Samuel Augustus Foot (November 8, 1780 – September 15, 1846; his surname is also spelled Foote) was the 28th Governor of Connecticut as well as a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and

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Biography

Born November 8, 1780 in

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...

, to John & Abigail (Hall) Foot. Having entered

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

at the age of thirteen, was the youngest student in the graduating class of 1797. He attended the

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School was a law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, that operated from 1774 to 1833. Litchfield was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietar ...

when he was seventeen, but discontinued law studies due to ill health. He then moved to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

; became a West India Trader and made many voyages for his health. He married Eudocia Hull in 1803 and they had seven children (the second of whom was

Andrew Hull Foote Andrew Hull Foote (September 12, 1806 – June 26, 1863) was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war cam ...

Career

When the War of 1812 Embargo Act ruined his business, Foot returned to his father's farm in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

in 1813, engaged in agricultural pursuits and politics. Foot was a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...

in 1817 and 1818, and was elected to the Sixteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1819 to March 3, 1821. He was again a member of the State house of representatives from 1821 to 1823 and 1825 to 1826, serving as speaker in 1825 to 1826; he was elected to the Eighteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1823 to March 3, 1825. He was elected by the General Assembly to the U.S. Senate as an

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...

man (later

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

) within the splintering Democratic Republican Party. He served in the Senate from March 4, 1827 to March 3, 1833. In the Senate he is most noted for the "Foot Resolution" of December 29, 1829 to limit the sale of public lands. It was during debate on this resolution that

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

gave his "Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever" speech. Foot was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1832; while in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, he was chairman of the Committee on Pensions (Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses). He was elected to the Twenty-third Congress, and served from March 4, 1833, to May 9, 1834, when he resigned to become

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

, a position he held in 1834 and 1835. He was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for re-election in 1835. Foot later served as a presidential elector on the Clay-Frelinghuysen ticket in 1844.

Death

Foot died in Cheshire on September 15, 1846. He is interred at Hillside Cemetery,

References

External links

Litchfield Historical SocietyGovtrack US Congress
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foot, Samuel 1780 births 1846 deaths People from Cheshire, Connecticut Foote family Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut National Republican Party United States senators from Connecticut National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Connecticut Whigs Governors of Connecticut Whig Party state governors of the United States Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Yale College alumni Litchfield Law School alumni 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly