I have attached a .pdf document I located in the New York Times' archives dated February 14, 1865, which I thought was very interesting indeed. I knew Senator Foote despised Davis but did not know he actually crossed into Federal lines of his own free will, provided possibly valuable information to the enemy, and when given the option to return to Richmond or go to Europe, he chose Europe. (some of you may recall the very intense altercation between Foote and Thomas H. Benton on the Senate floor in 1850 where Foote pulled a pistol on Benton.)
For those of you who are not familiar with Foote, here is his biography provided by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress:
FOOTE, Henry Stuart, (1804 - 1880)
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Senate Years of Service: 1847-1852
Party: Democrat
FOOTE, Henry Stuart, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Fauquier County, Va., February 28, 1804; pursued classical studies; graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Va., in 1819; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1823 and commenced practice in Tuscumbia, Ala., in 1825; moved to Mississippi in 1826 and practiced law in Jackson, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Raymond; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1847, until January 8, 1852, when he resigned to become Governor; chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses); Governor of Mississippi 1852-1854; moved to California in 1854; returned to Vicksburg, Miss., in 1858; member of the Southern convention held at Knoxville in 1859; moved to Tennessee and settled near Nashville; elected to the First and Second Confederate Congresses; afterwards moved to Washington, D.C., and practiced law; appointed by President Rutherford Hayes superintendent of the mint at New Orleans 1878-1880; author; died in Nashville, Tenn., on May 20, 1880; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Foote, Henry S. Casket of Reminiscences. 1874. Reprint. New York: Negro University Press, 1968; Gonzales, John E. “The Public Career of Henry Stuart Foote: 1804-1880.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, 1957.
Attached is a daguerreotype of Foote provided by the Library of Congress.
Chris
For those of you who are not familiar with Foote, here is his biography provided by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress:
FOOTE, Henry Stuart, (1804 - 1880)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate Years of Service: 1847-1852
Party: Democrat
FOOTE, Henry Stuart, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Fauquier County, Va., February 28, 1804; pursued classical studies; graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Va., in 1819; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1823 and commenced practice in Tuscumbia, Ala., in 1825; moved to Mississippi in 1826 and practiced law in Jackson, Natchez, Vicksburg, and Raymond; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1847, until January 8, 1852, when he resigned to become Governor; chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses); Governor of Mississippi 1852-1854; moved to California in 1854; returned to Vicksburg, Miss., in 1858; member of the Southern convention held at Knoxville in 1859; moved to Tennessee and settled near Nashville; elected to the First and Second Confederate Congresses; afterwards moved to Washington, D.C., and practiced law; appointed by President Rutherford Hayes superintendent of the mint at New Orleans 1878-1880; author; died in Nashville, Tenn., on May 20, 1880; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Foote, Henry S. Casket of Reminiscences. 1874. Reprint. New York: Negro University Press, 1968; Gonzales, John E. “The Public Career of Henry Stuart Foote: 1804-1880.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, 1957.
Attached is a daguerreotype of Foote provided by the Library of Congress.
Chris
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