Ebenezer Foote

Miniature portrait of Ebenezer Foote. Present location unknown.

Impression from the signet ring believed to have belonged to Ebenezer Foote

Memoirs of Ebenezer Foote

Later in his life, Ebenezer Foote wrote a firsthand account of his life. These memoirs were used for the pension application for his second wife, Matilda Rosecranz Foote, who had apparently moved to Illinois. You can read a transcription of the memoirs are Here

Foote Family Papers

Members of the Foote Family left behind letters. Lots of letters. Two small trunks of family papers are currently being transcribed for this website. These augment family letters and some other material in libraries on the East Coast of the United States and beyond. One of the main repositories of letters is at the Library of Congress. Another large collection of letters is at Princeton. Our goal is to transcribe a majority of historically pertinent information and reinterpret it in light of current research. The two main areas of research and interpretation which have been either ignored or misrepresented are:

The Role of Women in the Foote Family

Letters to or from the Foote Family include:

• Aaron Burr
• Robert R. Livingston
• Steven Van Rensselaer III
• Abraham Ten Broeck
• Peter Van Gaasbeck
• Josiah Ogden Hoffman
• Robert W. Taylor

There is a complete chronology here!

Genealogy

Ebenezer Foote,6 (Daniel,5 Nathaniel,4,3,2,1)

Ebenezer Foote was born at Colchester, Connecticut, 12 April, 1756 [Foote pp., Delhi;g.s., Foot Fam;1;93] to Daniel Foote and Margaret Parsons [“Ebenezer Foote Born on Monday 12th April, 1756” |Foote Family document, hand-lettered].

He died at Delhi, Delaware, county, New York, 28 December, 1829 [Foot Fam;1;93] and is buried at the Foote Family Cemetery, Arbor Hill, in Delhi [Deli;g.s., Foote Family pp., John D. Clarke, Congressman Thirty-fourth District, 1921–1925, Arbor Hill, 1797–1925, with pl. Reprinted from an article by Floyd H. Lincoln and published in The Walton Reporter, June 6, 1925.]

Ebenezer Foote married 10 October, 1779 at the Dutch Reform Church, New York City, New York Jerusha Purdy [Foote Fam Rec;1, Foot Fam;1;93], daughter of Abraham Purdy and Phebe Strang; she was born, probably at Rye, Westchester County, N. Y. 6 Dec., 1754 [Desc. Purdy;__]. Note from NYHS: “Jerusha Foote ob. 24 Nov., 1818, æ. 64 “A Dear & tender Mother.” Wh. Pub?

Children:

1. Frederick Parsons Foote, b. 15 March, 1783 [Foot Fam;1;93, “Frederick Parsons Foote Born 15 March mcccxxxiii” |Foote Fam. Rec;1].
2. Charles Augustus Foote, b. 15 April, 1785 at Crompound, Newburg, New York [“Charles Augustus Foote Born 15 April 1785” |Foote Fam. Rec;1]; d. at m. at 1808 Maria Baldwin daughter of Jessie Baldwin and Margaretta de Hart of Manhattan [Foot Fam;1;204]. Children: Frances, Catherine, Rensselaer, Charles, James.
3. Harriet Foote, b. 9 Nov., 1787 [Foote Fam. Rec;1, Foot Fam;1;94]; d. at ___; she m., 1st, Doct. Ambrose Bryan, Clerk of Delaware County, New York, who died, leaving no children. She then married John Foote, Esq., of Hamilton, Madison county, New York son of Hon. Isaac Foote and Mary Kellogg [Foot Fam;1;198], of Smyrna, Chenango county, New York, being his second wife. John Foote was an Attorney and Counsellor at Law, Solicitor and Counsellor in Chancery and District Court of the United States; d. July 1884, res. Hamilton, Madison county, New York. Children [Foot Fam;1;199]
   1. Acsah Sophia Foote, b. 26 Oct. 1812, d. 19 Feb., 1891 [Foot Fam;1;199]
   2. Margaret Parsons Foote, b. 17 April, 1814, m. 11 Feb. 1834 William Hart Williams, son of Solomon Williams and Hepzibah Hart, he was b. Berkshire, Tioga county N.Y., 10 Dec., 1811 [Foot Fam;1;199]
   3. John Johnson Foote, b. 11 Feb., 1816, m. Mary Crocker [Foot Fam;1;199]
   4. Mary Foote, b. ___ “d. in infancy” [Foot Fam;1;199]
   5. Mary Kellogg Foote, b. 3 Jan., 1819
   6. Caroline Della Foote, b. 26 Aug., 1820, m. John Mitchell, Norwich, N.Y. [Foot Fam;1;199]
   7. Susan Foote, b. 2 April, 1822 m. 19 Aug., 1848 Rev. David A. Peck, Clifton Park, N.Y. [Foot Fam;1;199]
   8. William Johnson Foote, b. ___, d. æ. 3 [Foot Fam;1;199]
   9. Dr. Henry Cady Foote, b. 28 Aug., 1825, m. Ann Elizabeth McKee, daughter of ___, res. Galesburg, Ill. [Foot Fam;1;199]
   10. Frederick William Foote, b. 9 Aug., 1827, m. Esther Young.
   11. George W. Foote, b. 4 July, 1829, m. Harriet Morton [Foot Fam;1;199]
4. Margaret Parsons Foote, b. 9 March, 1790 [Foote Fam. Rec;1]; she died 1840 [Foot Fam;1;95]; she married Rev. Ebenezer Maxwell, son of ___ Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Delhi, N.Y.; he d. July, 1840 [Foot Fam;1;95]. Children, [Foot Fam;1;199]
   1. Ebenezer Foote Maxwell, b. ___; he lives in Delhi, on the place which belonged to his Grandfather Foote, and on which he died [Foot Fam;1;95].

Jerusha Purdy Foote died at Delhi, N.Y., Nov., 1818 and is buried in the Foote Family Cemetery, Arbor Hill, Delhi. [Delhi;d.r.?, g.s., “1818” |Foot Fam;1;93].

Ebenezer Foote married, 2d, 2 October, 1818 Matilda Rosencranz (Halsey) [Holland Society of New York; New York, New York; New York Marriages, Book 32, Foote Fam;1;93]. Said to be living in Illinois, 1849 [Goodwin, children listed in Foote Family by Abram Foote, and kaf.]

Bio of Ebenezer Foote by Katherine Adelia Foote, Ebenezer Foote; the Founder,

Ebenezer Foote. Descended from Robert Foote of Essex, England, and his wife, Joan, through Nathaniel, The Settler, and son of Daniel of Colchester, Conn. Born April 12, 1756; died Dec. 28, 1829; married Oct. 10, 1779, Jerusha Purdy. She died Nov., 1818. He married, 2nd, Matilda Rosecrans, the widow of a New York lawyer, and whom I once saw, but have no data.

From the Pension Office, beside tradition, we know that he served in 1775, at the siege of Bunker Hill, as a boy of 19. From the same source we find that he was a Corporal in Colonel Wolcott's regiment, was in the battles of Long Island and Turtle Bay. In the latter he was taken prisoner. Details of his escape are printed in many places, notably in John Parsons Foote's “Life of Samuel Edmund Foote,” and in the New York “Commercial Advertiser,” of Jan. 7, 1830, which we quote: In the battle of Turtle Bay Mr. Foote was taken prisoner, but escaped at night from the old Bridewell prison, and crossed the North River on a board in the month of December. He was several hours in the water, finally floated down by the tide, and landed on the Jersey shore. He could not stand, but after awhile succeeded in crawling to a house where he was taken care of, but his constitution [216] received a shock from which it never recovered and enfeebled his health through life.

He was however permitted by Providence to enjoy the blessings of prosperity, and unusual esteem through a long and busy life, and I recall to mind his beautiful Mansion on the Western branch of the Delaware, and his warm-hearted hospitable reception of his friends, with mingled emotions of tenderness and respect. The foregoing incident necessarily took the young patriot home to recruit, but there is something a little indefinite about his being with the French Fleet until they returned to Boston, when he returned home again. The account continues: Still far from strong and unable to endure the privations of regular Army life, his patriotism would not allow him to be idle and he obtained a position as one of the Commissaries of the “Northern Army of the U. S.” under the direct command of Gen. Washington, of whom he saw much. The unit was called the Staff Department of General Washington, and although not considered in the Regular Line, had the same pay and whatever distinction as their ranking called for, as I have learned. He began with the rank of captain in this enlistment, and in 1780 was raised to major, remaining in the service until his unit was disbanded in 1782. He was stationed during all this time at Crompond; and chiefly occupied in the counties of Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam, but we find him at Hartford and out at the Great Lakes. I have no letters previous to 1778, and only four of that year. So many of the writers bear the name of Foote that it becomes necessary to speak of these dignified gentlemen by their first names. A public document says: “Ebenezer Foote having died at a date prior to the passage of a pension law under which he would have been entitled, there is no statement on file of his services during the Revolutionary War—made by himself —in the usual form of an application.” His widow was his second wife and had only the most general knowledge of his army life, so that I am especially grateful to a government which found much in Connecticut records, and to the Hon. John Davenport Clarke, who sent them to me from Washington.

There are two genealogies, [217] but they do not take the place of all those letters destroyed, of which I speak later. Ebenezer let Andre go by his quarters as told later in letters. After the close of the war he started in business as a merchant at Crompond, going in a few years to Newburgh, as letters show—in the late '80's—and began his successful political career which lasted until the downfall of his party in 1800. We find his name as Postmaster, Supervisor, Church Warden, Trustee of New Academy and Assemblyman from Ulster until he came out to Delhi in the spring of 1897, when he was elected State Senator, County Clerk, Assistant District Attorney and from their beginning, Senior Warden of St. John's of Delhi and President of Board of Trustees of the Academy. And, with one interval, Presiding Judge of the Common Pleas, of our county, until his death in 1829.

With the sacrifice of his wishes and interests, he gave up a flourishing business, great comfort and hosts of pleasant friends to come out to this almost trackless wilderness. Of this period I found at the Cannon Library, in Valentine's “Manual”: “In 1800 the whole U.S. was a vast untamed wilderness. Jefferson coming to Washington as President, had to come on horseback through forests and over miles of blazed trails. Fifty miles from the seacoast it was almost impossible to sustain life.” This seems an exaggeration as regards the mere act of living, for one hewed down trees to find a place for an habitation, game and fish disputed one's claims to territory, wild grapes and cherries and plums looked in the new-made windows, and berries of all sorts could be used with the sugar from the pervading maple trees of Delaware. But tea and coffee and needed articles for building were difficult to get brought, after they had been ordered through uncertain mails or through the charity of a friend going “back on horseback” to Albany, Kingston, or New York; to the latter place, leaving his horse at Catskill, which seems to have been the usual place, and taking one of the many sloops for the rest of the way. The letters tell all we can now know of details of E’s life.

Family Details

Ebenezer Foote was born Monday, April 12, 1756. Jerusha Purdy was born Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1755. They were married Oct. 10, 1779, at Yorktown, N. Y. Ebenezer died at Arbor Hill, Delhi, Dec. 28, 1829. Jerusha died at Arbor Hill, Delhi, Nov. 9, 1818. [218]

Children:

• Frederick Parsons (b. March 15, 1783; married Charlotte Welles of Kingston, Feb. 6, 1808. He died Feb. 3, 1827. She died in 1824.
• Charles Augustus (b. April 15, 1785); married Maria Baldwin Oct. 10, 1808, daughter of Jesse and Margaretta De Hart Baldwin of Newark, N.J.
• Harriet (b. November 9, 1787); married, 2nd, John Foote of Hamilton, N.Y.
• Margaret Parsons (b. March 9, 1790); married Rev. Ebenezer Maxwell of Schenectady, one of the first pastors of the First Presbyterian Church, Delhi.

Ebenezer married secondly Matilda Rosecrans, widow of a New York lawyer, who survived him, and I saw her once when I was a very little girl, but she went back to her own people and I have no data.

Hannah Foote, niece of Ebenezer, married Judge Elijah Miller

Frances Adeline Miller Seward (1805 – June 21, 1865) was born in 1805, the daughter of Judge Elijah Miller and Hannah Foote Miller. (She was the second cousin to Charles A. Foote.) She studied at the Troy Female Seminary (now known as Emma Willard School). She married New York attorney William Henry Seward on October 20, 1824 after meeting through his sister, a classmate, in 1821. In his lifetime, William served as a senator in the New York legislature, Governor of New York, a senator from New York and United States Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

The couple raised five children:

1. Augustus Henry Seward (1826-1876),
2. Frederick William Seward (1830-1915),
3. Cornelia Seward (1835-1836),
4. William Henry Seward, Jr. (1839-1920)
5. Frances Adeline "Fanny" Seward (1844-1866).
6. Some years after his wife's death, in 1870, William formally adopted his companion Olive Risley Seward (1841-1908).

On April 14, 1865, her husband and two of their sons, Frederick and Augustus, and Fanny, were injured in an assassination attempt on her husband in their house. The man responsible for this ordeal was Lewis Powell a.k.a. Lewis Paine, an associate of John Wilkes Booth who had shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln the same day. The attack put Frances into a state of great anxiety about her family. She thought that Frederick would die of his injuries, although he survived. She died on June 21, 1865 of a heart attack. The events of April 14 undoubtedly hastened her death.

References Doris Kearns Goodwin. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005).

Biography

Abram Foote, Foote Fam;1;93:

At Nineteen Ebenezer Foote was found with the Minute Men at Bunker Hill; made sergeant of the Second Conn.; was at Trenton and Valley Forge; taken prisoner at the battle of Fort Washington, and confined to the old Bridwell, managed to escape, and by means of a plank found on the shore swam the Hudson in the month of December, but the exposure brought on a severe illness, and he never again could engage in active service. His patriotism, however, would not allow him to remain an outsider, and we next find him in the Commissary Department at General Washington’s headquarters on the Hudson, where he remained until his health again forced his resignation just before the close of the war. He saw much of Washington; was temporarily on his Staff, and retired with the rank of Major.

One of the most interesting events of his life is well related by Mr. Abbot, in his delightful work entitled “The crisis of the Revolution,” when Capt. Foote, in the early morning of Sept. 22, 1780, for a few moments held the fate of that gallant soldier, Major Andre, in his hands. As officer in command at Crompond, Capt. Foote scanned the pass produced by Andre, but knowing Benedict Arnold and his writing well, and seeing that his appended signature was correct, allowed the party to proceed.

After the war Major Foote engaged in a large mercantile and shipping business at Newburgh, N.Y., with his brother Justin, who later married Marie Evertson, whose sister had just married Governor Smith of Conn.

Major Foote, whose duties at headquarters caused him to ride much and far, had met and married the charming young Jerusha Purdy, of Yorktown, Westchester, N.Y., and from old tales and letter she appears to have remained a fascinator until her death.

Mr. Foote was for a long time Member of Assembly from Ulster, and was largely instrumental in procuring the setting off of Delaware Co., where he came to reside in Aug., 1797. He was Co. Clerk for a number of years, conducted an extensive land agency, and three times was appointed First or Presiding Judge, as well as acting for a short time as puisne on the bench. He represented the old Middle District for four years in the Senate of the Sate; was nominated for Congress, but other duties forced him to decline; sat in the council of Appointment with Gov. Jay, and enjoyed his friendship and confidence. (See Jay Gould’s History)

In 1798 the Co. town was erected, and Judge Foote, as chief citizen, was appointed by the Legislature to name it. Not particularly desiring the honor, he said to his intimate friends at Albany, the Patroon, Gen. Schuyler, etc., “I think I shall decline.” They all belonged to a small club, each member bearing some fanciful name; Senator Foote’s was “The Great Mogul,” and his fellow members said, “We shall name it for you, and call it after your city, ‘Delhi’,” which was done, to the great annoyance of Gen. Root, a prominent man and politician, who had also come to reside in the place, and wished much to have the privilege of giving the name. As Speaker of the House in 1801, he gained great credit for his “dignity and courtesy.” At Delhi he assisted in organizing St. John’s Church and an Academy, which for many years enjoyed a wide reputation; of the one he was made the first Senior Warden, of the other, the first President of the Board of Trustees.

In the issue of Jan. 7, 1830, “The Commercial Advertiser,” New York City, (See Life of Samuel Foote) in an extended notice of his death, speaks of his integrity, of his prominence in the State, and of his beautiful mansion, Arbor Hill, on the banks of the Delaware, and of the long list of eminent men who enjoyed from time to time its hospitality. A man refined, honest and honorable in all his ways.

His niece, Roxanna, married Lyman Beecher, and became the mother of Henry Ward and Mrs. H.B. Stowe. A grand-niece married William Seward, Governor [of New York] and [United States] Secretary of State [during the Civil War].

"It is a certainty that Major Foote had the esteem and respect of the public at large to such an extent as few men of his time could boast of. “Arbor Hill” was another word for hospitality and its guest over a period of years number many of the famous men and women of that age. The Van Rensselaers and the Livingstons were friends of the Foote family. General Schuyler, with whom Major Foote had formed a friendship while in the army, came on different occasions to visit at “Arbor Hill.” Martin Van Buren, already famous as a lawyer and state politician and beginning to be known nationally, was another who was entertained by Major Foote. DeWitt Clinton, the brilliant young statesman,destined to have his name permanently fixed in the annals of this country as the builder of the Erie Canal, was a guest of the Major’s. Aaron Burr, one of history’s most tragic figures, crossed the threshold of “Arbor Hill” on at least one occasion."

• Floyd H. Lincoln, Arbor Hill... 1925.

Delhi, New York, and the Naming of Delhi

A place’s name is not the place itself, but it can be a snapshot of its history, if it’s old enough to have one — and I’m not unaware of how peculiarly American it must seem to others, to have “places” too young to have a history. The standard local history of my hometown maintains that after a church was burnt down by a carpenter who wasn’t paid for his work, the town fathers were so embarrassed that they renamed the place in honor of a War of 1812 naval hero. The hero’s subsequent career didn’t add much to the village’s luster, but the name remains, pinning the town to the early 19th century. Around it is a welter of places named for home by the ex-New Englanders who settled the region: Sherburne, Mt. Upton, Afton, Coventry and places with names borrowed from a vague understanding of Indian languages, like Otsego, Otego, Otsdawa, Chenango and Susquehanna. When the interior of New York opened up after the Revolution, the state parceled out names as fast as Adam must have and the tracts given as pay to Continental Army soldiers drew a library of names from classical literature, then very much in fashion: Syracuse, Manilius (now Manlius), Clay, Cicero, Pompey, Apulia and many more. D.G. Rossiter of Ithaca posits that the names came from John Dryden's translation of Plutarch's "Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans." Whatever -- The stately architecture of the region’s oldest buildings echoes the theme.
Among my favorite origin stories, though, is that of Delhi, a county seat in the northern Catskills: When the time came to give the narrow valley and the township around it a name in 1802, politicians thought to honor Judge Ebenezer Foote, a landowner and state senator known as “the great mogul” to his buddies — for wealth, but also because he was short and fat. They offered “Delhi,” it being the Indian potentate’s home. Proponents of “Mapleton” grouched about the choice, and Erastus Root, a fellow politican who eventually became lieutenant governor (he was buried in Delhi for a while), quipped: “Dell-high, hell-high — better call it Foote-high!” The maple lovers got Maple Grove on the East branch of the Delaware River, but Delhi became the county seat — graced by a lovely, warm-brick French Empire courthouse and the ample homes of well-to-do 19th-century lawyers — while Maple Grove remains only in the bitter memories of onetime residents; it was lost under the Pepacton reservoir.
Now, you should take origin stories with a grain of salt. They’re no more provable than Homer’s (another Upstate New York placename) tale of the Trojan Horse, but they’re just as important to the town’s identity, and you question them at your peril.
"P." http://www.placeblogging.com/place_names retrieved 6 Feb, 2011.

Delhi, (1,370 alt., 1,840 pop.) home of a State School of Agriculture, is a neat, modern town. Shortly after the Revolutionary War Ebenezer Foote was so influential locally and as a member of the State legislature that he was nicknamed 'the Great Mogul.' At the suggestions of facetious citizens the community was named after Delhi, India, the capital city of the real Great Mogul. At Delhi is the junction with State 10, which follows the valley of the West Branch of the Delaware, locally known as Cat Hollow since 1843. At that time there was a lumber camp operating in the valley that was dominated by an Amazon of a cook. Not only did she knock out the bully who killed her cat but further punished the whole crew by serving the pet in a surprise meat pie.
New York, a guide to the Empire state. American guide series, US History Publishers, 1949.

Named through the influence of Judge Ebenezer Foote. The name "Mapleton" was suggested by several prominent citizens.
Delhi—was formed from Middletown, Kortright, and Walton, March 23, 1798. A part of Bovina was taken off in 1820, and a part of Hamden in 1825...
Gazetteer of Delaware County, New York, J. H. French, 1859.

Judge Foote, who was in the Legislature of 1796–97 from Ulster county, was instrumental in the formation of Delaware county, and was much interested, with many others, in the location of its county seat. The judge was appointed, from his earnest support of the formation of the new county, to give a name to the town so soon to be brought forth, and the clique with which he boarded and was intimate requested him to allow them to suggest a name; he consented. His nick-name was “The Great Mogul,” and they, knowing he was to reside here, suggested the name of Delhi, that being the city of the Mogul, and he, agreeable to his promise, so named it. This is the proper account, and will explain why so singular a name appears among the many that followed naturally. A former history of this county gives a ludicrous scene that occurred among other warm friends of the new county, who wished the name to be “Mapleton.” General Erastus Root, who was an impulsive gentleman, and leader of those who insisted upon the latter name, when told that the name should be Delhi, said: “Del-hi—hell-hi! Better call it Foote high!” The name was thus given, and the town formed took rank among sister towns in the general work of the new county.
"How it was Named Delhi,” History of Delaware County, p. 449.

Clippings

The Balance; and Columbian Repository, vol. 2; No. 16. Hudson, 19 April, 1803: "Resolved, That Ebenezer Foote, of the county of Delaware, and Jacob Ford, of the county of Columbia, be supported as Senators to represent the middle district in the Legislature of this State."

Abbreviations and Citations

• Dela Prob: Delaware county, New York probate court records, and Surrogate Court records, Delhi, New York.
• Delhi;b.r., d.r., m.r., g.s.: Delhi, N. Y. (town) Birth, Death, Marriage Record, Grave stone or memorial.
• DCHS: Delaware County Historical Society.
• dff: David F. Ford, ed.
• Foote Family pp.: Papers of the family; provenance: Ebenezer Foote to his son-in-law Ebenezer Foote Maxwell and to Ebenezer's grandson Charles and Charles's daughter Katherine; from Katherine Foote to her first cousin, [[Frances Maynard [Ford]]] pp., letters, copies of Bible of other records of births and marriages and misc pp. stored in the desk of Ebenezer Foote, and attic of Jane and Maynard Ford, now possession of the ed. (Jane and Maynard were my grandparents. Ebenezer and Jerusha {Purdy} Foote are, therefore, my 5th great-grandparents.)
• JPF: Janes Parks Ford.
• KAF: Katherine Adelia Foote, author/editor of "Ebenezer Foote, the founder: being an epistolary light on his time as shed by letters from his files..." Delhi, 1927.
• Marv Bible;2: Bible belonging to Charles Marvine and family, dated in pen on end-papers, “Delhi, Jany 24 1853.” Collection, the ed.
• MLD, TED: Marian L and Thomas E. Dent, owners, preservationists, and care-givers for the Foote family home, "Arbor Hill."

References

The Foote Family Bibliography contains sources for this website. Basic history pertaining to the Ebenezer Foote Family in New York City and New York State, politics—particularly Federalism, slavery in New York, and the United States Revolutionary War are in one section, and the Seminole War, published sources, are in another.