Charles Augustus Foote

Biography

[Charles Augustus Foote was] a graduate of Union College. Attorney and Counselor at Law. Member of Congress from the State of New York in 1824;...Studied law at Kinderhook with Judge Van Schaack; of a number of men there at the time, who afterward became prominent in the world, it was the young Martin Van Buren, who most often came with him to Arbor Hill and in time became an aspirant for the hand of sweet Margaret Foote, Charles' sister, but she had already secretly given her heart to the young clergyman whom she afterward married, and thus lost the opportunity of becoming a Mistress of the White House. After leaving Kinderhook, Charles was for several years in the office of Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Esq., in New York, then returned to Delhi, began an excellent practice, and was sent to Congress in 1824, but his death ended all. Col. of Militia. He m. in 1808, Marie Baldwin, dau. of Margaretta de Hart and Jesse Baldwin, importing merchant at 161 Broadway, New York. Foote Fam.;204

Foote, Charles Augustus, a representative from New York; born in Newburgh, Orange County, N.Y., April 15, 1785; attended private schools in Newburgh and Kingston, N.Y, and was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, and practiced in New York City and later in Delhi, Delaware County, N.Y.; colonel in the New York State Militia, Sixth Division; trustee of Delaware Academy; president of the village of Delhi; elected to he Eighteenth Congress (March 4, 1823–March 3, 1825); resumed the practice of law in Delhi, N.Y., where he died August 1, 1828; interment in the private burying ground at “Arbor Hill,” the estate of his father. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1744–1989, Bicentennial Edition, Washington, U S Government Printing Office, 1989.

Family

Charles Augustus Foote was born [fff] at Newburgh, New York, 15 April, 1785 to Ebenezer Foote and Jerusha Purdy [Foote Fam. Rec;1, Marv Bible, Delhi;g.s., Bio. Dir. U.S. Cong]. He died at Delhi, New York 1 Augsut, 1828 [Foote pp., Delhi;g.s., Bio Dir U.S. Cong] and is buried “in the private burying ground at “Arbor Hill,” the estate of his father.” [Bio. Dir. U.S. Cong.] He married 10 May, 1808, Maria Baldwin [ff pp], daughter of Jesse Baldwin and Margaretta de Hart of New York City, and Newark, New Jersey [___;b.r.]. She was b. at ___; she d. at “Arbor Hill”
Children born at ___ [Foote pp, Foot Hist;204-5]:

• i. Francis Foote, b. 1 Aug., 1809 [f.f.pp., Marv Bible;2]; she d. 27 July, 1891; she m. at ___ 15 Oct.,1832 Charles Augustus Marvin, son of Anthony Marvin and Abigail Paine [Marv. Fam.;378, Foote Hist;204-5]. Their children:

1. Charles Augustus Marvin, b. 8 July, 1833, d. 31 March, 1840 [f.f.pp., d. listed in Marv. Fam;378]
2. George Edward Marvin, b. 14 June, 1836, d. at ___ , m. 15 Oct., 1853 Harriet N. Steele [f.f.pp.], daughter of Dr. Eben Steele and Harriet Danforth [ibid.];
3. Margaret Maxwell Marvin, b. 9 Aug., 1840 [f.f.pp.], d. , m. 28 June, 1871 Isaac Horton Maynard, son of Isaac Maynard and Jane Falconer, he was b. at Bovina, N. Y. 9 April, 1838 [ibid.] Their daughter, Frances Maynard, m. David Ford of Rome, Floyd county, Georgia and New York City.

• ii. Catherine Bruen Foote, b. 14 Sept., 1811 [f.f.pp.]; died Nov., 1897; “Never married but spent her time and money on good works.” [Foote Gen.;205].
• iii. Harriet Baldwin Foote, b. 21 Jan. 1814 [f.f.pp.]; she d. at [Delhi?] 26 Sept. 1814 [f.f.pp., not listed in Foote family genealogy].
• iv. Rensselaer William Foote, b. 12 Nov., 1815. Soldier in the U.S. 6th Infantry. Died in combat, 1862.
• v. Charles Augustus Foote, jr., b. 18 March, 1818; died 28 Feb., 1896 at Delhi; married 11 Sept., 1844 Sally Adelia Johnson, daughter of Elias Johnson [Foote Hist;338; "18 Sept." Raitt, "Marriages and Deaths in the Delaware Gazette, 1837-1849"] "Inheriting good competence while still a child, he erected a building during his minority, and for over 60 years conducted there a mercantile and manufacturing business, meanwhile busied with numberless outside interests. Held most of the town offices, was county treasurer for three successive terms. One of the organizers and chief pillar of his church, like his father and grandfather, Trustee of Delaware Academy, Director of the Bank, Com[misioner] of Railroad, and for a few years in business in California where his building was twice swept away, first by the great flood, then by fire. Always gentle and courteous, the village papers said of him at his death, 'The last gentleman of the old school in our midst has passed away.'” Their children were:
  • 1. Katherine Adelia Foote, b. 27 Sept., 1845, “Active in local affairs, and with a large social acquaintance outside Delhi. Member of D. A. R. and County Regent for a number of years. Secretary of State Charities Aid for 25 years. Secretary for Columbia Exposition, etc.” [Foote Hist;338]. She was an editor of a book, transcriptions, of letters to her gr. grandfather, Ebenezer Foote. She lived Delhi, visited Manhattan every season for Opera during which time she would stay in a hotel just around the corner from the old Opera House [jpf;90].
  • 2. Charles Augustus Foote, b. Feb., 1862, d. Feb., 1862 [Foote Gen.;205].
• vi. James Buren Foote, b. 16 April, 1821 [f.f.pp.]; died 13 May, 1910 [Foote;205,338 pencil note for death date, added prob. by Katherine Adelia Foote]. Married 2 June, 1847 Corinthia C. Mitchell at Croton, East Franklin on the 12th inst by Elder H. Robertson John Raitt, Delaware county historian, Marriages and Deaths in the Delaware Gazette, 1837-1849

1. Daughter, Harriet Frances Foote, died 14 November, 1848, æ. 9 months. [Raitt]

Hugh Hastings, State Historian, Henry Harmon Noble, Chief Clerk, Military Minutes of the Council of Appointment of the State of New York, 1783–1821. Albany 1901

In 1810 Charles was first lieutenant in a new company of cavalry, Delaware county, Eighth regiment, first squadron. Asa White, major. Oran E. Baker, adjutant.

Katherine Adelia Foote, Ebenezer Foote; the Founder, pp. 220, 221

CHARLES AUGUSTUS FOOTE Born April 15, 1785 at Newburgh, or Crompond, N. Y. Died August 1, 1828, at Delhi, N. Y. Married October 10, 1808, Marie, the daughter of Jesse and Margaretta de Hart Baldwin. She died August 29, 1824. Their children were: Frances (b. 1809; m. Charles Marvine); Catherine Bruen (b. 1811; d. 1898); Rensselaer William (b. 1813; West Point. Capt.: killed Gaines' Mills); Harriet (b. 1815; d. 1815); Charles Augustus, Jr. (b. Mar. 18, 1818; d. Feb. 28, 1896; m. Adelia Johnson, Sept. 11, 1845, who d. Aug., 1888); James (b. 1821).

One of Marie's sisters married the well known lawyer, Judge Aaron Vanderpoel of New York. While in Congress, Mr. Vanderpoel was one day called the “Kinderhook Roarer," which, as often happens, clung to him through life. When I was taken to see him as a child, I remember him as the mildest of white-haired old men, and much interested in Charles' little girl. The family now spell their name in various ways as regards capitals. Another sister, Catherine, married James Bruen of Newark, N. J., a brother of Matthias of New York. One of her aunts, Laura Waldron, was the wife of the English Minister to France. Jesse Baldwin was an importing merchant, silks and wines, doing business at 161 Broadway, living at Newark.

Charles attended private schools at Poughkeepsie and Kingston, until he entered Union College, Schenectady, where he was graduated in 1805, going at once to study law with Judge Peter Van Schaack at Kinderhook, then to Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman, New York. While with the latter he married, and soon after, at the solicitation of his father, came back to Delhi to live, and began practice in the different courts of the State, which he continued until his death. He was in Congress, 1824-1825. His wife having died in 1824, he sank gradually into a melancholic state that increased until his death in 1828, but little over forty years of age. He served in the militia in the different grades, being at the time of his death Colonel and Inspector of the 6th State Division. He lies in the family burying ground at Arbor Hill, the estate of Judge Ebenezer Foote, now owned by the Hon. John Davenport Clarke.

Justin had died in 1827; Charles, his only remaining son, in 1828; and the stricken father followed in 1829.

Charles, Jr., a little fellow at the time of his father's death, became in time a merchant, good, honorable, and filled some of the best local offices with great credit, never forgetting his courteous manners to all. The village paper said at his death: “The last gentleman of the old school in our midst, has passed away.”