Erastus Foote

Erastus Foote
Erastus Foote
1st Attorney General of Maine
	In office; 1820–1831
Preceded by	inaugural officeholder
Succeeded by	Jonathan P. Rogers
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
	In office; 1840
Member of the Maine Senate
	In office; 1820
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
	In office; 1819-1820
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
	In office; 1812-1813
Personal details
Born	September 19, 1777; Waterbury, Connecticut
Died	July 14, 1856 (aged 78); Wiscasset, Maine
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Susan Carleton (m. 1812, died 1817) ; Eliza Carleton (m. 1820, his death 1856)
Children	5

Erastus Foote (September 19, 1777 – July 14, 1856) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a supporter of Maine statehood and served as the state's first Attorney General.

Early life

Erastus Foote was born in Waterbury, Connecticut on September 19, 1777, the son of Obed and Mary Foote and the fifth of six children. He studied with Samuel Hiockley in Northampton, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar in 1800. He opened a law firm in Concord, Massachusetts, but moved to Camden, Maine, when it was still part of Massachusetts, later that year to work as a lawyer. In 1811, he was appointed County Attorney of Lincoln County. He remained in Camden during the War of 1812, and was a given the title of Colonel while serving in the Massachusetts militia.

Political career

In 1812 he was elected to Massachusetts State Senate as a Jeffersonian Republican.

In 1816 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts' 16th district, but lost to Federalist Benjamin Orr.^[1]

In 1819 he was elected to the Massachusetts House. After Maine had achieved statehood, he was elected to the first Maine Senate in 1820, but was appointed to the position of Attorney General by Governor William King that same year.^[2] He would be appointed twice more and serve in that office until 1831. In 1840 he was elected to the Maine State House of Representatives.^[3]

Later life

He had five children, one with his first wife Susan Carleton, and four with his second wife Eliza Carleton.

He died on July 14, 1856, at the age of 78 in Wiscasset, Maine.

References

^ "MA - 3rd Eastern". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^ "A History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, from Its First Colonization to the Early Part of the Present Century". Retrieved 9 April 2024.
^ "Descendants of Danyell Broadley de West Morton". bradleyfoundation.org. Retrieved 9 April 2024.

External links

[1] "MA - 3rd Eastern". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 10 April 2024.

[2] "A History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, from Its First Colonization to the Early Part of the Present Century". Retrieved 9 April 2024.

[3] "Descendants of Danyell Broadley de West Morton". bradleyfoundation.org. Retrieved 9 April 2024.

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