Sen. Solomon Foot (R-VT)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Foot

Solomon Foot (November 19, 1802 – March 28, 1866) was a Vermont lawyer, state representative and later United States senator who spent more than 25 years in elected office.

Biography

Foot was born on November 19, 1802, in Cornwall the son of Dr. Solomon and Betsey Crossett Foot. Orphaned at the age of nine, his self-education was sufficient to enable him to teach in district schools and fit himself for college. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1826 and was tutor for four years at Middlebury, Preceptor of Castleton Academy, and Professor of natural philosophy at the Vermont Medical School at Castleton. While teaching, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1831, and began practice in Rutland, Vermont.

Career

Foot served as a state representative briefly in 1833, and was delegate to Vermont State Constitutional Convention in 1836. He was again a state representative from 1836 to 1838. He served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1838. He was married in 1839 to Emily Fay of Rutland. They had one daughter, Helen Eliza Foot. Emily died on May 2, 1842. His second wife was Mary A. (Hodges) Dana Foot, who had a son, William Hodges Dana.

Foot was prosecuting attorney, from 1836 to 1842. He was elected as a Whig congressman in 1843 and again in 1845, serving in the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 3, 1847. He was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate in 1850; reelected as a Republican in 1856 and 1862, and served from March 4, 1851, until his death on March 28, 1866. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate from 1861 to 1864.

Death

Foot died on March 28, 1866, in Washington, D.C. Funeral services were held in the Chamber of the United States Senate. He is interred at Evergreen Cemetery, Rutland, Vermont.