Skipwith Taylor Foote (1869-1938)

Portrait from the 1933 Tennessee General Assembly composite.

   Tennessee state representative Skipwith Taylor Foote received a brief mention in the October 21 write-up on Whitthorne Levi Bell and is one of several oddly named assemblymen to have served in the legislative session of 1933-35. Equally as obscure as the man who preceded him here, Skipwith T. Foote was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee on December 29, 1869, one of several children born to John Luther and Sarah Anne (Thomas) Foote. Like Whitthorne Bell, the dearth of resources in regard to Mr. Foote has left most of his life a mystery, including his early life and education.

   Foote married in August 1903 to Margaret Luther (1870-1962), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have at least six children, Sarah Emerson (1904-2001), Virginia (1906-1994), Luther (1908-1979), Mildred (born 1910), Margaret (1913-2001), and John Thomas (born 1918). 

  Sources denote Foote as a farmer in Hardeman County and in 1932 he was elected as a Democrat to the Tennessee General Assembly. During the 1933-35 session, Foote introduced house bills #484 and 485 to "regulate work on roads" and "regulate division of road funds" for Hardeman County. Little else could be found on Foote's life after his term concluded in 1935, except notice of his death in Bolivar, Tennessee on July 23, 1938, at age 68. He was survived by his wife Margaret and both were interred at the Perrans Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery in Bolivar.