Morning journal and courier., 1891-04-29

tion of the present dwelling on the corner, but as it does not appear in the grand list of the town for taxation until 1797, we conclude it was not completed until that year.
 Having made home ready, he married Mary Bassett of Hamden February 16, 1797. Miss Bassett was the only child of wealthy farmer, whose domain is said to have extended from Quiunipiac river on the east to Mill river on the west. These acres covered portion of the farm now owned by Deacon c. B. Foote, son of Jared and grandson of Dr. Joseph Foote The old mansion stood on the hill 8 few rods south of the present Foote domicile
 Dr. Griggs says of her: "She came to do her husband good; she was a prudent woman from the Lord; she was not con- tent to promote his temporal interests she endeavored to win him to Christ by her own consistent piety." These counsels, it is recorded, he did not always heed. It was not until her death, after four years only of married life in
 which two children, Mary and Jared, were born, that he. realized her value. Her loss proved in measure his salvation He be- came thoughtful. attentive to his Bible, and participant in many religious duties.
 His second wife was Eunice Foote of Northford, Conn.,, second cousin to him and likewise descendant of Nathaniel Foete. Her he married January 26, 1903.
 Four children were born of this union
 Emily, March IS, 1sO4.
 Lavinia, September 16, 1906.
 Eunice, July 1, 1909.
 William November 6, 1811
 Of these Eunice married the Rev. Orson Cowles and is the sole survivor of her fa- ther's family.
 The evolution of Christianity in Dr. Foot was matter of slow growth Ac- customed to keen analysis, he accepted but little on trust. He preferred to determine by experimental knowledge his own con- clusions, so that it was not until nearly twenty years after his second marriage avowal of religion, although in this period he had not been neglectful of the usages and forms of worship He attended Dr. Trumbull's church regularly and between the grand old divine and him self existed the most friendly relations Indeed there was matchless trio in those days for a country town: Dr. Benjamin Trumbull, Joseph Pierpont, Esq, and Dr. Joseph Foot, men educated and attracted to each other by more than the common ties of friendship, and who devotedly loved each other to the end.
 The First Ecclesiastical society was not slow to recognize Dr. Foot in an official manner. From 179S to 1896 he filled, at one time and another, every responsible position in the gift of this body. He bought of Abraham Bradley and Samuel Thorp their Sabbath Day house" in 1797, though his own door was equally near to the meeting house. This purchase, it is said, was made in the interests of his vide themselves with such accommoda- tion.
 In the church he was repeatedly urged by Dr. Trumbull and others to accept the position of deacon. This he steadily de- clined until the days of the Rev. MT. Griggs, when he was persuaded by him to | assume the sacred office. This he did in 1885.
 As Q reformer in the temperance cause he rose alone in the midst of Ia crooked and perverse generation"
 The wholesale consumption of liquor in the town in his day, or from 1910 to 1885, came well nigh wrecking it. Dr. Foot ar rayed himself against this evil; he saw families going down on all sides. The pauper list had assumed such astonishing length that the expense of it's support be- gan to tell hard on the sober citizens Even the "selectmen" were so much in
 different to this deadly curse that, while
 sitting officially in the Andrews tavern be-
 moaning the delinquencies of the people
 and considering ways and means to collect
 the taxes and support the poor, a "bowl of
 sling" invariably occupied the center of | ths table before them.
 To awaken the people to a true view of
 their condition, Dr. Foot set himself with
 all his energy. Men called him fanatical,
 meddlesome and tyrannical. So far as the
 law went he insisted on it's enforcement
 The turning of the screws only enraged
 many of his townsmen to more ardently
 abuse him. Many families withdrew their | patronage and boldly boasted they would
 drive him from the town. To this end
 one Dr.Arza Andruss was persuaded to en-
 ter the place and solicit custom. This
 move amounted to nothing in the end, as | the newcomer lacked both sense and skill
 In two instances certainly Dr. Foot was sent for by his enemies at the last moment | to rescue from death Dr. Andruss' pa- 1 tients.
 In no wise disheartened, he kept up the crusade, frequently buying at his own ex- pense a stock of liquor and pouring it in the street, praying, influencing, believing. Suddenly relief came from an unexpected source. We see now the breadth of the divine plans. The religious revival of 1881 commenced, and from that hour men began to creep upward to the light. Could this heroic man have lived to see | the formation of the s'Cold Water Army" | of 1S4O, and witness the change in the moral tone of the people as to sobriety and godliness, his stsoul would have been satis- fled, satisfied.
 As physician his skill early won him the confidence of his townspeople, Dr. Griggs relates of him @: "He was 6 fa verite with all classes. He was success ful in his practice. He was highly es- teemed by his medical brethren They ad mired his ready talents and often sonoht his judicious counsel" His speciality Was in the treatment of febrile diseases. .- x
 At his advent here, his sole possessions were horse and watch. He aceumulat- ed # goodly property by his industry. His circuit was not wholly confined to North Haven, frequently yidting Durham, Wal