Caleb Horton Foote

Burial Location: Chapel Ave. Lot 212, Grave 14.

Caleb Horton Foote was the third member of his family to have that name. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1803, to parents Caleb Horton Foote II and Martha (Patty) West Foote. His father died of yellow fever while away at sea. This was a common bond with Nathaniel Hawthorne, with whom Caleb later became friends. As a little boy, Caleb attended dame school at a house on Salem’s Church Street. Later, he was taught by a Master Dodge in North Salem. However, by the age of 10 he was taken out of school to work in order to help his family.

This began his long life of self-education. He worked in a bookstore and read the books whenever he had the opportunity. Then, he worked for printer William Ives and continued reading as well as studying French. Finally, he was an apprentice at the Salem Gazette, where he would work in a variety of capacities all the way to owner and publisher. His association with the newspaper would last for seventy-one years!

In 1829, he became Master of the Essex Lodge of Freemasons, the youngest person ever chosen for that office in that lodge at that time. He served briefly in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1832-1833., but could not afford to continue. He lectured for meetings at the Salem Lyceum on the subject of printing. He met with friends to discuss all the subjects in which he was interested and attended the North Church. He married Mary Wilder White there on October 21, 1835. The couple lived on Liberty Street at first and then moved to Brown Street also in Salem.

Foote retired on October 1, 1888. He had kept going after the early death of his wife and several of his children. He wanted to retire not for reasons of bad health or dislike of the work, but wanted to leave the business in good hands.

Caleb Horton Foote III died on June 17, 1894, in Mattapan, Massachusetts, at the age of 91. He is buried at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Chapel Ave, Lot 212 Grave 14.

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Photo: Family Search.

Sources Consulted:

• Moore, Margaret B. The Salem World of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 1998.
• Tileston, Mary Wilder (ed.). Caleb and Mary Wilder Foote, Reminiscences and Letters. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918.
• Family Search: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Caleb Horton Foote, 1803-1894.