DeKalb Historical Society Speaker Night · November 3, 2026 with Jim Judkins
Last night, Jim spoke to the DeKalb Historical Society about McAllen Foutch (1909–1996). He was a DeKalb County native and a Smithville attorney who rose to become one of the most respected lawmakers in Tennessee.
Foutch served eight terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives and was elected Speaker of the House in the early 1950s. Afterward he served in the Tennessee State Senate. The Tennessee Press Association twice named him the state’s “most outstanding legislator,” and friends remembered him as a fair, honest and objective lawmaker. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pushed for higher pay for teachers, and newspapers once talked about him as a possible candidate for governor.
When he came home to Smithville, he kept working for his community. He helped form and served as chief legal counsel for the DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (today’s DTC Communications) and the Middle Tennessee Utility District. He was also counsel for the Smithville Electric System, vice president of WJLE Broadcasting, and chairman of the board of Citizens Bank. He mentored young lawyers who went on to their own careers in public life, among them Tommy and Frank Buck. He was a longtime member of the Baptist church in Alexandria.
He and his wife of 48 years, Sallie Parker Foutch, raised four daughters. When he died in April 1996, the family asked that donations go to a memorial fund. The McAllen Foutch Scholarship was established in his honor the following year.
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