John Foster

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. John Foster. The name sounds plain enough, but friend, the life behind it stretches from the Carolina coast all the way to the Texas frontier, and it never once slowed down.

Born on May 25, 1757, in South Carolina, to William James and Mary Foster, the boy who would become John Foster came into a world already on the edge of something enormous. Family history holds that he may have served alongside his brothers in Charleston against a British attack, and that was June of 1776. The Revolution was just getting its legs under it, and John Foster was already in the thick of things.

He married Rachel Gibson, and together they built a family, at least six children. But the Fosters were not people who stayed put. About 1781, they crossed the Appalachians and traveled almost two thousand miles by flatboat to the Spanish-occupied Natchez District of what is now Mississippi.

Two thousand miles. By flatboat. With a family.

That right there tells you everything you need to know about the kind of man John Foster was. He put down roots in that new country and became a substantial landowner and cattleman. Then Rachel died.

He married again, a woman named Mary Smith Kelsey, and they had seven children together, three of whom would eventually make their way to Texas. Now, when Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, Foster did not simply accept whatever the appointed governor handed down. He opposed those decrees and petitioned Congress itself for an elected legislature.

He was not a man who confused authority with legitimacy. He founded the town of Washington, and when it became the territorial capital in 1802, he helped found Jefferson College. A town, a college, a petition to Congress.

The man had range. And still, he wasn't finished. In 1822, John Foster joined his son Randolph in Texas and became one of Stephen F.

Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. In 1824, he received an eleven thousand six hundred acre grant in what is now Fort Bend County. He is believed to have established a school on that property, one that eventually became the Foster Community School.

His name, still on the land, still on the institution. Then came December 25, 1835, Christmas Day, and John Foster put his name to the Columbia Resolutions, urging Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico. He left four sons behind to support the struggle, and in early 1836 he traveled to Wilkinson County, Mississippi, to live in retirement at the home of one of his daughters.

He had crossed the Appalachians, floated two thousand miles on a flatboat, outlasted two territories, built towns and colleges, and signed his name to revolution. He died on January 26, 1837, having seen more of this continent's story than most men even imagined. Some names on a marker are just names.

John Foster earned every letter.

What the marker says

John Foster John Foster was born on May 25, 1757, in South Carolina to William James and Mary (Hill) Foster. Family history indicates he may have served with his brothers in Charleston against a British attack in June 1776. He married Rachel (Gibson), and they had at least six children, four of whom eventually lived in Texas. About 1781, the Fosters crossed the Appalachians and traveled almost 2,000 miles by flatboat to the Spanish-occupied Natchez District of present-day Mississippi. There, Foster became a substantial landowner and cattleman. After Rachel died, he married Mary (Smith) Kelsey, and of their seven children, three would come to Texas. After Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, Foster opposed the decrees of the appointed governor and petitioned Congress for an elected legislature. He established the town of Washington, and after it became the territorial capital in 1802, helped found Jefferson College. In 1822, Foster joined his son Randolph in Texas and became one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. In 1824, he received an 11,600-acre grant in what is now Fort Bend County. He is believed to have established a school on his property that eventually became the Foster Community School. On December 25, 1835, John Foster signed the Columbia Resolutions urging Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico. Leaving behind four sons to support the struggle for Texas independence, Foster went to Wilkinson County, Mississippi, in early 1836 to live in retirement at the home of one of his daughters. He died there on January 26, 1837. (2002)