Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/177

 FOSTER

FOSTER

literature, 1872-94. On liim the college first con- ferred the honorarj- title of professor emeritus. He was trustee of Waterville college, 1856-59. He was married to Ann, daughter of Nicholas and Nancy (Estey) Doe of Parsonsfield, Maine; and their son, John M. Foster, became a mission- ary to China. On Aug. 14, 1806, Professor Foster was married to Elisabeth Boutelle Philbrick. In 1864 he received the degree of A.M. and in 1876 that of LL.D. from Colby university. He died at Waterville. :Maine, Aug. 19, 1897.

FOSTER, John Gray, soldier, vi-as born in Whitetield, X.IL. May 27, 1823; son of Perley and Mary ((iray) Foster; grandson of Diamond Foster and of Moses and Mary Gray; and of Scotch and English ancestry. He was gradu- ated at the U.S. military academy in 1846 and assigned to active duty under Geueial Scott as lieutenant of sappers and miners. He saw ser- vice in all the battles leading up to the capture of the city of Mexico, until he was severely woundeil at Molino del Eey and in the campaign received brevets of 1st lieuten- ant and. captain. He was stationed in Maryland and the Dis- trict of Columbia, 1848-54, was pro- moted 1st lieutenant in 1855, and was as- signed to the Mili- tary academy as assistant professor of engineering. He was engineer in the construction of Forts Sumter and Moultrie and of works for coast defence in North Carolina, 1857-60; was in Fort Moultrie when the state of South Carolina demanded the surrender of the Federal forts in 1860 and di- rected the removal of the garrison to Fort Sum- ter, Dec. 26-37, 1860; supervised the strengthening of that fort and was with Major Anderson in its defence, receiving the brevet of major for his services. He was commissioned a brigadier- general in the volunteer army. Oct. 23, 1861, joined Burnside's expedition to North Carolina as brigade commander, and was brevetted lieuten- ant-colonel for action at Roanoke Island. He was then placed in command of the department of North Carolina with the rank of major-general of volunteers, and gained possession of important points; on the coast, 1862-63, being from July to November of the latter year commander of the department of Virginia and North Carolina. He was transferred to the command of the army of the Ohio, and directed the department until

injured by a fall from his hor.se, December, 1864. On his recovery he was placed in conmiand of the department of the South; received General Sherman and his army at Savannah on the com- pletion of the march through Georgia, Dec. 21, 1864, and commenced the operations for the reduction of Fort Sumter and the capture of Cliarleston, S.C., when the condition of his old wound necessitated his retirement and Gen. Q. A. Gillmore carried out his plans. He was brevetted brigadier- and major-general in the regular army for services at Savannah and in the field during the civil war; commanded the department of Florida, 1865-66, and was super- intending engineer iu river and harbor imiirove- ments at Boston and Portsmouth. He published: Notes on Submarine Bhislintj in Boston Harbor (1869). He died at Nashua, N H., Sept. 2, 1874. FOSTER, John Watson, diplomatist, was born in Pike county, Ind., March 2, 1836; son of Matthew Watson and Eleanor (Johnson) Foster. His father was a native of England and his mother the descendant of a Virginia family. He was graduated at Indiana university in 18S5, studied law one year at Harvard and prac- tised law in Evans- ville, Ind., 1857-61. He entered the Union army in 1861 as major of the 25th Indiana volimteers, was pro- moted lieutenant- colonel for action at Fort Donelson, where he commanded his regiment, and colonel for conduct at Shiloh. He was in command of the 65th and 136th Indiana volunteers, respectively, led a brigade of cavalry in the operations of General Burnside iu the armj' of the Ohio in Kentucky and Tennessee in 1863, and was the first to enter Knoxville, September 4, when that city was occupied by the Federal troops He was brevetted brigadier, general of volunteers in 1805 and at the close of the war returned to Evansville where he con- ducted the Daily Journal, 1865-09, and was postmaster of the citj', 1869-73. He served as chairman of the Republican state central com- mittee in 1872, and was appointed by President Grant U.S. minister to Mexico, where he served, 1873-80. President Hayes transferred him to the Russian mission in 1880 and he was reaccredited to that mi.ssion in 1881 by President Garfield. He rasigned in November, 1881, and established himself in Washington, D.C., as counsel for foreign legations. He was U.S. minister to