Reginald Foster is not who I thought he was. At least it appears that he was not the immediate descendant of Thomas Forster and Elizabeth Carr. It is hard to know who he was, exactly, as he has been said to have come from Northumberland, from Exeter, Devon, and from somewhere in Essex. It seems most likely that he came from Essex, as he married his wife, Judith Wignal or Wignoll, there in 1619.
The couple had seven children when they traveled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. It is said that this was on a ship embargoed by King Charles I, meaning it was forbidden to leave port. Whether money changed hands or whether the captain sympathized with those on board, I don't know. Foster was apparently a Puritan and it is possible that Archbishop Laud was behind the embargo. Regardless, the ship made it to the colonies and the Foster family apparently went directly to Ipswich.
He apparently started building a home in Ipswich, one more substantial than the "hovel" the family first lived in, in the 1640s. The hovel was built at the edge of a bridge and the town decided they wanted the land to expand. This second home is still standing and pictures of it can be found by Googling "Foster House, Ipswich, Massachusetts". I didn't find pictures that were free to share, so they are not included here.
Reginald was most likely a carpenter by trade, but also would have farmed enough to support his family and perhaps a little more. He doesn't appear to have been a town leader, but he did have charge of the town herd of cttle on the south side of the river, (work was actually done by sone Abraham), and he was highway surveyor in 1661. He contributed funds (I'm not sure whether or not this was voluntary) to pay Major Dennison, who commanded the militia of Essex County, in 1648. This was to protect against possible native American raids. He and Thomas Clark were to be paid 10 pounds once they finished making a passage from one river to another, "deep enough that a lighter could pass through laden." That sounds like a significant amount of work, to me!
His wife Judith died in 1664 and he remarried, to Sarah Martin. When Abraham died in 1681 his real estate was appraised at over 580 pounds, so the man had prospered. I haven't found the actual inventory so I am unable to comment on individual items. Did he have books? An unusual number of tools? I don't think this brief blog post has captured the heart or the mind of Reginald. It is a beginning only, until we can figure out when and where his "beginning" was.
The line of descent is:
Reginald Foster-Judith Wignol
Abraham Foster-Lydia Burbank
Abraham Foster-Mary Robinson
Nathan Foster-Hannah Standish
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
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