The family of Nathan Foster 1728-1809

 Rabbit holes and BSOs (bright shiny objects) are so much fun, and I've been chasing both as I write these family blog posts.  I've learned a few interesting things about some of the folks who would are siblings to our direct ancestors, and I usually try to include at least a brief summary of what I've learned as I write.  Since Nathan Foster and Elizabeth Lansford had such a large family, this would have been a long post anyway, but the side trips made it even more interesting, at least to me.

Nathan was born in 1728 in Stafford Connecticut, the son of Nathan and Hannah Standish Foster.  He married Elizabeth Lunsford or Lansford, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Hackben Lunsford, in 1750 in Stafford, and died in 1809 in Western (now Warren), Massachusetts.  Most of his children stayed near either Stafford or Western, so he would have known many if not most of his grandchildren.  That's my definition of a wonderful life, although of course there were difficult times along the way.

One of those difficult times may have been the birth of their first daughter, Tirza or Thirza.  She was apparently born "about 1750".  I have not found a further record about her, and I wonder if she was perhaps a short-lived twin to Azubah, who was born in 1751.

Azubah married Caleb Rogers, the son of Caleb and Mary Harlow Rogers.  They had possibly three children, Nathan, Thirza, and John Foster.  Azubah died in 1777 and her husband remarried.  

Nathan and Elizabeth's first son, Nathan, was born in 1753 and married Abigail Seely, the daughter of Nehemiah and Abigail Guyre Seeley.  Their children include Clarissa, Eliza, Tryphena, Rebecca, Huldah, Abigail, Anna, Nathan (finally, a son!) and Sophia.  Nathan died in 1820 and Abigail remarried, but she was past child-bearing age.  There are several men named Nathan Foster who served in the Revolutionary War but I am not able to find records that prove that any of them were this Nathan.

Joel Foster was the next son, born in 1755.  He married Priscilla Foster, who was the daughter of Rev. Isaac and Elizabeth Emerson Foster.  Rabbit hole warning:  Isaac Foster was Nathan's first cousin, and he preached the ordination sermon for our Joel, who was Rev. Joel Foster.  Joel and Priscilla were second cousins.  Their children are Sophia, Priscilla, Fanny, Joel, and Nathan.   Joel served as the executor for his brother Jude's estate (see below) and died in 1812.

Elizabeth, called Betty in some records,  was born in 1757 and died about 1778.  She married Nathan (which apparently was a popular name in this area and era!) Wood, the son of Joseph and Tabetha Haseltine Wood.  Their son Jasper was born in 1776, and Betty died about 1778. 

Jude was born in 1759, served in the Revolutionary War and died in 1789, shortly after his application for a pension was approved.  He married Sarah Goodenough and "Lydia M."  According to Rowe, Massachusetts records, all of the children appear to his and Lydia's, but there are family historians who disagree about this.  At any rate, his children, all girls, are Sally, Lydia, Pollly, Betsy and Judith.  I will follow this family in my next post.

John, a pastor and graduate of Dartmouth College, was born in 1762 and married Harriet Webster, the daughter of Grant and Hannah Wainwright Webster.  Harriet is interesting because she wrote two early American novels, one considered scandalous.  The Coquette was based on a true life situation of a woman who was seduced and then abandoned, with the baby stillborn and the heroine/object lesson dying in an inn.  She wrote another novel, and newspaper articles, and passed the writer's gene to two of her daughters.  John and Harriet's children are Wainwright, John, Hannah, Henry, Elizabeth and Harriet.  John died in 1829 and Harriet actually died in Canada, where she had gone to live with two daughters after John died.

Asa was their last son, born in 1764.  He married Elizabeth Thomas, the daughter of Archibald and Hannah Conkey Thomas.  Their children are Thomas, Asa, Justus, Elizabeth, Asa, and Hannah.  He died in 1803.  I have wondered if this was the source of the rumor reported in my last post, about an Asa Foster who was sued for desertion by Elizabeth Thompson in 1803.  Were these two separate Asas, each married to a woman with a similar name?  I don't have an answer to that question yet.

Surely Elizabeth was tired of child bearing by this time, but she delivered yet one more daughter, Lydia.  Her birth date is given as 1771, with a question mark.  If this is accurate, this is 7 years after the birth of their son Asa, and Elizabeth would have been 42 years old, which is not out of the question.  But were there other children born, or pregnancies which were not successful, in that seven year interval?  That's another question to determine.  Lydia has a death date of 1776. so she lived only a few years.

By my count, this gives Nathan and Elizabeth 35 grandchildren, which is a lot but others of the Foster family had even more.  The family includes at least two pastors, at least one Revolutionary War soldier, and others who were well respected and successful in their communities.  I'm happy to honor them in some small way with this post.