Source:Fleming-foster-1/content
STORIES of Lawrenceville in some way or other, all revert to the Fosters. It is hard to disassociate the locality and the fame of the gifted musician, Stephen C. Foster, and the Foster famiy [sic]. In the article that appeared January 24, 1915, some mention was made of the early history of this once thriving borough, for 48 years past a part of the city.
The article in question was headlined, "Stories of Lawrenceville" and contained some mention of William Barclay Foster, Sr., and his sons and an anecdote of Stephen, with other pertinent matter, but the history of the Foster family was but slightly touched upon and it was the intent of the writer hereof to revert to this interesting phase of Pittsburgh history.
"Kind deeds can never die," the old song goes, and in such deeds the Fosters excelled so that not alone in the glory of the immortal Stephen does the family name live, but also in the history of perhaps the greatest railroad in the world, the Pennsylvania.
William Barclay Foster, Jr., eldest son, was one of the first engineers to lay out the road. When he died he was vice president of the corporation and second only to John Edgar Thompson, president, with whom he started in the work of building the road in 1847.
William B. Foster, Jr., was a gifted man also, but in other lines than Stephen. Between them there was a warm affection. The Fosters were a lovable family all through and their history teems with the uplift and brings forth admiration for their rare good qualities.
Though the family name is commemorated in a Lawrenceville street, once part of the original holdings of the elder Foster, Pittsburgh will soon develop more fully a unique memorial in the Stephen C. Foster Homestead and Museum of Foster Relics that will be established in it.
Indeed there is a councilmanic committee on the homestead consisting of Robert Garland, chairman; P. J. McArdle and W. H. Robertson, and it is the intention of this committee to let the world know how Pittsburgh, the city of his birth, honors the great composer's memory.
The Stephen C. Foster homestead is now the property of the city of Pittsburgh. This is on Penn avenue at Thirty-sixth street. Three generations can dwell within these honored walls: Mrs. Marian Welsh, only daughter of Mr. Foster; Mrs. Rose, her daughter, and the Rose children, among them Stephen Foster Rose.
The Foster homestead has been donated to the city by James H. Park, and the deed duly made and recorded. It will be maintained by the city and as caretakers Mr. and Mrs. Rose have been installed, with rent, gas, electric light and water free. when the museum project fully develops they will, it is expected, have no sinecure.
Mr. Garland is indefatigable in his efforts to complete the museum feature of the memorial. In this praiseworthy project he is ably seconded by his colleagues and has the backing of the entire councilmanic body, but they desire also the co-operation and appreciation of the Pittsburgh people and Foster devotees anywhere.
Chief among the efforts to this end is that of obtaining a replica of the original piano of Mr. Foster's upon which he composed most of his well-loved songs. The original piano is in the Carnegie Museum in Schenley Park and kept there for the best of reasons—its safety.
Dr. William J. Holland, director of the museum, has been enlisted in the cause of the replica. He replies that he has no doubt a reproduction of the outer case can be made by the skillful workmen of the Carnegie Museum, but he does doubt their ability to construct the tone-producing parts.
Dr. Holland rightly asserts his workmen have reproduced all that has ever been required of them and that they are skillful enough to make anything that the hands of man have once fabricated. But he is of the opinion that if tone is desired, that portion of the replica must be the product of the piano maker. However, he has made inquiries and the information may soon be forthcoming.
The Foster homestead is not fireproof and so priceless a relic as Stephen C. Foster's piano upon which he composed his music should not be trusted within the walls of the old home. The replica idea is feasible and commendable.
In the museum project, the public can aid, Mr. Garland thinks. He requests that The Gazette Times say for the councilmanic committee that when the museum is opened regular hours will be arranged for the public, these hours probably 10 to 12 a. m. and 2 to 4 p. m.
With the replica of the piano and some other relics of the composer, there will be an incentive for the public to visit the old homestead. Mrs. Rose has the original music of the "Old Folks at Home" in manuscript form and to enlarge the collection she would appreciate gifts or loans of Fosterana, authenticated, of course. Those who have such mementoes can at least hold up their hands and be counted.
To put in proper condition and render worthy of the trust reposed in the city by the donor of the property the Council has expended considerable money and will keep the property in good order, general repairs having been made recently to the house and a beautification of the grounds undertaken that will show when spring comes and flowers bloom again.
The Stephen C. Foster Memorial is distinctively a Pittsburgh memorial. It is not intended in the story today to attempt anything in the way of eulogy of this wonderful man.
There is a chance, however, to awaken public interest in a way. Old-timers deplore the passing of our ancient landmarks, and at the last meeting of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, March 28, when Controller E. S. Morrow, in his quiet, easy way, told of his memories of 70 years of Pittsburgh, it was brought out in the discussion that ensued that Pittsburgh did not properly appreciate the historical buildings within its limits.
Witness, they said (the old-timers), the passing of Lafayette Hall, the birthplace of the Republican party. Not a hand raised to save it. The G. O. P. of the nation was as apathetic as Pittsburgh, so the historic pile was razed—and no mark outside its site tells of its location.
The Bouquet Block House was saved mainly by the efforts of one patriotic and determined woman, Mrs. Edith Darlington Ammon. Mr. Park has saved the Stephen C. Foster homestead. Council will keep it in good order. That much is assured.
Mr. Garland, in speaking of the memorial project, calls attention to Pittsburgh's reputation in various lines and makes a plea for a greater fame in musical matters. He says:
Not only is Pittsburgh world famous in industry, but she stands among the first few American cities in banking, in education, both in elementary and the higher lines; in art; her annual function bringing to our institute the celebrated artists of the world; in her group of fine buildings of all descriptions, among many be noted the latest acquisition the William Penn Hotel perhaps, the finest in the county, the "crowning feature" of the wisdom of the cutting of the Hump, to be followed by the Frick Arcade Building and the new City Hall–Court House.
Our city is known, but should be recognized in the world of music. How many people are there who know that Pittsburgh is not only the birthplace but was the home of Stephen C. Foster, whose songs are known and loved wherein the English language is spoken? Even in erudite Boston does one out of every hundred know that Foster belongs to Pittsburgh, or is it known that we also lay claim to Ethelbert Nevin of "Narcissus" and "The Rosary" fame, a Pittsburgher during his entire short life, and here also it was where Victor Herbert resided for 10 years and achieved his fame.
Some family history is pertinent now so that this generation may know how really excellent the Fosters were. From what loyal patriotic stock the composer came.
Col. William Bender Wilson of Holmesburg, Pa., historian of the Pennsylvania Railroad, knew William B. Foster, Jr., and pays him a just tribute in his history of that road. Col. Wilson also goes somewhat into the history of the senior Foster and tells of the affection existing between William, Jr., and his little brother Stephen.
It is apparent that much of this family history came from the late Morrison Foster, the last survivor of the family of William Barclay and Eliza Clayland Tomlinson Foster, his wife. Col. Wilson acknowledges his indebtedness to a biographical sketch of William B., Jr., which appeared in Appleton's Guide for July, 1860, from the pen of Morrison Foster, shortly after his brother's death.
The Fosters were of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry. Alexander, the first of the family to come to America, arrived in 1728 and settled in Lancaster county, Pa., at Little Britain, the birthplace of Robert Fulton.
James Foster, the eldest son of Alexander, married Ann Barclay and moved to Berkeley county, Va. James had three sons and a number of daughters, all of whom married and some removed to Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.
William Barclay Foster, third son of James, was born in Berkeley county, Va., in 1779. The Barclays were cousins of Judge John Rowan of Bardstown, Ky., one of that state's first United States senators.
It is evident where the Kentucky home sentiment came into the life of Stephen.
James Foster served through the War of the Revolution in the Virginia line and saw Cornwallis lay down his arms at Yorktown.
In 1872 a number of Scotch-Irish families from Berkeley county emigrated to Western Pennsylvania and settled near Canonsburg, among them James Foster. In the community he became prominent and as one of the original trustees of Dr. McMillan's Canonsburg Academy, founded in 1791.
When William B. Foster, father of Stephen, attained the age of 16 he came to the newly-incorporated town of Pittsburgh. This was in 1795. He found employment with Anthony Beelen and Maj. Ebenezer Denny, then partners in an extensive line of general merchandising peculiar to the frontier trade and the requirements of the growing community.
Flatboats were the common carriers on the rivers. These were loaded at Pittsburgh with furs, peltries, whisky, flour and salt and floated to the lower river ports, where the goods were sold for cash or sugar and molasses, generally at New Orleans, the Spanish possession then taking the bulk of these river shipments.
Mr. Foster acquired his business training with Beelen & Denny, making two trips annually to New Orleans, returning by land via Natchez, Nashville, Maysville, Ky., and Wheeling to Pittsburgh.
To avoid being held up by the numerous bands of robbers in this unsettled region large parties were made up at the starting points and were heavily armed, for not only were there robbers, but there were still hostile Indians roaming about and equally as dangerous as robbers.
Those were the days when the maxim, "Dead men tell no tales," was largely followed by those who preyed upon their fellow-men.
Some times young Foster sailed from New Orleans for New York and ran into a new and more terrible danger. The pirates of the gulf have gone into history as rapacious and bloodthirsty beyond the ken of this generation.
On one of these sailing trips young Foster with the vessel he was on, was captured by pirates and it would have been "all up" with him, had not a Spanish man of war rescued them.
In New York Mr. Foster bought goods for the firm and accompanied these invoices by the wagon route to Pittsburgh, a long tedious, tiresome journey. Such was the early life of the brother of Stephen C. Foster.
Before the wagon days, even in the days of pack trains Young Foster traveled the historic roads into Pittsburgh. He was distinctively a pioneer in the full sense of the term. He was a leader followed by the long line of packhorses and later the longer line of conestogas with their six-horse teams, with the jingling bells on the driver's horse, the teams controlled by check rein—all coming to Pittsburgh, and the glorious, awakening West.
It was on one of these merchandising trips that Mr. Foster met his wife. This was in Philadelphia, where Eliza Tomlinson was visiting relatives.
Mrs. Foster's ancestry, the Claylands, were English stock. They originally settled on the east shore of Maryland and they, too, were loyal during the Revolution to the cause of the Colonies, many distinguishing themselves in battle.
For those days the Claylands were as much as was possible educated. They were gifted mentally and it is believed that much of the musical and poetic genius of Stephen C. Foster came through his mother. The Clayland women were noted in Baltimore society for their artistic and musical ability.
Mrs. Eliza Tomlinson Foster was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1788. She was married in 1807 in Chambersburg, Pa., where she was visiting relatives. Chambersburg was on the overland route to Pittsburgh.
From Chambersburg, Mr. Foster and his bride journeyed to Pittsburgh on horseback. They were two weeks on the way.
Mrs. Foster loved to tell of this journey and with what delight she hailed the dingy town of Pittsburgh thereafter to be her home and where her children were born and raised.
The bridal couple rode into Pittsburgh in the evening. The groom was used to the mode of travel, but the bride was weary and faint. Mr. Foster had become a partner of Ebenezer Denny and to the hospitable mansion of Maj. Denny the couple repaired.
This was in the center of the town, Mrs. Foster related; probably at Third and Market street, near where Maj. Denny transacted business for many years and where he resided when elected mayor of Pittsburgh in 1816, the new city's first executive.
The kindness that the Denny's showed Mrs. Foster touched her deeply. She described the room and the folks she met at the time. She said:
After resting and changing my apparel I was shown into an apartment below stairs where blazed in all its brilliancy a coal fire, casting its light upon the face of beauty clothed in innocence in the person of little Nancy Denny, at the time 5 years old.
The well-cleaned grating of the chimney place, the light that blazed brightly from the fire, the vermillion hearth, the plain, rich furniture, the polished stand, with lighted candles in candlesticks resembling burnished gold, made an evening scene that fell gratefully upon my pleased sight. Upon a sofa lay the tall and military figure of the Major, a gentleman of the old school, easy and dignified in his bearing, a soldier who had served his country well under Washington at Yorktown and under Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne in the subsequent Indian campaigns.
We note the easy diction and excellent style of this description showing the writer to have been a woman of talent. Further we look into a Pittsburgh home, discerning comfort, elegance and hospitality. Mrs. Foster had come among friends and for nearly a half century remained in Pittsburgh or until her death prior to 1855.
The young bride was destined to meet many soldiers of the Revolution, who had come hither, who have left their names for commemoration and whose lives were spent in the upbuilding of the city. Read the long roll and note many familiar names:
The Nevilles, Gen. John and his son, Col. Presley; Lieut. Col. Stephen Bayard, Maj. Isaac Craig, Maj. Denny, Maj. Edward Butler, Maj. Alexander Fowler, Maj. William Anderson, Maj. Abraham Kirkpatrick, Gen. Adamson Tannehill, a captain in the Revolution; Capt. Uriah Springer, Capt. George McCully, whose grave can be seen in Trinity churchyard from the street; Capt. Nathaniel Irish, Capt. James Gordon Heron, Capt. John Irwin, Gen. James O'Hara, Col. George Morgan, Capt. John Wilkins, Surgeon's Mate John Wilkins, Jr., Quartermaster John Ormsby and Lieut. Gabriel Peterson.
It is not thought that the young Mrs. Foster knew all of these, but her husband undoubtedly knew most of them and was neighbor and friend to many—perhaps all.
The town of Pittsburgh had already begun to put on semblances of refinement and was making rapid progress. Many civilians had arrived, men of courteous bearing, bringing the social amenities of the refined circles of the eastern section of the young nation, the refinement of colonial days before the sacrifices and hardships came that made possible the nation.
When Mrs. Foster came there were families here with their private equipages who drove through town attended by liveried servants. Indeed those sprigs of royalty, Louis Phillipe of France and his brothers, Beaujolais and Montpensier, when here on their visit some years previous, had remarked upon the ease and elegance of their entertainment in the border town.
The tough town that Arthur Lee described and the Rev. Samuel Barr had found, had passed away.
Mrs. Foster was contented and happy in Pittsburgh. She was welcomed and appreciated.
William B. Foster was a man of great public spirit and a thorough patriot. Not long after his marriage the War of 1812 broke out. He was appointed quartermaster and commissary in the United States army and continued in the government service through the war.
The young Mrs. Foster was familiar with many events in the early history of the city, having personal knowledge of many events. Soon after she came, for instance, two bridges, those at St. Clair street, now Federal, and the Smithfield street, were built. While under contract and building these were real items of news.
In 1816 Bayardstown, subsequently Northern Liberties borough, and still later the Fifth Ward of the city, was laid out by George A. Bayard and James Adams. Lots were sold in perpetual lease at $1 25 to $2 50 a foot.
William Price laid out Pipetown in that year, from Ross street out Second avenue. This came to be known as Kensington also and was "a hive of industry" for many years.
September 17, 1817, Gen. Jacob Brown, U. S. A., the hero of Niagara in the war but lately over, came to town "and was presented with a public dinner at Kerr's Hotel." This was at the northeast corner of Front and Market streets and was called the Kentucky and Ohio Hotel. John Kerr was proprietor.
John Tiernan murdered Patrick Campbell in December of 1817 at Turtle Creek. His conviction and execution soon after was real news matter.
Dr. Nathaniel Bedford laid out the town of Birmingham in 1817. His name is commemorated in the Bedford School in Bingham street.
Pittsburgh was growing. In 1817 the little city had 109 stores and 1,403 houses. There were 148 manufactories and 1,280 workmen employed.
Gen. St. Clair died September 1, 1818. His funeral at Greensburg was an imposing affair, with a great concourse attending the ceremonies.
April 6 that year the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank of Pittsburgh was robbed by one Emmons and his associates. Emmons was arrested and confessed and $104,000 in the bank's notes and $1,800 in silver money were recovered buried 44 miles from Pittsburgh—down the river.
Good news items. Many more could be mentioned.
