Source:Fleming-foster-2/content
THE story of the Foster family, the father and the eldest brother of songster musician Stephen Collins Foster, could not be told in one issue in the space devoted to this series of history. William B. Foster, Jr., was one of Pennsylvania's great men for 30 years preceding the Civil War—a man of sterling worth and lovable disposition.
A search of the records in the office of the recorder of deeds of Allegheny county shows that William B. Foster, Sr., by deed from Alexander Hill, took title to his Lawrenceville estate April 5, 1814. This is of record in Deed Book 19, page 331.
The tract included 171 acres, and can be found platted in Plan Book No. 1, page 46, showing also the Foster home in the angle of the road above what is now Thirty-fourth street.
This land is that patented by the state to Conrad Winebiddle, December 27, 1787, under the tract title, "Good Liquor." It was part of George Croghan's vast holdings and not far from Croghan's castle burned by the Indians during the siege of Fort Pitt in 1763.
The Western line of "Good Liquor" followed the windings of Two Mile Run which came down what was afterwards known as Skunk Hollow, now Junction Hollow, and emptied into the Allegheny at Thirty-third street. This was close by the site of Shannopinstown, the first settlement we know of about Pittsburgh, a collection of Indian huts only.
Across the Two Mile Run were the extensive holdings of Maj. Thomas Smallman, the tract called "The Officer." To the east of "Good Liquor" and also to the south, somewhat, was Samuel Ewalt's "Bell Fountain" tract. All these patents from the state had queer names for land, we note.
The consideration mentioned in the deed from Hill to Foster, Sr., is $35,000. Mr. Foster laid out the ground June 1, 1814.
The same year he conveyed 30 acres to the United States for an arsenal, which is still there in a manner, and may be necessary again—who knows?
Foster, Sr., built the original Foster ctottage [sic] home in 1814. His land to the east reached above Main street and on the north to the Allegheny River, and included the ground where Washington and Gist landed after being marooned all night on Wainwright's Island during their terrible winter journey to and from the French forts in 1753.
The records show that Winebiddle held the tract until 1796, conveying it to John Patterson, who conveyed it to J. Brotherton in 1799, and he to Hill in 1802. It was doubtless farm land when Mr. Foster bought it and valuable, as the consideration shows, with a water front and two main traveled roads intersecting it—the main highways into the town of Pittsburgh.
The younger Foster children were born on Bullets Hill and grew up there. There were three daughters, Charlotte Susanna, Ann Eliza and Henrietta.
The eldest was an accomplished musician and a beautiful singer. She died in Louisville, Ky., when only 19, unmarried, but affianced to a man named Prather.
The other sisters were also good performers and singers and both possessed more than ordinary literary ability and poetic fancy.
Ann Eliza Foster became the wife of the Rev. Dr. Edward Y. Buchanan and lived to be 80 years old. Henrietta was married twice and was first the wife of Thomas L. Wick, and after his death married Maj. Thornton, U. S. A. She died in Philadelphia at the age of 70.
Besides William B., Jr., and Morrison, Stephen had another brother, Dunning, who located in Cincinnati, O., and was engaged in business there. Stephen was in his employ for some years as his bookkeeper and while there wrote some of his famous songs, "Oh, Susanna" and "Old Uncle Ned," presenting them to W. C. Peters, a music publisher there whom he had known in Pittsburgh and who had taught music in the Foster family while here.
Forthwith Peters made $10,000 from the sale of these songs and established the well-known house of Peters.
The fame of Foster went around the world, the money went to Peters, honestly enough. Writing songs was easy to Foster. Selling Foster songs was easy to Peters. Foster could and did write more.
The principal story today will concern the eldest brother, William B. Foster, Jr., a man among men whose history is written in the annals of our commonwealth.
Col. William Bender Wilson of Holmesburg, Pa., historian of the Pennsylvania Railroad, pays a high tribute to William B. Foster, Jr., in that history. From this biography we learn that the eldest brother of Stephen was a gifted man also, but in different ways from his song-writing brother.
Col. Wilson says:
In that triumvirate composed of John Edgar Thomson, William B. Foster, Jr., and Edward Miller, which governed the engineering and established the rules of business and business discipline that brought success to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, William B. Foster, Jr., was a strong figure.
Eminent as an engineer—of great intelligence, unquestioned integrity, thorough and reliable in details and tenacious of their observance—he became an administrative officer of high rank. A man of honor, with retiring manners, his nature adorned by amiability and gentleness, he won early in life the love and admiration of the people of the commonwealth, and was widely mourned when the tomb claimed him. He was a perfect encyclopedia of knowledge of all matters pertaining to his profession, the public works and the progress of the state, and there was no better and more favorably known man within its borders.
Col. Wilson states that William B. Foster, Jr., was born in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, in 1808. He was therefore 18 years older than Stephen, who was the youngest of the family, that is, of those who grew to maturity. A younger brother, James, died in infancy.
Col. Wilson is probably in error as to William, Jr., having been born in Lawrenceville, for the deed of the grant from Hill to Foster, Jr. [sic], is dated April 5, 1814. Morrison Foster in his biography of Stephen, states that in 1814 his father himself established his residence in Lawrenceville "upon a tract of land belonging to him on the Allegheny River two and a half miles from Pittsburgh. Here he built a beautiful white cottage upon Bullets Hill, a height commanding a view up and down the river for miles."
From this account William, Jr., was six years old in 1814. From the notice of the senior Foster in last week's story it will be noted that he was married to Eliza Clayland Tomlinson in 1807, and that he was then a partner of Maj. Ebenezer Denny in the general merchandising business in Pittsburgh. The Riddle directory of 1814 locates him as residing in the borough of Pittsburgh in the following line:
Foster, William B., deputy commissary of purchases, N. E. corner of Cherry and Sixth street.
We learn many facts of the younger William's eventful life from Col. Wilson's sketch; that Mr. Foster attracted attention before he reached maturity, and that he won promotion solely from merit.
Previous to his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad he had been for 20 years connected with public improvements of the state.
In April, 1826, Nathan S. Roberts, an experienced engineer from the New York Canal, came to Pittsburgh under appointment of the Board of Canal Commissioners of Pennsylvania to locate the canal route from this city to the Kiskiminetas.
Mr. Roberts surveyed first on the east side of the river, which took him through the Lawrenceville end of the elder Foster. That hospitable man invited the surveyor and his whole corps to dinner.
Mr. Roberts was in need of help. He pointed to the eldest son of the Fosters and said:
"Suppose you let your son go with us, Mr. Foster, and learn to be an engineer."
The father assented. The boy was then past 17. He began as an ax man at the wage of $1 a day. His proficiency for the work was soon apparent. His promotions were rapid.
He was soon a rodman, and then a levelman and before the work was completed had been advanced to the position of assistant engineer.
When it is remembered that the first canal boat entered Pittsburgh in November, 1829, and that was three and a half years after Mr. Roberts began his work, the advancement of Young Foster was extraordinary. In quick action and unerring judgment he excelled. His career was now fully under way.
At the completion of the canal work Young Foster was for a brief period a deputy sheriff of Allegheny county under Sheriff William Caven, who served from 1828–31, but returning to his profession went to Kentucky and was for several years engaged upon the Green River improvements.
In 1833 he entered the service of the state of Pennsylvania as engineer of the North and West branch canals. He remained four years in this service, two with the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, and then with the great inducements offered returned to Kentucky. He returned in two years his health greatly impaired by fevers.
He again took up the canal work in Pennsylvania in March, 1839, and was principal engineer in the construction of various unfinished lines in the state until 1843 when the Canal Commissioners, having been made elective and reduced to three, Mr. Foster with James Clarke and Jesse Miller were elected.
One commissioner was to be elected each year thereafter—the first three on election to draw terms by lot. Mr. Foster drew the three-year term.
The duties of chief engineer were placed upon the president of the board in which capacity, Mr. Foster served during his last year. The canal commissioners were allowed the munificent stipend of $3 a day.
At the state election in October, 1846, Mr. Foster was defeated for re-election. It was a Whig year in politics and the Foster's were Democrats. The Whigs elected their entire state ticket and nearly all of the general assembly and the congressmen from the state.
James M. Power, a very reputable man, was Mr. Foster's successor. One of Mr. Foster's colleagues, Mr. Clarke said:
I would rather if I owned the public works pay William B. Foster, Jr., $30,000 a year than lose his services as canal commissioner. The loss of him can never be repaired.
Mr. Foster certainly knew the business. He had grown up with it, but it was soon to be a dying system.
The story of the canals in Pennsylvania is not a pleasant one. Graft, we term it now, and it was in evidence through much of the canal days in Pennsylvania.
There was a corrupt element then in power, which, accused of plundering in executing the public works, had become unpopular, and to get rid of Foster, this element in his own party openly and earnestly opposed his re-election. These men were unable to prevent his renomination, and then "Mr. Foster had to carry the onus of their wrongdoing."
The day of the railroad had dawned. Mr. Foster foresaw its possibilities and necessity. He noted that private corporations must construct them. The canal experiences of the state as owners of public utilities was such as to discourage any participation in railroad building or promotion.
Mr. Foster was a warm advocate of a railroad from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. He exerted himself in favor of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's charter.
His long connection with the public improvements of the state, his extensive acquaintance and his high character and professional standing, taken with his knowledge of the state's resources, made him a potent factor in bringing influences upon the Legislature and contributing to the passage of the bill granting the charter, which wass trongly [sic] resisted from many quarters.
Thus William B. Foster, Jr., passed from a pioneer in canal building in this commonwealth to a pioneer in railroads.
So conspicuous a man in procuring the railroad's charter could not be overlooked. Upon the formation of the Board of Directors in 1847 his abilities were recognized and it was conceded that his zeal and skill were essential to the success of the road and that he should have an active and prominent part in its construction.
Hence there then began Mr. Foster's connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which continued until his death.
Mr. Foster was first in charge of the Eastern Division and was first in the field with his engineer corps. Mr. Thomson was in Georgia at the time and when he came back he found Mr. Foster already pushing the work. The eastern terminus was at Harrisburg, Pa., then.
Mr. Thomson, whose name has been given to the great rail mills in Braddock, was a native of Delaware county, Pa., and of the same age of Mr. Foster. He began his career at the same time, but in railroad work, having first in 1827 been one of the engineer corps in the construction of the old Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad.
At the time of his appointment to the Pennsylvania Railroad he was chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad, extending from Augusta to Atlanta, and had been for 15 years.
Mr. Thomson, it will be observed, had been for 20 years a practical railroad man, while Mr. Foster had been for 21 years a practical canal engineer—but the transition for him came easily.
Until his death in 1874, for a period of 47 years, Mr. Thomson continued one of the great railroad men of the nation. In a sense his right arm was William B. Foster, Jr. When Mr. Thomson died he was succeeded as president of the Pennsylvania road by Col. Thomas A. Scott.
Mr. Foster built that portion of the road from Harrisburg to Lewiston, thence to Huntingdon, and thence up the Juniata to the present site of Altoona. Those were busy days.
In reverie one can go back and contemplate the scenes. Where for years the sound of the canal boatman's horns awakened the mountain echoes a new and strange sound arose, the toot of the locomotive, an advance agent of civilization.
One can imagine thousands of men at work, some felling trees, sending them crashing into the valleys; some grading the hillsides, filling the chasms, leveling the mountain's sides, boring through them. Mr. Foster labored incessantly and was early and late in the saddle or at his desk.
He had a remarkable memory, which he had trained to remember dates, events and amounts that he would need in his work. He had great vitality also both of mind and body and he inspired his men with his energy and enthusiasm. He could pass, his brother Morrison relates, into his office in the dark and readily lay his hand upon any paper he wanted, so systematic were his arrangements.
Upon the completion of the road to Hollidaysburg Mr. Foster retired and again entered the service of the state. Mr. Thomson, in his report for 1850, pays a high tribute to his colleague's co-operation and acknowledges his obligations. He stated that, despite numerous drawbacks, Mr. Foster had completed his work below the estimates submitted to the board.
Mr. Foster returned to canal work on the north branch of the Susquehanna.
However, the railroad wanted him, and in 1852, under the reorganization of the company, he was appointed auditor, with his principal office in Philadelphia. May 20, 1852, he was electd [sic] by the board a director to act as vice president.
When the railroad company purchased the public works of the state the company created the canal department and attached it to the vice president's jurisdiction, in charge of Mr. Foster, who had laid the foundations of its organization.
Mr. Foster in his life was honored with some other public positions. He was an inspector of the Philadelphia County Prison, under appointment by the Supreme Court in 1856, and was a councilman from the Ninth Ward of that city, serving in 1858–59.
Mr. Foster died suddenly March 4, 1860, at his Philadelphia residence, in a small hotel on Chestnut street below Thirteenth street. He had been ill for some time.
A large carbuncle had appeared upon the back of his neck, but had been allowed to close and heal over. It was thought by his physicians that he was improving and would soon resume his onerous duties. Evidently the pus had not been thoroughly drained off. On the night of his death he retired early and was at once asleep.
Towards midnight his stepson, whose bed was in the same room, was awakened by the sick man's sterterous [sic] breathing. He hastened to his aid and dispatched messengers for the doctor, but the end had come and Mr. Foster died without a struggle, his head resting upon the shoulder of the younger man.
When he was dead the cause was apparent, as stated above. His brain was suffused with the poison from the apparently healed wound.
Mr. Foster passed away at a comparatively early age, 52.
A great man had fallen. The press of the state acknowledged this and tributes of respect and expressions of sympathy came from all sides.
The services for the dead of the Protestant Episcopal Church were said over Mr. Foster's remains at the residence of J. Edgar Thomson, after which the body was conveyed to Pittsburgh in a special funeral car fittingly draped.
The Rev. E. Y. Buchanan, brother-in-law of Mr. Foster and brother of President Buchanan, then in office, accompanied the body. Among other officials of the railroad were Edmond Smith, Thomas A. Scott and Henry H. Houston. The stations along the road were draped in mourning and flags were at half mast.
The honorary pallbearers here included Henry D. Foster of Greensburg, Col. Samuel W. Black of Nebraska, R. Biddle Roberts, United States District Attorney at Pittsburgh, and Dr. Jonas R. McClintock. The remains were interred in the Allegheny Cemetery.
By the officers and employes of the railroad, Mr. Foster was much beloved. Col. Wilson says that he is Mr. Foster's last surviving employe in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the beneficiary of many of his thoughtful acts of kindness and that he loved him in life and treasures his memory with affectionate regard.
He attests that Mr. Foster was a lovable man, and that the whole commonwealth mourned his loss and these words of affection were written 21 years ago.
Col. Wilson is still Mr. Foster's last surviving appointee.
Such was the elder brother of the songster-musician, such the engineer who contributed to the development and progress of transportation in Pennsylvania. Such was the kindly, gifted man, who was the superior of Thomas A. Scott, Andrew Carnegie, Robert Pitcairn, Alexander J. Cassatt and other noted Pittsburghers, himself a Pittsburgher.
The poet-songster-musician Stephen lives in his melodies. The elder brother, the talented, beloved engineer, lives in the great Pennsylvania Railroad, but 1,000,000 know of Stephen Collins Foster where few know of William Barclay Foster, Jr.
Fifty-six years after his death, in this mention of the Foster memorial and street commemoration, it seems eminently fitting and proper to tell of this really great man and also something of the others of the family. The relations of the eldest and youngest brother are also pertinent.
Morrison Foster in his work "Biography, Songs and Musical Compositions of Stephen C. Foster" has this to say:
Stephen was very fond of his oldest brother, William, whose business as Chief Engineer of the Public Works (canals and railroads) of the State of Pennsylvania kept him from home a great deal. William had a big, affectionate heart, and his little brother had many reasons for gratitude towards him for kind remembrances in the way of frequent presents and other tokens of affection.
When he was about thirteen years old, William proposed to take him to Towanda, in Bradford County, where his headquarters were established at that time, and, there being a good school near by (the Academy of Athens), he stated that Stephen might go to school if he wished. With the assent of our parents the offer was accepted.
It was winter, and William drove all the way to Towanda in his own sleigh, drawn by two horses. The distance traveled was over three hundred miles, but the sleighing was good, and of course it was a jolly journey for the little boy, especially as brother William was a man of great personal popularity, and had many friends and acquaintances everywhere long [sic] the road.
Ten years after that time brother William, John Edgar Thomson and Edward Miller were the Engineers who built the great Pennsylvania Railroad. At the time of his death William was the Vice President of the Company and Mr. Thomson the President.
Here grateful memory requires a tribute of affection to good brother William. With a heart as "tender and true" and [sic] the Douglas, and as brave, he was a dutiful, loving son, and a generous, affectionate brother. He was a Christian, firm in his devotion to his Redeemer, and his life's pathway was blazed with the marks of his goodness. Always devoted to duty, he put on the harness of usefulness and industry at the age of sixteen years and wore it continuously to the day of his death. He was honored in many ways by the people of his native State, and now the last survivor of his family is proud to write of him; he was an honor to his State and to his friends.
In addition to the daughter and granddaughter of Stephen C. Foster, there are yet residing in Pittsburgh of the Foster family the widow of Morrison Foster, Mrs. Rebecca Snowdon Foster, and her son and daughter.
The Foster monument in Highland Park to Stephen C. Foster is proof additional to the Stephen C. Foster Memorial Home that Pittsburgh reveres his memory.
