Person:Thomas Foster (71)

2008-e-mail from Deana Erickson: Thomas and Daniel Foster were instrumental in the Revolutionary war. Thomas was there at the very beginnings of the war and planning for the war in Boston and Concord. He was injured and his son Daniel took his place, after he lied about his age just so he could fight. He fought with Lafayette and was given Lafayette's sword near the end of the war.

The Fosters were boot and shoe makers from Ipswich, MA. When Jesse and his brother, Solomon, a judge, moved to PA they started in Scranton then settled in Pottsville around the 1830s, still owning a boot and shoe factory and store. I believe that it may have been that they made the move because the coal industry was just beginningand the need for good shoes and boots would have givin them good business there. Jesse had a son, Frederick, that moved to Philadelphia where he had a rather large boot and shoe factory.

1. ↑ Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1910, 1919)
   1:149.

   Foster, Thomas, Capt. [s. Abraham and Sarah, dup.] [born] Aug. 11, 1724.

2. ↑ Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1910, 1919)
   2:560.

   Foster, Thomas, Capt., "West Parish", [died] Aug. --, 1789. [Aug. 22, CR3]