WILLIAM A. FOSTER

FOSTER, SAVAGE, PATTERSON

Posted By: Norma Nielson (email)
Date: 5/16/2004 at 16:46:09

"William A. Foster is a resident farmer of Lee township, living on section 30. He was born in Bureau county, Illinois, August 15, 1872, a son of william and Matilda (Savage) Foster, both of whom were natives of Ireland, where they were reared and married. In the fall of 1871 they came to the United States and established their home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they remained for a short time. They then removed westward, taking up their abode in Bureau county, Illinois, after passing through Chicago where the ruins of the great file were still smouldering. They lived in Bureau county until March, 1879, when they made their way to Adair county, Iowa, settling in Richmond township, where Mr. Foster purchased eighty acres of land. Two years later he removed to Lee township and bought eight acres on section 27. At a still later date he purchased an adjoining farm of eighty acres and in 1892 he removed to Greenfield, where his death occurred on the 16th of December, 1914. The success he achieved was the merited reward of his well directed labors. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Greenfield.

William A. Foster supplemented a district-school education by a business course in the Capital City Commercial College at Des Moines and when his textbooks were put aside he returned home. His father after removing to Greenfield engaged in the livery business and William A. Foster being an only child remained at home and assisted his father in the conduct of the enterprise.

In 1900 Mr. Foster was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Patterson, a daughter of Jacob A. Patterson, one of the pioneer settlers of Greenfield township who survives and makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Foster who, after their marriage, removed to a farm in Lee township owned by his father. There they lived for one year and then took up their abode upon their present farm. The place comprises two hundred and sixteen acres of excellent land lying one and a half miles south of the corporation limits of Greenfield and constituting one of the valuable farms of Lee township. It is equipped with the latest accessories and conveniences of the model farm and he uses the best improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields. He leads a busy life from the time of early spring planting until crops are harvested in the late autumn andthat his methods are at once practical and progressive is shown by the excellent results that are attending his efforts. He not only sends large crops to market each year but has also become interested in other business affairs, being ow a stockholder in the First National Bank of Greenfield and in the Greenfield Creamery Company.

To Mr. and Mrs. Foster have been born three children, William A., Donald A. and Esther M. Mrs. Foster is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Foster has membership in Greenfield Lodge, No. 386, A. F. & A. M. He votes with the republican party where national issues are involved but otherwise casts an independent ballot if his judgment dictates this to be the proper course. He is a member of the present board of trustees, serving his third term in that position and he is also a member of the school board. It is easy to secure his cooperation in ay plan or project for the general good. His watchword is advancement and he applies it to his connection with public affairs as well as to his private interests. Year by year he has advanced not only in the attainment of success but in his outlook of life and he is regarded as a broad-minded, public-spirited citizen."

Source: The "History of Adair County Iowa and its People," Volume II. (Chicago, The Pioneer Publishing Company) 1915.