Foster, Mrs. J. Ellen

FOSTER, HORTON

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Date: 2/21/2003 at 13:28:21

Foster
A short biography from 1895 reads;
"Possibly no other woman, unless it may be Mrs. Lease, of Kansas, exercises the direct influence upon politics that Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, of Iowa, does. She is a striking figure in her field, even more so because she is not absolutely controlled by some ism, but thinks for herself and acts accordingly. She has been an important factor in more than one state election. She was born in Lowell, Mass., November 3, 1840, and is the daughter of Rev. Jotham Horton, a Methodist preacher. She was educated in Lima, N. Y., and moved to Clinton, Ia., where, in 1869, she became the wife of D. E. Foster, a lawyer. She studied law and was admitted to practice, engaged in a business at first alone, eventually joined with her husband. Eventually she engaged in the temperance movement, in which she soon became a prominent figure. As superintendent of the legislative department of the W. C. T. U., she acquired a national reputation. In 1887 she visited England, where she made a study of the temperance question, and where, in England, she addressed great audiences. In the United States she has always been independent as to what should be the best course to pursue in temperance movements as to making connection with any of the great political bodies. As a a result she has not always been in the closest affiliation with her own organization, but has, none the less, become a power politically, and has, perhaps, done as effective work toward general temperance as any woman in the world, though the lines upon which she has worked have not been such as the leaders of the W. C. T. U. have always agreed upon. She has been broader, however, and has had the courage of her convictions. She is a remarkable woman." (Source: Unknown)

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