Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

FOSTER, FORSTER, FOSTOR

I have another line of descent from Reginald Foster (1595 – before 1681), an early immigrant to Ipswich, Massachusetts. You can read all about this lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/surname-saturday-foster-of-ipswich.html

Today’s sketch is about Bartholemew Foster, (about 1646 – 1689), my 8^th great grandfather, an early settler at Gloucester, Massachusetts – which is located very near Ipswich with my other line of FOSTERs.  He was the brother of Thomas Foster who settled in New London, Connecticut.  In 1669 he married Hannah VERY and also bought a house lot on what is now Front Street in Gloucester.   He owned a sloop (mentioned in his will) and was a mariner.  Apparently it was rare for a mariner in Gloucester (at this time period) to own property, and this fact was mentioned both in the Foster compiled genealogy book and in the History of Gloucester by Babson.

The Foster family was blessed with sons.  I found ten sons listed in the births for Gloucester, Massachusetts, and eight of those sons were mentioned in his will, along with his wife, Hannah.  They had no daughters.

I descend from Bartholemew’s youngest son, Benjamin (my 7^th great grandfather), who was born just a few months before his father Bartholemew’s death in 1689.  My 8^th great grandmother, Hannah (Very) Foster, remarried to Thomas Sawyer (b. 1674).  He was the great grandson of John Sawyer (1582 – 1660) and Agnes Sharpe of England, who was also my 9^th great grandfather.   You can read all about my Sawyer lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-sawyer-of-lancaster.html

My FOSTER lineage daughters out early with Lucy (Foster) Younger.  Benjamin Foster’s daughter Lucy (b. 1723) married William Younger of Gloucester.  They had four children, and I descend from their son Levi Younger (1756 – 1806), a mariner in Gloucester, my 6^th great grandparents.

Some FOSTER resources:

The Foster Genealogies, by Frederick C. Pierce, page 60 and page 1015

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Volume 1

The History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, by John James Babson, page 94

The Genealogist, Volume 17: 96-108, 234 – 248.

The Foster family sketch, in Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Ancient New Haven. 1974, 3:620.

My FOSTER genealogy:

Generation 1:  Bartholemew Foster, born about 1640, died on 5 December 1689 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 9 September 1668 in Gloucester to Hannah Very, the daughter of Thomas Very and Hannah Gyles.  Ten children.

Generation 2:  Benjamin Foster, born 13 September 1689 in Gloucester; married on 23 August 1711 in Gloucester to Susanna Andrews, daughter of Ralph Andrews and Abigail Very (sister to Hannah Very above).  Eight children.

Generation 3:  Lucy Foster, born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester; married on 6 March 1750 in Gloucester to William Younger.  Four children.

Generation 4:  Levi Younger m. Mary Wotten

Generation 5:  Levi Younger, Jr. m. Catharine Plummer Jones

Generation 6:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 7: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder.

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 9:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 31, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-foster-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]).