John
Watson
Foster
Born in Petersburg, Pike, Indiana, United States
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Mary Parke (McFerson) Foster
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Edith (Foster) Dulles and Eleanor (Foster) Lansing
Died
at age 81
in Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 15 Dec 2014
This page has been accessed 997 times.
Biography
John Foster is Notable.
| Preceded by James G. Blaine |
U.S. Secretary of State June 29, 1892 – February 23, 1893 |
Succeeded by Walter Q. Gresham |
Foster was born on March 2, 1836, in Petersburg, Indiana, and raised in Evansville, Indiana. He was the son of Matthew Watson, an Indiana farmer, and the former Eleanor Foster (née Johnson). He graduated from the fledgling Indiana University in 1855 and then attended Harvard Law School. Foster moved to Cincinnati, passed the bar, and practiced law until 1861, when he joined the Union Army as a major. Foster rose to the rank of colonel in 1864.
Following his military duty, Foster returned to Indiana politics, was appointed Evansville Postmaster in 1869, and worked to build support for the re-election of Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.
In return for his campaign work, Foster served as Minister to Mexico between 1873 and 1880. He then served as Minister to Russia from 1880 to 1881. After a brief return to private practice, Foster assumed duties as Minister to Spain in 1883 and served until 1885, whereupon he again returned to private practice and served as counsel representing foreign diplomatic legations in the United States.
In 1892, President Harrison appointed Foster as Secretary of State.
From the Wikipedia article:
John Watson Foster (March 2, 1836 – November 15, 1917) was an American diplomat and military officer, as well as lawyer and journalist. His highest public office was U.S. Secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison, although he also proved influential as a lawyer in technically private practice in the international relations sphere.
Research Notes
His alleged parents were Matthew Wason Foster and Elanor Johnson.
Sources
See also:
- Wikipedia: John_W._Foster
- Wikidata: Item Q703642, en:Wikipedia
- Find A Grave: Memorial #6856977
- Biographies of the Secretaries of State: John Watson Foster (1836–1917), United States Department of State.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:
-
~3.12%
Peter Jebsen
:
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch GU8345225 [compare], Ancestry member peterjebsenn
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Rejected matches › John Foster (1838-) › John C Foster (abt.1834-) › John Foster (1835-) › John Edwards Foster (1835-1917) › John M. Foster (1837-)
Featured National Park champion connections: John is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 19 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 13 degrees from George Catlin, 16 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 26 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 14 degrees from George Grinnell, 27 degrees from Anton Kröller, 13 degrees from Stephen Mather, 23 degrees from Kara McKean, 18 degrees from John Muir, 18 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 27 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
F > Foster > John Watson Foster
Categories: US Secretaries of State | 25th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, United States Civil War | 65th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, United States Civil War | 136th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), United States Civil War | US Ambassadors to Russia | US Ambassadors to Spain | Notables