William Barclay Foster (1779 - 1855)

Born 7 Sep 1779 in Berkeley County, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Eliza Clayland (Tomlinson) Foster — married 14 Nov 1807 in Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 27 Jul 1855 at age 75 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Robert Harrison [send private message]

Biography

William Foster is Notable.

William Foster lived in Appalachia, in Pennsylvania.

Foster also served three terms in the Pennsylvania State Legislature and was the first collector for the Pennsylvania Canal, a position that led him to move to Allegheny City, where he twice served as mayor. During a business trip to Philadelphia, William met Eliza Clayland Tomlinson (1788-1855) while she was visiting family, and they went on to get married on November 14, 1807 in Chambersburg, PA. From there, the Fosters traveled by horseback to Pittsburgh, where they settled for the remainder of their lives. In 1814, William bought a tract of land on a hillside overlooking the Allegheny River, laying out the plans two years later for the town of Lawrenceville, which he named after Naval Captain James Lawrence who died heroically during the War of 1812. William is identified as the founding father of Lawrenceville.

The Fosters had ten children, the youngest being Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864), who went on to become the preeminent songwriter of the 19th century in the United States and is acknowledged as the "father of American music." William & Eliza Foster both died in 1855, Eliza passing within a few months after her husband.

Sources

• 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850"
  citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
  FamilySearch Record: M44C-QVM (accessed 26 September 2022)
  FamilySearch Image: S3HT-DRRQ-PCN Image number 00373
  Wm Foster (70) in Allegheny Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States. Born in Virginia.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7989577/william-barclay-foster: accessed 26 September 2022), memorial page for William Barclay Foster (7 Sep 1779–27 Jul 1855), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7989577, citing Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Dottie Smith Kunselman (contributor 47205661) .

See Also:

• Wikipedia: William Barclay Foster
• Wikidata: Item Q21010523, en:Wikipedia
• PBS [1]
• Geni [2]
• HOWARD, John Tasker (1890-1964). Stephen Foster, America's Troubadour. New York: Tudor Publishing Company, 1940. (https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/composer-stephen-foster-s-parents-eliza-william-barclay-foster-half-plate-daguerreotype-plus-4029668)

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Steven Marsden for starting this profile.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Steven and others.