Edward Foster (abt. 1610 - bef. 1644)

Born about 1610 in England

Husband of Lettice (Hanford) Jenkins — married 8 Apr 1635 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died before 22 Feb 1644 before about age 34 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony

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Edward Foster migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 1, p. 690) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Parentage; Date and Place of Birth

Edward Foster's parentage and origin are unknown. Anderson states that his origin is unknown and does not discuss his parentage.^[1] Based on the date of his marriage (1635), he was probably born sometime in 1606-1614, presumably in England. Based on his date of marriage, Anderson states that Edward was probably born about 1610.^[1]

Cutter states that Edward was the son of a man named Timothy Foster and born in Kent, England;^[2] however, no evidence was provided for either part of that assertion and none has been found. A search on familysearch.org and ancestry.com finds no birth or baptismal records for either an Edward Foster, son of Timothy Foster, born in England in 1600-1615 or an Edward Foster born in Kent, England in 1600-15. In the absence of reasonable corroborative evidence, Cutter's assertions that Edward was the son of a Timothy Foster and his assertion that Edward was born in Kent must be viewed as unsupported. (Cutter also states that Elgin (Hatherly) Hanford married Timothy Foster, and was Edward's step-mother, which is almost certainly incorrect. See discussion in the profile for Elgin (Hatherly) Sillis)

Some family trees state that Edward was baptized on January 24, 1590/1 in Frittenden, Kent. There is indeed a record of an Edward Foster, son of a John Foster, being baptized in Frittenden on that date.^[3] However, there is no reason to believe that that record relates to this profile's Edward Foster, and the fact that that date of baptism is a full 20 years before Edward's estimated date of birth based on his date of marriage suggests that it does not.

Immigration; Settlement in Scituate

Anderson states that he migrated to New England in 1632.^[1] He settled initially in Plymouth for a few years. He was included in a list of Plymouth residents in 1632.^[4] He soon moved to Sciituate, however, and was one of nine who had built houses in that town prior to September 1634.^[1]

Marriage and Children

Edward and Lettice Hanford were married on April 8, 1635 by Captain Standish at Mr. Cudworth's in Scituate.^[5][1]

Edward and Lettice had the following children, all baptized in Scituate:

1. Timothy, bpt. March 7, 1635/6 in Scituate,^[6][7][1] buried December 5, 1637^[8][1]
2. Timothy, bpt. April 22, 1638 in Scituate,^[6][9][1] m. 1st October 13, 1663 Ruth (Tileston) Denton in Dorchester,^[1] m. 2d March 9, 1681/2 Relief (Holland) Dowse in Dorchester^[1] Savage states that this Timothy died soon and another was born in 1640, but no evidence for this appears.^[1]
3. Elizabeth, b.1644 in Scituate, m. 1st November 9,1665 Ephraim Huet in Scituate, m. 2d January 17, 1681/2 James Ray in Hingham, d. February 15, 1683 in Hingham

Will, Death and Estate

Edward made his will on November 24, 1643. In his will, he names his wife Lettice as executrix and bequeaths one-third of his lands to his son Timothy at age twenty-one, one -third to his unborn child, and one-third to his wife.^[1][10] Edward died sometime after the date of his will and February 22, 1643/4 when the inventory of his estate was taken.^[1][10]

Chronology of Records

• 1632. Appears on list of residents of Plymouth^[4]
• 1633. Assessed 9s in Plymouth tax of March 25, 1633^[1]
• 1634. Assessed 9s in Plymouth tax list of March 27, 1634^[1]
• 1637. Admitted as a Freeman on January 3, 1636/7^[1]
• 1637. Member of Plymouth grand jury of January 3, 1636/7^[1]
• 1637. Included in list of Freemen dated March 7, 1636/7^[1]
• 1637. Member of Plymouth grand jury of March 7, 1636/7^[1]
• 1637. Member of committee to assess charge for sending soldiers against the Pequots, June 7, 1637^[1]
• 1637. Edward Forster of Scituate assessed 12d for selling less than a Winchester quart for 2d^[1]
• 1638. As one of the freemen of Scituate who petitioned Plymouth court on January 1, 1637/8 for a grant of land, he was included among those who were given "all that upland & neck of land lying between the North & South Rivers" along with some meadow^[1]
• 1638. Member of Plymouth grand jury of September 4, 1638^[1]
• 1639. One of a committee of eight Scituate men granted "a plantaion called Seppekann, and the land thereabouts, for the seating of a township for a congregation there," January 22, 1638/9^[1]
• 1639. Scituate member of colony committee to survey highways, March 5, 1638/9^[1]
• 1639. Deputy for Scituate to Plymouth General Court, June 4, 1639^[1]
• 1639. In Scituate section of 1639 list of Plymouth Colony freemen
• 1640. Member of Plymouth grand jury of March 3, 1639/40^[1]
• 1640. Deputy for Scituate to Plymouth General Court, June 2, 1640^[1]
• 1640. Committee to lay out lands at Scituate, November 30, 1640^[1]
• 1641. Deputy for Scituate to Plymouth General Court, June 1, 1641^[1]
• 1643. On June 2, 1643 sold to George Russell of Hingham "my lot of land both marsh land & upland lying in Scituate at the first herring brook . . . being ten acres more or less^[1]
• 1643. In Scituate section of 1643 Plymouth list of men able to bear arms^[1]

^{[6] [8] [5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [9] [7]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32} Anderson, Robert Charles, "Edward Foster," The Great Migration Begins, Vol 1, A-F, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, p 690-2 American Ancestors (subscription)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} William Richard Cutter, "New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial," Vol 4, 1915, p. 1784
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Tyler Collection, The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies; Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874, Frittenden, Foster
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Scituate and Barnstable Church Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 9 (1855), p 286
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} "Scituate and Barnstable Church Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 9 (1855), p 281
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5N7-FJN : 4 December 2014), Edward Foster in entry for Timothy Foster, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 0014791, 0496902 IT 1.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "Scituate and Barnstable Church Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 9 (1855), p 285
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5N7-FJV : 4 December 2014), Edward Foster in entry for Timothy Foster, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 0014791, 0496902 IT 1.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G97D-V3M6  : 5 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 70 of 616; State Archives, Boston. Page 60-61