Samuel Blair Foster and Elizabeth Donnell
Husband Samuel Blair Foster 1 2 3 4
Born: 1774 - West Chester, Chester Co, PA 3 Christened: Died: 4 Mar 1831 - ? Mercer, Mercer Co, PA Buried: - Old Mercer Cemetery, Mercer, Mercer Co, PA
Father: Rev. William Foster (1740-1780) 2 5 6 7 Mother: Hannah Van Hook Blair (Abt 1745-1810) 2 8
Marriage: 1802 9
Wife Elizabeth Donnell 1 2 3
Born: 1785 Christened: Died: 1829 Buried: - Old Mercer Cemetery, Mercer, Mercer Co, PA
Father: Judge John Donnell ( - ) 1 9 Mother:
Children
1 M William A. Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Maria Hurst ( - ) 3
2 F Imilda Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: when seven years old Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
3 M Hon. Henry Donnell Foster 2 3 7
Born: 19 Dec 1808 - Mercer, Mercer Co, PA 2 7 Christened: Died: 16 Oct 1880 - Irwin, Westmoreland Co, PA 10 11 Buried: - St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PASpouse: Mary Jane Young ( -Abt 1872) 11 12
4 F Margaret H. Foster 3
Born: 10 Dec 1809 3 Christened: Died: Aft 1888 Buried:Spouse: James P. Rogers ( -1883) 3 Marr: 1835 3
5 F Hannah B. Foster 13
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: William M. Stephenson (1808-1861) 13
6 M Samuel B. Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: while young Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
7 F Jane Eliza Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: when twenty-three years old Buried:
8 F Caroline Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: Aft 1888 Buried:Spouse: Hon. Samuel Griffith ( -Aft 1888) 3
9 M James A. Foster 3
Born: Christened: Died: Bef 1888 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co, UT Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Samuel Blair Foster
Per stone in Old Mercer Cemetery, he was born in 1773.
He was the oldest son of the Rev. William Foster, and studied for the ministry at Princeton College, but never preached. He afterwards studied law with his brother, Alexander W. Foster, and became an eminent lawyer in Mercer County. He was one of the most brilliant lawyers in the state of Pennsylvania; his eloquence and ability were of a most striking character. He was profoundly versed in the law, and his counsel was much sought after by those who had intricate law cases. His career, although so short, was remarkably brilliant. He died at the early age of forty years. [HWC 1882, 326]
He was one of the attornies admitted to the first court in Mercer, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1804, a younger brother of Alexander W. Foster, under whom he read law. He graduated from Princeton College, New Jersey. By a competent member of the Meadville bar he is said to have been a man "possessed of a fine classical education, high legal attainments, and great reasoning power, clear and forcible in argument, and often very eloquent before a jury." He came from West Chester to Meadville as the agent of the Holland Land Company, and subsequently removed to Mercer, where he practiced until the day of his death.
He was educated at Princeton College; studied law under the direction of his brother, Alexander W. Foster, and in 1796, with the other members of the Foster family, removed to Cussewago, later Meadville, and was there associated with his brother as agent of the Holland Land Company until 1799. In October, 1800, he was admitted to the bar of Crawford County. On the organization of the Courts of Mercer County he removed to and permanently settled in the town of Mercer and was there admitted to the bar. Subsequently, on June 17, 1806, he was admitted to the Venango bar. The reports of the Supreme Court show that he argued cases in that Court from all the counties between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, and it is said that he occasionally appeared in neighboring Courts of Ohio. His appearance in the Venango Courts were numerous enough to give him standing as a member of that bar. Mr. Reynolds says he "possessed high legal attainments and a fine classical education." Some years ago an aged lady gave a vivid account of an address made by him before a jury in Mercer at the close of which, she said, "there was not a dry eye in the crowded Court room." He was terse and clear in argument, and eloquent and impressive. There is a tradition yet current that he was a most fascinating conversationalist.
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth Donnell
from Meadville, Crawford Co, PA
1 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 326.
2 Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: John M. Gresham & Co., 1890.), Pg 392.
3 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 252.
4 —, Proceedings of the Celebration of the First Centennial of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Franklin, PA: The Venango County Bar Association, 1905), Pg 59.
5 Alex. Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1872), Pg 211.
6 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 483.
7 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 324.
8 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 325.
9 —, Proceedings of the Celebration of the First Centennial of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Franklin, PA: The Venango County Bar Association, 1905), Pg 60.
10 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 327.
11 Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: John M. Gresham & Co., 1890.), Pg 393.
12 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 327, 332.
13
—, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 252, 261.
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