Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Hon. Henry Donnell Foster and Mary Jane Young


Husband Hon. Henry Donnell Foster 1 2 3 

           Born: 19 Dec 1808 - Mercer, Mercer Co, PA 1 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 16 Oct 1880 - Irwin, Westmoreland Co, PA 4 5
         Buried:  - St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA


         Father: Samuel Blair Foster (1774-1831) 2 3 6 7
         Mother: Elizabeth Donnell (1785-1829) 2 3 6


       Marriage:

Wife Mary Jane Young 5 8 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 16 Oct 1872 4
         Buried: 


         Father: Judge John Young (1762-1840) 9
         Mother: Statira Barclay (      -      ) 10


Children
1 F Mary DeCharms Foster 4 5 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: F. Z. Schellenberg, Esq. (      -      ) 4

2 F Elizabeth Donnell Foster 4 5 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Capt. A. K. Long (      -      ) 4

3 F Francis Forrester "Fannie" Foster 4 5 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: when seventeen years old
         Buried:  - St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

4 F Emily F. Foster 4 5 12 

            AKA: Emma Foster 11
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Francis A. "Frank" Happer (1848-Aft 1893) 4 12 13

5 F Hetty Barclay Foster 4 5 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: George C. Hewett, Esq. (      -      ) 4

General Notes: Husband - Hon. Henry Donnell Foster


He received his education at a college in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He came to Greensburg in 1826, and began the study of law in the office of his uncle, Alexander W. Foster. He often spoke during his lifetime of the following incident, which first determined him to become a lawyer. When about ten years of age, while living in Mercer, he attended court one day for the purpose of hearing his father making a speech in an important case on which he was then engaged. His father's brilliant and eloquent address so touched the heart and imagination of young Foster that he fully made up his mind on leaving the court-house to become a lawyer also, like his father, and to emulate him in his fame.
He completed his law studies under his uncle's instructions, and was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County on the 26th of August, 1829, when not quite twenty-one years of age. His certificate of admission to the bar shows that he was examined by John B. Alexander, E. B. McCabe, and Joseph H. Kuhns, Esq., and who on examination recommended him as qualified for admission. His ability as a lawyer was soon recognized, and he rapidly rose to the highest ranks in his profession. He became thoroughly devoted to his profession, and the allurements of political life were not strong enough to make him neglect his legal studies. He was the lawyer and the jurist combined in one, the practitioner as well as the expounder of the law. His mind was an eminently legal one, which, combined with an unerring judgment and an incisive manner, made him a formidable opponent in a lawsuit. He had no liking for criminal cases, but when he was engaged in one he invariably took the side of the defense. Many incidents are related of his habits as a lawyer, of the remarkable insight he had into the character of men, and his ability to handle them. His power over a jury was considered phenomenal, and very few cared to oppose him before a jury. He had an extensive practice and might have become wealthy, but was prevented by his extreme liberality to the needy and to his friends. He was generous to a fault. In him the oppressed found a defender, the wronged an advocate, the poor a dispenser of alms.
Judge Gibson, Judge Thompson, and H. D. Foster were said to be the three great land-lawyers in Pennsylvania. Judge Gibson has been heard to say that he regarded Mr. Foster as the greatest land-lawyer in the State.
No man in the State made a better reputation as a statesman than Mr. Foster. He took a commanding position from the time he first entered the political arena. When yet a young man, as far back as 1828, he was noted for his stanch support of the Jackson Democracy. He was three times elected to Congress, and twice defeated. He first served in the Congress of 1842, again in 1844, and for the last time in 1870. He ran for Congress in 1866, but was defeated, and again in 1868, when the returns showed a majority in his favor, but the seat was contested by Mr. Covode, his opponent, who succeeded in preventing him from taking his seat. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature during the sessions of 1857 and 1858, and in 1860 was the Democratic candidate for Governor, his successful competitor being Andrew G. Curtin. It was during this campaign that he had his controversy with Stephen A. Douglas, who wanted Mr. Foster to take sides against Breckenridge, which Mr. Foster refused to do. Breckenridge was a cousin of Mr. Foster. This fact had, however, nothing to do with his position in that famous contest.
Mr. Foster's career in Congress was a notable one. It is said that on the occasion of his famous speech on the tariff question, in 1846, he was warmly congratulated by John Quincy Adams, who made the remark that Foster "was the coming man." In the tariff debates of that day he left a record of which any Pennsylvanian might be proud. His bold, manly, clear, and convincing arguments against Mr. Homes, of South Carolina, to repeal the duty on railroad iron is a master-piece in itself, both in point of close reasoning and logical adduction, while it demonstrated the fact that he was thoroughly imbued with a sense of the great importance of the iron industries of the State. The tariff then in force was the highly protective tariff of 1842. Bills were introduced in Congress to repeal or modify it and adopt a universal ad valorem principle.
Mr. Foster was offered a number of times, during the period his party was in the majority in this State, the nomination for the judgeship of the Supreme Bench, which he always refused. His only ambition, if, indeed, he had ambition outside the realms of the law, was to become a United States senator. He was supported for the Senate by that wing of the democracy which refused to support John W. Forney for that position. This defection in the democratic ranks resulted in the election of Simon Cameron. Senator Cameron was always an admirer of Mr. Foster, and after his nomination for the governorship he offered him a present of a thousand dollars to help pay his election expenses, remarking, as he made the offer, that though opposed to him in politics he liked him, and wanted to serve him. Mr. Foster, of course, refused to accept the gift. In times of great danger to his party he was always selected as the one of the few men who could secure victory to its banners.
He was a man universally loved and respected; his manners were always gentle and attractive, which made him hosts of friends wherever he went. He was the soul of honor, and his life was without stain or reproach.
In personal appearance he was prepossessing and very gentlemanly. He was of medium height, very erect and active. His countenance was of a benevolent type, and an affable expression always dwelt upon it, and lighted it up with a glow that no vicissitudes of fortune, no asperity of political contests, no malevolence ever changed. His eyes were light blue and intellectual in expression, though mild as those of a child. His forehead at sixty-five was without a wrinkle,-"on his brow shame was ashamed to sit." The shape of his head indicated a more than ordinary capacity of mind. His hair, dark in his younger days, turned gray, and then white as he reached old age, he wore in a negligent fashion which became him well. [HWC 1882, 326]

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Sources

1 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 324.

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 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 327.

5 Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: John M. Gresham & Co., 1890.), Pg 393.

6 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 326.

7 —, Proceedings of the Celebration of the First Centennial of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Franklin, PA: The Venango County Bar Association, 1905), Pg 59.

8 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 327, 332.

9 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 303, 326, 332.

10 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 303, 332.

11 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 504.

12 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 550.

13 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 23, 504.

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