Francis Samuel Foster, nicknamed Frank, was born either in Jackson County, Ohio or Jasper County, Illinois, about 1854. He was the youngest son of Thomas Foster and Mary "Polly" Trexler. He and his brother Thomas Hartley Foster were close, and they spent the majority of their lives living in close proximity to each other, and sharing life's adventures. Frank's family had lived in Jackson County, Ohio. Frank's siblings William, Jonathan, Eliza (or Elizabeth), Sarah, Rachel, Catherine ("Kate"). Thomas Hartley, Job Craycraft, Evelline ("Eva") and John Vinton were all born in Ohio. Frank and his older sister Nancy may have been born in Jasper County after the family moved from Ohio. Frank was too young to serve in the Civil war, but three of his brothers did: William, Jonathan, and Job. William is buried here at Oretown Cemtery. Job is buried in Tillamook County also, but in the Gist Family Cemetery near Cloverdale. Jonathan On the immediate right of Tom's Frank's grave is brother Tom's grave. Brother William's grave that is immediately adjacent to the cemetery's flag pole, is to the right of Tom's grave. To the left of Frank's grave is the grave of his nephew, Arthur Garfield Foster, son of William. Civil War veteran Jonathan Foster was less than 20 years of age, when he was badly wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. He died in a hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Georgia. Jonathan is buried in a Union Civil War Cemetery in Chattanoogs, in grave #5,325. After the Civil War Tom, Frank and their first cousin Samuel Foster (son of Samuel, Jr, grandson of Samuel Sr, in Jasper County, IL) left Illinois on a high adventure. They took the transcontinental Union Pacific railway to California, then worked their way up through the gold fields in California, working as miners, laborers, tree fellers, and farm hands. Their goal was the US Land Office in Oregon City near the Columbia River, where each of them would put in a claim for free land in Oregon. Being on foot for so many miles in Northern California, they could learn about placer gold mining and what kinds of land lend themselves to the discovery of gold. Walking the length of Oregon provide opportunity to check out available lands on their way to the land office. Land aroun d Lebanon, Oregon was one of the specifi places they examined for possibility of placer gold. Tom, Frank and Sam's names are recorded all on the same day at the land office. The lands they chose were in the south part of Tillamook County, that included land touching the Nestucca and Little Nestucca Rivers. Tom and Frank learned about placer gold during the band's troup northward in 1878-1879. Frank's life-long occupation was a miner. At some point in Oregon, Frank married Esther E. Gist. They had no children. Estranged from his wife, Frank wrote a holographic will leaving his land to his nephew Arthur. The will was in Arthur's possession before Frank died. Due to the frequent trips Arthur made between Oregon and Illinois and return, he would leave the family's furniture stored in Frank's shed until his return to Oregon. He left the will in the drawer of his desk that had been stored in the shed. Sometime before Arthur needed the will, it had disappeared. Since no other will could be produced, Frank was considered to have died intestate. Frank's estate was eaten up by legal fees. Neither Esther nor Arthur received anything. In 1882 and both Tom and Frank were established on their own lands in Tillamook County, their 67 year old widowed mother rented out her Jasper County farm and went to Oregon. Ostensibly, it was to keep house for bachelor son Tom, but Polly Trexler Foster had a case of Oregon Fever that every member of her family had. Frank got to see his mother often during the time she lived in Oregon. She had taken the northern transcontinental train route to the Pacific Northwest, disembarking at Sheridan, Oregon. From there she took a stage on the muddy dirt across the coastal mountains to southern Tillamook County. She had been escorted to Sheridan by her son John Vinton Foster, who with his first wife Jennie and their very young daughter, were going to try making a new life in Yamhill County. Oregon. Ill-preared for his new start, John and his family suffered during the year they lived in Oregon. They returned to Illinois in 1883. By 1884 mother Mary Foster was ready to return to Illinois, except she would not be allowed to travel alone. Her son William was at home with his large family in Jasper County. He had caught Oregon Fever before he ever joined the Union Army in 1861. Now he had a chance at last to go to Oregon to fetch his mother home to Illinois. At the same time he could visit with his brothers Tom and Frank and also see Oregon for himself, to have a better idea of what it would take to move his entire family there in the future. After a month of traveling, William arrived in Sheridan during the second week in February, 1884. He had telegraphed his brother about his anticipated arrival date, so Tom could meet him at the train station in Sheridan. When Tom didn't show up, William decided to to walk the distance from Sheridan to Tillamook County, using the high old Indian trail that avoided rivers to cross. William was used to walking in Illinois, but not in snow. William did not know the effect the change in elevation over the moutains wold have on his seriously weakened heart. Tom could not make the journey eastward through the mountains because of a snow storm that had made the rutted mountain road impassable. As Will went over the Indian trail, he was caught in a heavy winter blizzard. His body was not found until three days later, only a few miles from Tom's home. William Foster's funeral was attended by his mother, and his brothers Tom and Frank. Cousin Sam was off somewhere on a restless adventure. Although gold was found in several distant Oregon counties, Tom and Frank never found gold on their river lands. Both Tom and Frank had many visitors through the years, as their Illinois kinfolk came to Oregon to scout out for themselves living conditions and how to get income. Frank died 24 Oct 1930 in Cloverdale.