The original surname for Lydia's family is open to some debate. Lydia's grandfather, Samuel Forster (1757-1846) was named "Forster" in his will, the same surname being used in that will to name his children. Lydia's father, Thomas, is Forster on his gravestone. However, official documents, including census forms and marriage records, and public sources, such as obituaries, typically reported the family as "Foster". It appears that Samuel's children who remained in Harrison County, Indiana, typically went by "Foster", while those who moved to Knox and Mercer Counties in Illinois went by "Forster". Thomas' male children used "Forster", except for one son, Silas, who moved on to Oregon along with his mother (Thomas' wife), who both used "Foster". In Lydia's case we have the benefit of a letter written to her in 1848 from a friend still living in Indiana: it was addressed to Lydia "Forster". Before widespread written records, this may have been a case of pronunciation or of expectation on the part of the person recording a transaction. There is a "Foster" single name study on Family Tree DNA, and it will be interesting to see what variations testing might reveal.
The original surname for Lydia's family is open to some debate. Lydia's grandfather, Samuel Forster (1757-1846) was named "Forster" in his will, the same surname being used in that will to name his children. Lydia's father, Thomas, is Forster on his gravestone. However, official documents, including census forms and marriage records, and public sources, such as obituaries, typically reported the family as "Foster". It appears that Samuel's children who remained in Harrison County, Indiana, typically went by "Foster", while those who moved to Knox and Mercer Counties in Illinois went by "Forster". Thomas' male children used "Forster", except for one son, Silas, who moved on to Oregon along with his mother (Thomas' wife), who both used "Foster". In Lydia's case we have the benefit of a letter written to her in 1848 from a friend still living in Indiana: it was addressed to Lydia "Forster". Before widespread written records, this may have been a case of pronunciation or of expectation on the part of the person recording a transaction. There is a "Foster" single name study on Family Tree DNA, and it will be interesting to see what variations testing might reveal.
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