With son John in 1850
MRS. ANN FOSTER.
"Mrs. Ann Foster, wife of Rev. David Foster, was, before her marriage, Miss Ann Beard. She was the daughter of Captain David Beard. Her mother's original name was Isabel Carson. Her father and mother were both Virginians. Captain Beard was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and bore an active part in the battle of Guilford Court House and in the siege of Yorktown. He was, I suppose, a native of Bedford county, in Virginia, as I have learned from the family history that his father lived and died in that county, and I have never been able to trace the lineage of the family farther up.
"Captain Beard was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and connected in Virginia with one of the congregations of Rev. David Rice, who afterwards became the father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and was doubtless baptized by Mr. Rice. Sometime about 1784 her father moved from Virginia to the West, and made his final settlement in Sumner county, Tennessee, about six miles from where Gallatin now stands. He and his family, as far as they were professors of religion, connected themselves with Shiloh congregation, which was successively under the pastoral care of Revs. Thomas B. Craighead, William McGee, and William Hodge. Shiloh became historical in the old revival of 1800. That work reached the congregation early in the century, and the pastor, Mr. Hodge, became one of its most active supporters. In that revival Captain Beard himself, after a long and terrible experience (in the course of which, from despair of his spiritual condition's ever being improved, he was often driven to the borders of suicide), made a second profession of religion. The daughter, Ann, soon became an earnest inquirer for what had come to seem the new way. She appears, as tradition represents her, to have been a very thoughtful young women. She was hard to satisfy with her spiritual condition, and had a long and doubtful struggle for such evidences of a spiritual renewal as she desired. The writer recollects to have heard her say, perhaps more than once, that at one of the camp-meetings at Shiloh, in the early part of the revival, Mr. Craighead conversed with her frequently, and tried to convince her that she was a Christian. Her own account of the matter was, that she knew well enough that she was not. The good man was, no doubt, honest, and many persons would have accepted his decision, and acted upon it; but she was too earnest to be satisfied with a shadow. In process of time, however, she passed out from under the cloud. It was a real transition--a conversion characteristic of the times. There never was a more earnest Christian woman. Her influence began to be felt immediately, and, considering her social position, it was evidently to a wide extent.
"Her marriage to Mr. Foster was a marriage, as I used to hear it mentioned in our family, based upon Christian principles. I have heard old Mr. Foster, too, the father of David Foster, speak of it. He was one of the best of old men. David Foster had just fairly entered the ministry. He thought of marrying, but times were stormy. He had taken a stand with what became the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. But their prospects were very dark. There were pressing calls for preaching, but the preachers had no encouragement. He consulted his father on the subject of his thoughts. The good old man admitted the darkness of the prospect, was not sure that a young preacher, under such circumstances, ought to marry, but decided, if his mind was to marry, that there was one woman who would suit him, and that to a marriage with her he could give his cordial consent. That woman was the subject of this sketch. The families were neighbors, and well acquainted. They were in mutual sympathy on the subject of religion. It was a "marriage in the Lord." Rev. William Hodge was the officiating minister. It was the first marriage that the writer ever witnessed. It occurred far back in his early boyhood. Mr. Foster bought a little farm and settled near his father in Sumner county.
"In the course of a very few years--two or three, perhaps-- he was called to the charge of some congregations in Wilson county. He moved and settled in Suggs' Creek congregation. Here the real work of his life and of that of his wife commenced. He preached to three congregations about nine months in the years, and the other three months were spent, according to the custom of the times, in attending camp-meetings. These often took him far from home, and sometimes three or four weeks in succession. The wife had the burden of the home to bear. She was always frail, yet she administered the affairs of her household with a patience, an earnestness and a heroism which deserved the crown of martyrdom. I was accustomed occasionally to spend months in succession at her house, and I have no recollection of ever seeing a hired female domestic in her family. Indeed, for some years her house was a sort of second home, and she was a sort of second mother to me. I was, therefore, well acquainted with her burdens, and the manner in which she bore them. At one time, in the latter part of 1824, I was in an almost hopeless state of health, and retreated to Mr. Foster's for rest and recuperation for a while. In the time under medical direction, a portion of calomel brought on one of the worst cases of salivation that I ever witnessed. My good aunt was my nurse, and she was indefatigable in her attentions. By day or by night, when necessary, she was at my bed-side, ready to afford what relief was possible. All this, too was in addition to her own household cares.
"After Mr. Foster moved to Illinois, I think I never saw his wife. In addition to his removal my own line of life changed. From being a traveling preacher I was driven, by a failure of health, to the school room, and of course was very much confined. Of her latter days, therefore, I knew nothing. I have no doubt, however, that they were the days of an earnest Christian woman. It could scarcely have been otherwise.
"There was one feature in Mrs. Foster's religious life which was too distinctly marked to be overlooked in a sketch like this. She sometimes, as long as I knew her, under the influence of high religious excitement, would break silence, and not merely shout aloud, but exhort her friends and by-standards. Her exhortations, too, were not the mere incoherent ravings of an unbridled imagination, but they were conceived and expressed with an astonishing degree of correctness. Ordinarily she was a woman of few words, and her intelligence was not above what might have been expected in a woman raised as she was, and having the limited advantages in future life which she had; but on the occasions of which I speak she always transcended herself. The people sometimes said that when she threw aside her respect for the rules of order she was a better preacher than her husband. The hearer involuntarily lost sight of the irregularity of the proceeding under the influence of tender and powerful appeals in behalf of the truth. Her case, however, was not an isolated one. We had other mothers in Israel who threw themselves as earnestly and as decidedly into the great work of the times. We witnessed without offiense these outpourings of earnest hearts, which, we were satisfied from other sources, were right in the sight of God. I suppose myself that the Savior accepted them upon the same principle that led him to the acceptance of the hosannahs of the multitude at the descent of the Mount of Olives, when he replied to the murmuring Pharisees, 'I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the very stones would immediately cry out.'
"Let it not be said that I have become an advocate for irregularities and disorders in the house of God. I acknowledge the authority of Paul in its fullest sense. We all acknowledge the necessity and authority of general rules; yet it sometimes happens that the very interest and expressiveness of a proceeding arise, in a great measure, from its departure from all rules, and from its overlooking all precedents. I place the proceedings which I have mentioned in this category.
"It affords me great satisfaction to be thus able, even at this late day, to render a tribute, however imperfect, to the memory of one of the best Christian women that I ever knew, and of one of the best and sincerest friends of my youth and early manhood."
[Source: Logan, J. B. History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Illinois, Containing Sketches of the First Ministers, Churches, Presbyteries and Synods; also a History of Missions, Publication and Education. Alton, Ill.: Perrin & Smith, 1878, pages 133-138.]
1 David J FOSTER, Rev (CPC) b: May 04, 1780 in Rowan Co NC d: May 09, 1833 in bur Madison Co IL
+Ann "Fanny" BEARD b: February 10, 1780 in VA d: Aft 1850 in MT Zion, Macon Co IL m: July 01, 1806 in Sumner Co TN (or 26 June)
2 Robert FOSTER b: July 04, 1807 in Sumner Co TN d: Aft 1845
+Margaret UNKNOWN b: February 23, 1809 m: Abt 1827
*2nd Wife of Robert Foster:
+Nancy GARRISON b: October 29, 1810 m: December 23, 1845
2 John Carson FOSTER b: November 07, 1809 in Sumner Co TN d: December 06, 1858 in IL
+Emily Isabel MONTGOMERY b: February 05, 1808 d: 1835 m: September 13, 1831 in Macon Co IL
*2nd Wife of John Carson Foster:
+Mary DONNEL b: Abt 1810 in TN d: August 1876 m: September 16, 1847
2 William Calhoun FOSTER b: November 22, 1811 in Sumner Co TN d: December 12, 1837 in Macon Co IL
+Nancy Jane BELL b: October 05, 1817 d: March 23, 1844 in Macon Co IL m: February 19, 1835
2 Isabel "Ibby" Federal FOSTER b: January 28, 1814 in [Sumner Co] TN d: May 30, 1852 in Macon Co IL
2 Nancy Allen FOSTER b: January 02, 1817 in [Sumner Co TN] d: Bef 1880 in (not identifiable 1870)
+Alexander C DICKEY b: 1818 in TN d: 1897 in KS m: December 21, 1839 in Macon Co Il
2 Elizabeth "Betsy" Ann FOSTER b: March 07, 1820 in [Sumner Co TN] d: August 24, 1847 in Macon Co IL; childbirth
+Daniel Bell TRAUGHBER, Rev (CPC) b: May 18, 1800 in Logan Co KY d: December 16, 1877 in Wilson Co KS (or 1887) m: October 23, 1846 in Macon Co IL
MRS. ANN FOSTER.
"Mrs. Ann Foster, wife of Rev. David Foster, was, before her marriage, Miss Ann Beard. She was the daughter of Captain David Beard. Her mother's original name was Isabel Carson. Her father and mother were both Virginians. Captain Beard was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and bore an active part in the battle of Guilford Court House and in the siege of Yorktown. He was, I suppose, a native of Bedford county, in Virginia, as I have learned from the family history that his father lived and died in that county, and I have never been able to trace the lineage of the family farther up.
"Captain Beard was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and connected in Virginia with one of the congregations of Rev. David Rice, who afterwards became the father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and was doubtless baptized by Mr. Rice. Sometime about 1784 her father moved from Virginia to the West, and made his final settlement in Sumner county, Tennessee, about six miles from where Gallatin now stands. He and his family, as far as they were professors of religion, connected themselves with Shiloh congregation, which was successively under the pastoral care of Revs. Thomas B. Craighead, William McGee, and William Hodge. Shiloh became historical in the old revival of 1800. That work reached the congregation early in the century, and the pastor, Mr. Hodge, became one of its most active supporters. In that revival Captain Beard himself, after a long and terrible experience (in the course of which, from despair of his spiritual condition's ever being improved, he was often driven to the borders of suicide), made a second profession of religion. The daughter, Ann, soon became an earnest inquirer for what had come to seem the new way. She appears, as tradition represents her, to have been a very thoughtful young women. She was hard to satisfy with her spiritual condition, and had a long and doubtful struggle for such evidences of a spiritual renewal as she desired. The writer recollects to have heard her say, perhaps more than once, that at one of the camp-meetings at Shiloh, in the early part of the revival, Mr. Craighead conversed with her frequently, and tried to convince her that she was a Christian. Her own account of the matter was, that she knew well enough that she was not. The good man was, no doubt, honest, and many persons would have accepted his decision, and acted upon it; but she was too earnest to be satisfied with a shadow. In process of time, however, she passed out from under the cloud. It was a real transition--a conversion characteristic of the times. There never was a more earnest Christian woman. Her influence began to be felt immediately, and, considering her social position, it was evidently to a wide extent.
"Her marriage to Mr. Foster was a marriage, as I used to hear it mentioned in our family, based upon Christian principles. I have heard old Mr. Foster, too, the father of David Foster, speak of it. He was one of the best of old men. David Foster had just fairly entered the ministry. He thought of marrying, but times were stormy. He had taken a stand with what became the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. But their prospects were very dark. There were pressing calls for preaching, but the preachers had no encouragement. He consulted his father on the subject of his thoughts. The good old man admitted the darkness of the prospect, was not sure that a young preacher, under such circumstances, ought to marry, but decided, if his mind was to marry, that there was one woman who would suit him, and that to a marriage with her he could give his cordial consent. That woman was the subject of this sketch. The families were neighbors, and well acquainted. They were in mutual sympathy on the subject of religion. It was a "marriage in the Lord." Rev. William Hodge was the officiating minister. It was the first marriage that the writer ever witnessed. It occurred far back in his early boyhood. Mr. Foster bought a little farm and settled near his father in Sumner county.
"In the course of a very few years--two or three, perhaps-- he was called to the charge of some congregations in Wilson county. He moved and settled in Suggs' Creek congregation. Here the real work of his life and of that of his wife commenced. He preached to three congregations about nine months in the years, and the other three months were spent, according to the custom of the times, in attending camp-meetings. These often took him far from home, and sometimes three or four weeks in succession. The wife had the burden of the home to bear. She was always frail, yet she administered the affairs of her household with a patience, an earnestness and a heroism which deserved the crown of martyrdom. I was accustomed occasionally to spend months in succession at her house, and I have no recollection of ever seeing a hired female domestic in her family. Indeed, for some years her house was a sort of second home, and she was a sort of second mother to me. I was, therefore, well acquainted with her burdens, and the manner in which she bore them. At one time, in the latter part of 1824, I was in an almost hopeless state of health, and retreated to Mr. Foster's for rest and recuperation for a while. In the time under medical direction, a portion of calomel brought on one of the worst cases of salivation that I ever witnessed. My good aunt was my nurse, and she was indefatigable in her attentions. By day or by night, when necessary, she was at my bed-side, ready to afford what relief was possible. All this, too was in addition to her own household cares.
"After Mr. Foster moved to Illinois, I think I never saw his wife. In addition to his removal my own line of life changed. From being a traveling preacher I was driven, by a failure of health, to the school room, and of course was very much confined. Of her latter days, therefore, I knew nothing. I have no doubt, however, that they were the days of an earnest Christian woman. It could scarcely have been otherwise.
"There was one feature in Mrs. Foster's religious life which was too distinctly marked to be overlooked in a sketch like this. She sometimes, as long as I knew her, under the influence of high religious excitement, would break silence, and not merely shout aloud, but exhort her friends and by-standards. Her exhortations, too, were not the mere incoherent ravings of an unbridled imagination, but they were conceived and expressed with an astonishing degree of correctness. Ordinarily she was a woman of few words, and her intelligence was not above what might have been expected in a woman raised as she was, and having the limited advantages in future life which she had; but on the occasions of which I speak she always transcended herself. The people sometimes said that when she threw aside her respect for the rules of order she was a better preacher than her husband. The hearer involuntarily lost sight of the irregularity of the proceeding under the influence of tender and powerful appeals in behalf of the truth. Her case, however, was not an isolated one. We had other mothers in Israel who threw themselves as earnestly and as decidedly into the great work of the times. We witnessed without offiense these outpourings of earnest hearts, which, we were satisfied from other sources, were right in the sight of God. I suppose myself that the Savior accepted them upon the same principle that led him to the acceptance of the hosannahs of the multitude at the descent of the Mount of Olives, when he replied to the murmuring Pharisees, 'I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the very stones would immediately cry out.'
"Let it not be said that I have become an advocate for irregularities and disorders in the house of God. I acknowledge the authority of Paul in its fullest sense. We all acknowledge the necessity and authority of general rules; yet it sometimes happens that the very interest and expressiveness of a proceeding arise, in a great measure, from its departure from all rules, and from its overlooking all precedents. I place the proceedings which I have mentioned in this category.
"It affords me great satisfaction to be thus able, even at this late day, to render a tribute, however imperfect, to the memory of one of the best Christian women that I ever knew, and of one of the best and sincerest friends of my youth and early manhood."
[Source: Logan, J. B. History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Illinois, Containing Sketches of the First Ministers, Churches, Presbyteries and Synods; also a History of Missions, Publication and Education. Alton, Ill.: Perrin & Smith, 1878, pages 133-138.]
1 David J FOSTER, Rev (CPC) b: May 04, 1780 in Rowan Co NC d: May 09, 1833 in bur Madison Co IL
+Ann "Fanny" BEARD b: February 10, 1780 in VA d: Aft 1850 in MT Zion, Macon Co IL m: July 01, 1806 in Sumner Co TN (or 26 June)
2 Robert FOSTER b: July 04, 1807 in Sumner Co TN d: Aft 1845
+Margaret UNKNOWN b: February 23, 1809 m: Abt 1827
*2nd Wife of Robert Foster:
+Nancy GARRISON b: October 29, 1810 m: December 23, 1845
2 John Carson FOSTER b: November 07, 1809 in Sumner Co TN d: December 06, 1858 in IL
+Emily Isabel MONTGOMERY b: February 05, 1808 d: 1835 m: September 13, 1831 in Macon Co IL
*2nd Wife of John Carson Foster:
+Mary DONNEL b: Abt 1810 in TN d: August 1876 m: September 16, 1847
2 William Calhoun FOSTER b: November 22, 1811 in Sumner Co TN d: December 12, 1837 in Macon Co IL
+Nancy Jane BELL b: October 05, 1817 d: March 23, 1844 in Macon Co IL m: February 19, 1835
2 Isabel "Ibby" Federal FOSTER b: January 28, 1814 in [Sumner Co] TN d: May 30, 1852 in Macon Co IL
2 Nancy Allen FOSTER b: January 02, 1817 in [Sumner Co TN] d: Bef 1880 in (not identifiable 1870)
+Alexander C DICKEY b: 1818 in TN d: 1897 in KS m: December 21, 1839 in Macon Co Il
2 Elizabeth "Betsy" Ann FOSTER b: March 07, 1820 in [Sumner Co TN] d: August 24, 1847 in Macon Co IL; childbirth
+Daniel Bell TRAUGHBER, Rev (CPC) b: May 18, 1800 in Logan Co KY d: December 16, 1877 in Wilson Co KS (or 1887) m: October 23, 1846 in Macon Co IL
With son John in 1850
MRS. ANN FOSTER.
"Mrs. Ann Foster, wife of Rev. David Foster, was, before her marriage, Miss Ann Beard. She was the daughter of Captain David Beard. Her mother's original name was Isabel Carson. Her father and mother were both Virginians. Captain Beard was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and bore an active part in the battle of Guilford Court House and in the siege of Yorktown. He was, I suppose, a native of Bedford county, in Virginia, as I have learned from the family history that his father lived and died in that county, and I have never been able to trace the lineage of the family farther up.
"Captain Beard was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and connected in Virginia with one of the congregations of Rev. David Rice, who afterwards became the father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and was doubtless baptized by Mr. Rice. Sometime about 1784 her father moved from Virginia to the West, and made his final settlement in Sumner county, Tennessee, about six miles from where Gallatin now stands. He and his family, as far as they were professors of religion, connected themselves with Shiloh congregation, which was successively under the pastoral care of Revs. Thomas B. Craighead, William McGee, and William Hodge. Shiloh became historical in the old revival of 1800. That work reached the congregation early in the century, and the pastor, Mr. Hodge, became one of its most active supporters. In that revival Captain Beard himself, after a long and terrible experience (in the course of which, from despair of his spiritual condition's ever being improved, he was often driven to the borders of suicide), made a second profession of religion. The daughter, Ann, soon became an earnest inquirer for what had come to seem the new way. She appears, as tradition represents her, to have been a very thoughtful young women. She was hard to satisfy with her spiritual condition, and had a long and doubtful struggle for such evidences of a spiritual renewal as she desired. The writer recollects to have heard her say, perhaps more than once, that at one of the camp-meetings at Shiloh, in the early part of the revival, Mr. Craighead conversed with her frequently, and tried to convince her that she was a Christian. Her own account of the matter was, that she knew well enough that she was not. The good man was, no doubt, honest, and many persons would have accepted his decision, and acted upon it; but she was too earnest to be satisfied with a shadow. In process of time, however, she passed out from under the cloud. It was a real transition--a conversion characteristic of the times. There never was a more earnest Christian woman. Her influence began to be felt immediately, and, considering her social position, it was evidently to a wide extent.
"Her marriage to Mr. Foster was a marriage, as I used to hear it mentioned in our family, based upon Christian principles. I have heard old Mr. Foster, too, the father of David Foster, speak of it. He was one of the best of old men. David Foster had just fairly entered the ministry. He thought of marrying, but times were stormy. He had taken a stand with what became the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. But their prospects were very dark. There were pressing calls for preaching, but the preachers had no encouragement. He consulted his father on the subject of his thoughts. The good old man admitted the darkness of the prospect, was not sure that a young preacher, under such circumstances, ought to marry, but decided, if his mind was to marry, that there was one woman who would suit him, and that to a marriage with her he could give his cordial consent. That woman was the subject of this sketch. The families were neighbors, and well acquainted. They were in mutual sympathy on the subject of religion. It was a "marriage in the Lord." Rev. William Hodge was the officiating minister. It was the first marriage that the writer ever witnessed. It occurred far back in his early boyhood. Mr. Foster bought a little farm and settled near his father in Sumner county.
"In the course of a very few years--two or three, perhaps-- he was called to the charge of some congregations in Wilson county. He moved and settled in Suggs' Creek congregation. Here the real work of his life and of that of his wife commenced. He preached to three congregations about nine months in the years, and the other three months were spent, according to the custom of the times, in attending camp-meetings. These often took him far from home, and sometimes three or four weeks in succession. The wife had the burden of the home to bear. She was always frail, yet she administered the affairs of her household with a patience, an earnestness and a heroism which deserved the crown of martyrdom. I was accustomed occasionally to spend months in succession at her house, and I have no recollection of ever seeing a hired female domestic in her family. Indeed, for some years her house was a sort of second home, and she was a sort of second mother to me. I was, therefore, well acquainted with her burdens, and the manner in which she bore them. At one time, in the latter part of 1824, I was in an almost hopeless state of health, and retreated to Mr. Foster's for rest and recuperation for a while. In the time under medical direction, a portion of calomel brought on one of the worst cases of salivation that I ever witnessed. My good aunt was my nurse, and she was indefatigable in her attentions. By day or by night, when necessary, she was at my bed-side, ready to afford what relief was possible. All this, too was in addition to her own household cares.
"After Mr. Foster moved to Illinois, I think I never saw his wife. In addition to his removal my own line of life changed. From being a traveling preacher I was driven, by a failure of health, to the school room, and of course was very much confined. Of her latter days, therefore, I knew nothing. I have no doubt, however, that they were the days of an earnest Christian woman. It could scarcely have been otherwise.
"There was one feature in Mrs. Foster's religious life which was too distinctly marked to be overlooked in a sketch like this. She sometimes, as long as I knew her, under the influence of high religious excitement, would break silence, and not merely shout aloud, but exhort her friends and by-standards. Her exhortations, too, were not the mere incoherent ravings of an unbridled imagination, but they were conceived and expressed with an astonishing degree of correctness. Ordinarily she was a woman of few words, and her intelligence was not above what might have been expected in a woman raised as she was, and having the limited advantages in future life which she had; but on the occasions of which I speak she always transcended herself. The people sometimes said that when she threw aside her respect for the rules of order she was a better preacher than her husband. The hearer involuntarily lost sight of the irregularity of the proceeding under the influence of tender and powerful appeals in behalf of the truth. Her case, however, was not an isolated one. We had other mothers in Israel who threw themselves as earnestly and as decidedly into the great work of the times. We witnessed without offiense these outpourings of earnest hearts, which, we were satisfied from other sources, were right in the sight of God. I suppose myself that the Savior accepted them upon the same principle that led him to the acceptance of the hosannahs of the multitude at the descent of the Mount of Olives, when he replied to the murmuring Pharisees, 'I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the very stones would immediately cry out.'
"Let it not be said that I have become an advocate for irregularities and disorders in the house of God. I acknowledge the authority of Paul in its fullest sense. We all acknowledge the necessity and authority of general rules; yet it sometimes happens that the very interest and expressiveness of a proceeding arise, in a great measure, from its departure from all rules, and from its overlooking all precedents. I place the proceedings which I have mentioned in this category.
"It affords me great satisfaction to be thus able, even at this late day, to render a tribute, however imperfect, to the memory of one of the best Christian women that I ever knew, and of one of the best and sincerest friends of my youth and early manhood."
[Source: Logan, J. B. History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Illinois, Containing Sketches of the First Ministers, Churches, Presbyteries and Synods; also a History of Missions, Publication and Education. Alton, Ill.: Perrin & Smith, 1878, pages 133-138.]
1 David J FOSTER, Rev (CPC) b: May 04, 1780 in Rowan Co NC d: May 09, 1833 in bur Madison Co IL
+Ann "Fanny" BEARD b: February 10, 1780 in VA d: Aft 1850 in MT Zion, Macon Co IL m: July 01, 1806 in Sumner Co TN (or 26 June)
2 Robert FOSTER b: July 04, 1807 in Sumner Co TN d: Aft 1845
+Margaret UNKNOWN b: February 23, 1809 m: Abt 1827
*2nd Wife of Robert Foster:
+Nancy GARRISON b: October 29, 1810 m: December 23, 1845
2 John Carson FOSTER b: November 07, 1809 in Sumner Co TN d: December 06, 1858 in IL
+Emily Isabel MONTGOMERY b: February 05, 1808 d: 1835 m: September 13, 1831 in Macon Co IL
*2nd Wife of John Carson Foster:
+Mary DONNEL b: Abt 1810 in TN d: August 1876 m: September 16, 1847
2 William Calhoun FOSTER b: November 22, 1811 in Sumner Co TN d: December 12, 1837 in Macon Co IL
+Nancy Jane BELL b: October 05, 1817 d: March 23, 1844 in Macon Co IL m: February 19, 1835
2 Isabel "Ibby" Federal FOSTER b: January 28, 1814 in [Sumner Co] TN d: May 30, 1852 in Macon Co IL
2 Nancy Allen FOSTER b: January 02, 1817 in [Sumner Co TN] d: Bef 1880 in (not identifiable 1870)
+Alexander C DICKEY b: 1818 in TN d: 1897 in KS m: December 21, 1839 in Macon Co Il
2 Elizabeth "Betsy" Ann FOSTER b: March 07, 1820 in [Sumner Co TN] d: August 24, 1847 in Macon Co IL; childbirth
+Daniel Bell TRAUGHBER, Rev (CPC) b: May 18, 1800 in Logan Co KY d: December 16, 1877 in Wilson Co KS (or 1887) m: October 23, 1846 in Macon Co IL
MRS. ANN FOSTER.
"Mrs. Ann Foster, wife of Rev. David Foster, was, before her marriage, Miss Ann Beard. She was the daughter of Captain David Beard. Her mother's original name was Isabel Carson. Her father and mother were both Virginians. Captain Beard was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and bore an active part in the battle of Guilford Court House and in the siege of Yorktown. He was, I suppose, a native of Bedford county, in Virginia, as I have learned from the family history that his father lived and died in that county, and I have never been able to trace the lineage of the family farther up.
"Captain Beard was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and connected in Virginia with one of the congregations of Rev. David Rice, who afterwards became the father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and was doubtless baptized by Mr. Rice. Sometime about 1784 her father moved from Virginia to the West, and made his final settlement in Sumner county, Tennessee, about six miles from where Gallatin now stands. He and his family, as far as they were professors of religion, connected themselves with Shiloh congregation, which was successively under the pastoral care of Revs. Thomas B. Craighead, William McGee, and William Hodge. Shiloh became historical in the old revival of 1800. That work reached the congregation early in the century, and the pastor, Mr. Hodge, became one of its most active supporters. In that revival Captain Beard himself, after a long and terrible experience (in the course of which, from despair of his spiritual condition's ever being improved, he was often driven to the borders of suicide), made a second profession of religion. The daughter, Ann, soon became an earnest inquirer for what had come to seem the new way. She appears, as tradition represents her, to have been a very thoughtful young women. She was hard to satisfy with her spiritual condition, and had a long and doubtful struggle for such evidences of a spiritual renewal as she desired. The writer recollects to have heard her say, perhaps more than once, that at one of the camp-meetings at Shiloh, in the early part of the revival, Mr. Craighead conversed with her frequently, and tried to convince her that she was a Christian. Her own account of the matter was, that she knew well enough that she was not. The good man was, no doubt, honest, and many persons would have accepted his decision, and acted upon it; but she was too earnest to be satisfied with a shadow. In process of time, however, she passed out from under the cloud. It was a real transition--a conversion characteristic of the times. There never was a more earnest Christian woman. Her influence began to be felt immediately, and, considering her social position, it was evidently to a wide extent.
"Her marriage to Mr. Foster was a marriage, as I used to hear it mentioned in our family, based upon Christian principles. I have heard old Mr. Foster, too, the father of David Foster, speak of it. He was one of the best of old men. David Foster had just fairly entered the ministry. He thought of marrying, but times were stormy. He had taken a stand with what became the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. But their prospects were very dark. There were pressing calls for preaching, but the preachers had no encouragement. He consulted his father on the subject of his thoughts. The good old man admitted the darkness of the prospect, was not sure that a young preacher, under such circumstances, ought to marry, but decided, if his mind was to marry, that there was one woman who would suit him, and that to a marriage with her he could give his cordial consent. That woman was the subject of this sketch. The families were neighbors, and well acquainted. They were in mutual sympathy on the subject of religion. It was a "marriage in the Lord." Rev. William Hodge was the officiating minister. It was the first marriage that the writer ever witnessed. It occurred far back in his early boyhood. Mr. Foster bought a little farm and settled near his father in Sumner county.
"In the course of a very few years--two or three, perhaps-- he was called to the charge of some congregations in Wilson county. He moved and settled in Suggs' Creek congregation. Here the real work of his life and of that of his wife commenced. He preached to three congregations about nine months in the years, and the other three months were spent, according to the custom of the times, in attending camp-meetings. These often took him far from home, and sometimes three or four weeks in succession. The wife had the burden of the home to bear. She was always frail, yet she administered the affairs of her household with a patience, an earnestness and a heroism which deserved the crown of martyrdom. I was accustomed occasionally to spend months in succession at her house, and I have no recollection of ever seeing a hired female domestic in her family. Indeed, for some years her house was a sort of second home, and she was a sort of second mother to me. I was, therefore, well acquainted with her burdens, and the manner in which she bore them. At one time, in the latter part of 1824, I was in an almost hopeless state of health, and retreated to Mr. Foster's for rest and recuperation for a while. In the time under medical direction, a portion of calomel brought on one of the worst cases of salivation that I ever witnessed. My good aunt was my nurse, and she was indefatigable in her attentions. By day or by night, when necessary, she was at my bed-side, ready to afford what relief was possible. All this, too was in addition to her own household cares.
"After Mr. Foster moved to Illinois, I think I never saw his wife. In addition to his removal my own line of life changed. From being a traveling preacher I was driven, by a failure of health, to the school room, and of course was very much confined. Of her latter days, therefore, I knew nothing. I have no doubt, however, that they were the days of an earnest Christian woman. It could scarcely have been otherwise.
"There was one feature in Mrs. Foster's religious life which was too distinctly marked to be overlooked in a sketch like this. She sometimes, as long as I knew her, under the influence of high religious excitement, would break silence, and not merely shout aloud, but exhort her friends and by-standards. Her exhortations, too, were not the mere incoherent ravings of an unbridled imagination, but they were conceived and expressed with an astonishing degree of correctness. Ordinarily she was a woman of few words, and her intelligence was not above what might have been expected in a woman raised as she was, and having the limited advantages in future life which she had; but on the occasions of which I speak she always transcended herself. The people sometimes said that when she threw aside her respect for the rules of order she was a better preacher than her husband. The hearer involuntarily lost sight of the irregularity of the proceeding under the influence of tender and powerful appeals in behalf of the truth. Her case, however, was not an isolated one. We had other mothers in Israel who threw themselves as earnestly and as decidedly into the great work of the times. We witnessed without offiense these outpourings of earnest hearts, which, we were satisfied from other sources, were right in the sight of God. I suppose myself that the Savior accepted them upon the same principle that led him to the acceptance of the hosannahs of the multitude at the descent of the Mount of Olives, when he replied to the murmuring Pharisees, 'I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the very stones would immediately cry out.'
"Let it not be said that I have become an advocate for irregularities and disorders in the house of God. I acknowledge the authority of Paul in its fullest sense. We all acknowledge the necessity and authority of general rules; yet it sometimes happens that the very interest and expressiveness of a proceeding arise, in a great measure, from its departure from all rules, and from its overlooking all precedents. I place the proceedings which I have mentioned in this category.
"It affords me great satisfaction to be thus able, even at this late day, to render a tribute, however imperfect, to the memory of one of the best Christian women that I ever knew, and of one of the best and sincerest friends of my youth and early manhood."
[Source: Logan, J. B. History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Illinois, Containing Sketches of the First Ministers, Churches, Presbyteries and Synods; also a History of Missions, Publication and Education. Alton, Ill.: Perrin & Smith, 1878, pages 133-138.]
1 David J FOSTER, Rev (CPC) b: May 04, 1780 in Rowan Co NC d: May 09, 1833 in bur Madison Co IL
+Ann "Fanny" BEARD b: February 10, 1780 in VA d: Aft 1850 in MT Zion, Macon Co IL m: July 01, 1806 in Sumner Co TN (or 26 June)
2 Robert FOSTER b: July 04, 1807 in Sumner Co TN d: Aft 1845
+Margaret UNKNOWN b: February 23, 1809 m: Abt 1827
*2nd Wife of Robert Foster:
+Nancy GARRISON b: October 29, 1810 m: December 23, 1845
2 John Carson FOSTER b: November 07, 1809 in Sumner Co TN d: December 06, 1858 in IL
+Emily Isabel MONTGOMERY b: February 05, 1808 d: 1835 m: September 13, 1831 in Macon Co IL
*2nd Wife of John Carson Foster:
+Mary DONNEL b: Abt 1810 in TN d: August 1876 m: September 16, 1847
2 William Calhoun FOSTER b: November 22, 1811 in Sumner Co TN d: December 12, 1837 in Macon Co IL
+Nancy Jane BELL b: October 05, 1817 d: March 23, 1844 in Macon Co IL m: February 19, 1835
2 Isabel "Ibby" Federal FOSTER b: January 28, 1814 in [Sumner Co] TN d: May 30, 1852 in Macon Co IL
2 Nancy Allen FOSTER b: January 02, 1817 in [Sumner Co TN] d: Bef 1880 in (not identifiable 1870)
+Alexander C DICKEY b: 1818 in TN d: 1897 in KS m: December 21, 1839 in Macon Co Il
2 Elizabeth "Betsy" Ann FOSTER b: March 07, 1820 in [Sumner Co TN] d: August 24, 1847 in Macon Co IL; childbirth
+Daniel Bell TRAUGHBER, Rev (CPC) b: May 18, 1800 in Logan Co KY d: December 16, 1877 in Wilson Co KS (or 1887) m: October 23, 1846 in Macon Co IL
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