US Senator. He served in the United States Senate from March 1899 to March 1905 as a representative from Washington state. A son of early Wisconsin pioneers, he spent his early years in Oswego, Kendal County, Illinois where he received his formal education and taught school. Prior to being elected to Congress in 1898, he served as surveyor and auditor of Wabash County, Minnesota, and was involved in farming and real estate ventures. In 1873 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where his business interests expanded into the fields of timber harvesting and the fuel supply trade along with his lifelong business associate Colonel C. W. Griggs. While living in Minnesota, he became active in Republican politics, supporting various party senatorial and congressional campaigns. Arriving in Tacoma, Washington in 1888, he once again sought out additional business opportunities, becoming actively involved in coal mine operations, railroad construction, lumber production, packing-house and shipping interests. He built an extensive regional transportation network, exporting Washington produced goods throughout the United States and the world, utilizing a combined system of rail, steam and sailing vessels. As a member of the United States Senate he served as chairman of the Committee on Coast and Insular Survey, and also served as a member of the Agricultural and Forestry Committee, the Fisheries Committee, the Geological Survey Committee, the Manufactures Committee, the Woman's Suffrage Committee and the Revolutionary Claims Committee. Following his term in the senate, he returned to Tacoma, where he remained active in numerous business enterprises until his retirement in 1914.
US Senator. He served in the United States Senate from March 1899 to March 1905 as a representative from Washington state. A son of early Wisconsin pioneers, he spent his early years in Oswego, Kendal County, Illinois where he received his formal education and taught school. Prior to being elected to Congress in 1898, he served as surveyor and auditor of Wabash County, Minnesota, and was involved in farming and real estate ventures. In 1873 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where his business interests expanded into the fields of timber harvesting and the fuel supply trade along with his lifelong business associate Colonel C. W. Griggs. While living in Minnesota, he became active in Republican politics, supporting various party senatorial and congressional campaigns. Arriving in Tacoma, Washington in 1888, he once again sought out additional business opportunities, becoming actively involved in coal mine operations, railroad construction, lumber production, packing-house and shipping interests. He built an extensive regional transportation network, exporting Washington produced goods throughout the United States and the world, utilizing a combined system of rail, steam and sailing vessels. As a member of the United States Senate he served as chairman of the Committee on Coast and Insular Survey, and also served as a member of the Agricultural and Forestry Committee, the Fisheries Committee, the Geological Survey Committee, the Manufactures Committee, the Woman's Suffrage Committee and the Revolutionary Claims Committee. Following his term in the senate, he returned to Tacoma, where he remained active in numerous business enterprises until his retirement in 1914.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
Family Members
Siblings
Advertisement
See more Foster memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
