by Sue Ward~
My first real findings for the origins of the Foster family were from Dr. William L. Foster. I had provided him DNA results for Edward Bryant Foster, first cousin to my grandfather, Roy Earnest Williams. After studying the various Foster results, Dr. Foster sent me an e-mail. He was finally certain of the origins of my Foster line. He said Philip Foster (1592-1671) was our immigrant. This was great information! There was a lot of work to be done. My oldest proven ancestor was Thomas Foster, born 1815. His mother, Nancy (unk.) was born 1786 in North Carolina. There were probably seven or eight missing generations.
The research process begins today and works back in time. It was clearly going to be a challenge to fill in the 200-year gap. The only real clue I had to begin with was Trude Foster telling me they were from Middle (Franklin), Tennessee and arrived in Arkansas about 1830.
The 1840 census showed James Foster and a household for Nancy Foster in Independence Co., AR. There was nothing proving this was the right lead.
The 1830 census, Lawrence Co., AR, listed some Fosters.
Then I see Fosters on early tax lists in Arkansas Territory in 1828. It was becoming more intriguing.
The 1820 census lists John Foster. I would later learn he was the 4th consecutive John Foster in this line. This critical census was a good place to do a cumulative analysis gathering information from several censuses. This was the opportunity to identify several people in this census.
How could they possibly be in Tennessee, with Thomas’ mother was born in North Carolina and nothing connecting these facts. There were other Fosters in Franklin, TN, but the information did not fit.
It was a long shot, but I started looking in North Carolina for Fosters. Trude said he thought his great-grandpa may have been named John or Thomas. These names could not be more common. But I went to North Carolina records using a very broad search. It felt impossible.
Low and behold, I found Surry County Tax records naming John Foster and a Christopher Foster, a different name. Then I found the “goldmine” Index of Wills of Franklin Co., NC:
Thomas Foster’s father, John Foster
Grandfather John Foster
Great-grand father John Foster
Great-great-grandfather, John Foster
(Well, I got what I asked for!)
The name Christopher in the tax record gave a new lead with a new name. I began searching for wills. Thank goodness, they left a string of wills and their collateral families left equally as many! What a gift.
You are wondering how I knew these were the right people. There were several Revolutionary War patriots of their children living in North Carolina. There were neighbors found on an early North Carolina map who also went to Tennessee. Even though they are not related, they became “familiar” families. All of this is explained in detail.
3x great grandfather, Christopher Foster, named his son John in his will
4x great grandfather, Christopher Foster, named his children which included Christopher, John, etc.
5x great grandfather, Philip Foster, has many ties to our book, “Early Virginia Colonial Families.” Philip is named on the same page the others in our book in James City, VA. Son Christopher, stayed behind after his father returned to London with his brother Philip. He migrated from VA to NC with the people already known to us.
Once I found these other Foster given names, they were compared to the 1790 census, Louisburg, Franklin Co., NC to search for Fosters. Then I did the same thing for the 1800 census. By 1810 all the brothers were in Rutherford, except John Foster, Jr. By 1820, John is in Rutherford. They are living near one another close to the Rutherford/Franklin County line in Tennessee.
I found exactly what I had been searching for! It was the older brothers who went to Tennessee and left the younger brother behind. Finally, they all met up in Tennessee but did not stay there for long.
By 1828, they are found in Arkansas Territory paying taxes. Later they are found in Izard County, Arkansas.
The lesson here is an odd one. We went from 1815 to 1592 to the 1850, 1840, 1830, 1820 census then began back tracking. The next search was in North Carolina not knowing what county I should even be searching! Eureka! These several generations were tied together through probates/wills filled in many blanks. Going back to the early census 1800 to 1820, sealed the deal.
There was nothing straight-forward finding these ancestors.
Trusty Genealogist 
Leave a comment