John W. Foster, Soldier and Politician by DANIELW
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John W. Foster, Soldier and Politician By DANIELW. SNEPP Indiana’s sons have occupied a number of important gov- ernmental offices in Washington and diplomatic posts abroad. No Hoosier, however, has served his country longer or more faithfully than John Watson Foster. His public life spans a half century of diplomatic conflict in which the United States rose to the undisputed position of a world power. In the pres- ent generation, few, except students of diplomatic history and international law, have heard the name of John W. Foster or read his scholarly works on diplomacy and world peace. No published biography has yet recorded his achievements and no monument has been raised to perpetuate his memory. Nevertheless this obscure man was regarded by Ambassador James Bryce as “the most distinguished diplomat of our time,” and by Secretary of State Frelinghuysen as the most valuable man in foreign service in his day. Mr. Foster represented the United States upon more different missions of first rank than any other person, and was accordingly called by Chauncey M. DePew, “the handy-man of the State Department.” Andrew Johnson excepted, Foster served in one capacity or another under every president from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt. Diplomacy was to Foster not merely a calling, it was a profession. This article, however, is concerned only with that part of his life spent in Indiana. Foster’s English ancestry may be traced to the hardy tradespeople on his mother’s side and to the staunch yeoman class on his father’s side. The strain of the depression which followed on the heels of the Napoleonic Wars in England, fell most severely upon the middle class, great numbers of whom migrated to America. Among the earliest of these emigrants was the family of George Foster, of which Matthew was the youngest son. The elder Foster settled with his family on a New York farm, which, though small, was all that his meager savings could buy. He soon discovered that the farm could not be made to produce enough to support the family. Matthew was then seventeen years old and eager for adventure. He was confident that cheaper and richer land could be found in the West and therefore decided to go in search of it. For days and 208 Indium Magazine of History weeks he trudged the mountains of New York and Pennsyl- vania, through the dense forests of Ohio and Indiana, and across the prairies of Illinois to St. Louis, walking all the way, except when he was fortunate enough to secure an occasional ride on a mover’s wagon going his way. Matthew soon realized from the talk then current in St. Louis that slavery would be recognized in the new constitution of Missouri. Being a strong opponent of the institution, he would not locate in a slaveholding state, therefore he resolved to retrace his journey eastward. On his return he decided to look once more at some land which had attracted his attention on his long western journey. An investigation resulted in the selection of the future home of the Fosters in whak is now Pike County, Indiana. On August 8, 1819, Matthew Foster purchased from the United States Land Office at Vincennes the following de- scribed real estate: “The West half of the Southwest quarter of Section 25, Town 1 North, Range 7 West, being eighty acres.”’ The farm was located about seven miles northeast of Petersburg. The settlers in the neighborhood assisted in build- ing the two-room cabin. As soon as it was completed he brought his aged parents to spend with him the remainder of their lives. Matthew Foster was united in marriage on June 18,1839, with Eleanor Johnson. The bride was the eldest daughter of Colonel John Johnson who had been a prominent figure in the history of Indiana Territory. He had filled the offices of pri- vate secretary to Governor William Henry Harrison, was a delegate to the territorial legislature, member of the first state constitutional convention, and trustee of Vincennes University. Matthew Foster’s formal education was meager. It is said that he often rode all day to acquire books and that he read all that were obtainable in three counties.2 After he was made probate judge of Pike County he mastered the state statutes and Blackstone’s Commentaries. He was thoroughly convinced that a good education was the richest heritage that a parent could possibly leave to his children. In 1846 he moved his famiIy to Evansville where better schooIs were available. In this city, he established a drygoods and grocery business which in a few years expanded to tri-state proportions. Entry in office of County Recorder, Pike County, Indians. ‘John W. Foster, Matk Watson Fartet (Washinnton, 1896). 31. John W. Foster 209 He had a keen insight for business opportunities and saw numerous advantages for growth in Evansville, then a city of four thousand, but realized that much improvement was necessary if these advantages should be capitalized. He worked for the establishment of a Board of Trade which would bring industries to the city and enlarge its trade area. He assisted in the establishment of the public school system, in the construction of the Evansville and Crawfordsville Rail- road, and in the erection of the river wharf. He served as a director of the Evansville branch of the Indiana State Bank, and for many years was a member of the Common Council. He was a staunch anti-slavery man and became one of the leaders of the Republican Party in Vanderburg County. The six children of Matthew and Eleanor Johnson Foster received an education far above the average of the time. The education of John W., who was born in Pike County, March 2, 1836, was closely supervised by his father. For a short time after coming to Evansville, John attended a German school, but the major part of his preparatory training was acquired in a private academy presided over by Professor Myron Safford. In looking about for a higher institution of learning for his son it was natural that Matthew Foster should select Indiana University. It was then largely dominated by the Presbyterian Church of which he was a devout member. Its curriculum was highly classical, and it was reasonably near Evansville. John at this time was a lad of only fifteen and needed the close observation and encouragement of his father. In the fall of 1851, Matthew took his son to Bloomington to enter the University. The trip was made in four days over rough and unfrequented roads through wooded districts, and in a buggy pulled by two horses. Although Matthew found this journey quite difficult, he made it a number of times to keep in touch with the educational progress of his son. He wrote a number of fatherly letters, both encouraging and affectionate, but, when he sensed a drifting away of the college youth from parental teachings, he made it known in terms not to be misunderstood. This fact is well illustrated in the following letter : Your last letter was dated the 8th ultimo, which was promptly replied to, and in which I enclosed your twenty dollars. Not having your 210 Indium Magazine of History acknowledgement of the receipt of it, I began to think it must have miscarried; and indeed, from your silence, I am fearful something must be the matter with you, either disabled by sickness, or your absence has worked a change in your feelings, so that you feel no interest about your home associations, and only deem it necessary to write as a matter of business which can be put off until a more convenient season. Lt is not necessary to have the latest news, nor to see much of the world to make a letter interesting from a son to a parent. In the welfare of a child a parent always takes a great interest in knowing your boarding-house arrangements . your room-mate, his dispo- sition, his employment. Little incidents attending you, impressions that are daily forming your mind and molding your will, have far more interest to me than all the foreign and domestic items of all dailies you could quote were you in New York or Philadelphia. Tell me your thoughts, feelings and impressions. I would take more interest (as I feel more than anyone else) in pointing out errors and in directing you to truth, as far, as my experience and observations have aided me in finding them.3 John W. Foster was graduated as the valedictorian of his class in 1855, at the age of nineteen. The following year he took a post-graduate course in the Harvard University Law School. After one year of apprenticeship in a Cincinnati law office, he became associated with the law firm of Conrad Baker in Evansville, a connection which he retained until the outbreak of the Civil War. The young lawyer was in no hurry to join the army. Two days after Lincoln’s first call for volunteers he seriously considered joining the colors, but enlisting progressed so rapidly that he was unable to determine his course until the quota was filled. For several reasons, Foster decided to post- pone his final decision: he had no desire for military glory; he thought himself physically unfit to withstand the vigorous training and hard life to which a soldier was subjected, since in his younger days he had been tubercular ; he considered war as the greatest of human follies, having given during his col- lege days speeches on the futility of war as a means of settling disputes; finally, he had established a hcrne and a creditable law practice, both of which he was reluctant to leave.4 When the second call for volunteers came, Foster could resist no longer.