Biography - BLASHEL FOSTER
Among prominent farmers in Edwards county, who combine with farming operations business requiring sound judgment and tact, may be mentioned Blashel Foster. To farming he successfully adds grain dealing on an extensive scale, and likewise is a stock shipper.
He
was born in Clark county, Indiana, Nov. 18, 1826. The son of William and
Lucy (Shirley) Foster. The family came to Edwards county in 1844. Mr.
Foster's wife, to whom he was married in May, '55, was a daughter of Martin
Houser, a Moravian preacher at Hope, Bartholomew county, Indiana, and
latterly of West Salem, which village he laid out in 1845, after the style
of the town of Niesky, Prussia. Her name was Emeline C. Houser. By her there
were born to Mr. Foster eight children, three of whom died in infancy, and
five, William E., Lucy S., Dr. Martin D. (a physician practicing in Olney),
Caroline M., and George D., are living. Blashel Foster is a member of the A.
F. and A. M. Society, in whose workings he manifests great interest; is also
a member of the Christian church, in which cause he is earnest and
enthusiastic. In 1872, his fellow citizens of the Liberal Republican faith,
as a compliment to his recognized fitness for the position, ran him as a
candidate for the State Senate, giving him a flattering vote. Politically he
might properly be classed as an Independent Republican. He is a gentleman
possessed of social qualities of a high order. A view of his home is shown
on another page of this work.
Extracted 29 Jul 2017 by Norma Hass from 1883 A Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence, and Wabash Counties, Illinois, page 315.
