BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE FOSTER
"My
Grandfather, George FOSTER, was born in Mold, Flintshire,
Wales
on the eighth day of February, 1807. He moved to Logweeden,[Lugwardine] Hereford, England
in 1817, when he was only ten years old. His parents had died and a good
family by the name of GIBBS took George in and raised him as one of their
family.
"George embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and came
to the United States.
Shortly after he met Ellen Berry, and they were married. [ERROR: married before
they emigrated]
"Ellen BERRY was born October 9, 1809 at Westover, Longshire
[Lancashire], England.
She had not embraced the gospel at the time of her marriage; and at times was
very bitter towards it. George was very faithful to his belief, and often
asked the Lord to show his wife the true light of the gospel. One night,
after they had retired, Ellen had a wonderful dream and asked George to get the
Elders and baptize her. She did not want to wait until morning. The
Elders came and Ellen was baptized in the middle of the night. Five sons
were born to them, all them dying soon after birth. [This may have been
in England
before they emigrated.] This was before any Temple was prepared for endowments and sealings. However, in later life, George FOSTER was
sealed to Ellen BERRY. She died in 1845.
"George FOSTER took out his own endowments on February 6, 1846 in the Nauvoo Temple.
Ellen's death had left him without wife or children, and he decided to return to England to visit with the good family
who had been so good to him in his youth. When he arrived there, he found
that their daughter, Hannah Maria, had grown to be a very beautiful girl, and
he promptly fell in love with her. George [age 40] and Maria [age 33]
were married in England in
1847 and then came to the United
States. They settled in Missouri where their
eldest daughter, Sarah Ann, was born March 20, 1848 in what was then known as
the Black Hills of Missouri - while they were preparing to cross the
plains. Their second child, Ellen, was
born June 7, 1850 while they were crossing the plains, near the Missouri River.
"The FOSTERS emigrated to Utah
in 1850 and George and Maria settled at Slaterville,
Utah near Ogden. The were
faithful workers in the church. It was here that their other three daughters
were born. Mary Ann was born August 1, 1857; Hannah Maria was born
December 12, 1854; and Elizabeth
was born August 1, 1857. When Elizabeth
was about sixteen months old, her Mother died leaving the Father to take care
of the five little girls.
"A short while after this, President Brigham Young called for volunteers
to settle Franklin, Idaho,
the oldest permanent town to be settled in Idaho
- but which, at this time was thought to be in Utah. So, George FOSTER and his five
little girls, the oldest only eleven years, started for Idaho
behind an ox team, and were the third wagon to
reach Franklin.
There he farmed and raised cattle.
"On the 19th day of March, George FOSTER and his family reached Franklin. That
night there came up a terrible blizzard, and it
was all but impossible to keep the children from freezing in the covered wagon;
so the men who had arrived there fell to work and made them a dug-out home.
This dug-out was the first home in Franklin
and these were the first children to arrive in this locality.
"About this time the Indians decided to go on the 'war path' against the
white people in the northern end of Cache
Valley and were very
troublesome. It was at this time that the historical 'Battle Creek' was fought and George took part
in defense of this uprising of the Indians. Many of the early settlers of
Franklin were
killed by the angered Indians both before and after this battle.
"George FOSTER was a devoted Father and also served as Mother to his five
little girls. Their first house was a log room. They had to live in
the dug-out until the logs could be hewn and a home could be built. In
the end of this room he built a wheat bin. The girl's [girls'] bed was
made on this wheat. In another corner of the room was the Father's
bed. The rest of the room was used for kitchen, dining room and living
room.
"George FOSTER died at Franklin
in November 1864. He was the Father of ten children (five sons and five
daughters) and forty-two grandchildren (at the time of this writing.) [no date].=Hannah Porritt Manning,
A BRIEF STORY OF MY GRANDFATHER, GEORGE FOSTER. Bracketed notes by Mary Ann Atkisson, March 2005.
"Last night William Greenhalgh's family came
into our boat not having room to sleep in their other one. I and several
others went to the top of a very large hill and George FOSTER and I went up the
top most tree from whence we hade a pleasant view. As we returned we met
Elder [Theodore] Turley and some of the sisters going up to the hill to pray.
We returned with them and united our hearts together." =Diary of William
Clayton, Sunday, Oct. 18, 1840, Schenectady, NY en route to Nauvoo, IL,
Mormon Immigration Index, Personal Accounts.
Sources
Marriages:
1) Ellen BERRY, probably the George FOSTER + Ellen BERRY m. 8 Apr 1833, Parish
Church of Manchester, Lancashire, England. Family records say 9 Oct 1839,
Westover, Longshire,
England.
2) Hannah Maria GIBBS, 1847, Lancashire,
England
Sources:
1. Family recs. poss. of Ann Maughan
and Mary Ann Maughan Atkisson.
2. Susan Easton Black & Harvey B. Black, MEMBERSHIP OF THE
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, 1830-1848 (BYU),
Family History Library, US Section, 6031596 US/CAN.
3. Nauvoo Temple Records in Blue "composition
book", Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Home of Mary Ann Atkisson.
4. Wales,
Flintshire, Hawarden, Parish Registers, 94400,
(1585-1875), Christening & Burials.
Sent by Edna Cocking, Elwoe Green, Clwyd, Wales to Mary Ann Maughan Atkisson, 13 Oct 1982.
5. Susan E. Black + Harvey B. Black, ANNOTATED RECORD OF BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD,
1840-1845, Nauvoo, Hancock County, IL, Provo: The Center for Family History and
Genealogy, BYU, 2002, v. 2, P. 1314., Family
History Library, SLC, 977.343/N1 K2be v. 1 (A-B); v.
2 (C-F); v. 3 G-J).
6. Hannah Porritt Manning, A Brief
Story of the Life of My Grandfather, George Foster, private, Home of Mary Ann Atkisson.
7. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Early
Church Information File (ECIF), 1,750,676, 8-26-04-1,
Family History Library, SLC, FOSTER 1750.676. GIBBS ".678. ORAM .703 .
8. Franklin Ward, Cache /Oneida /Franklin Stake,
ID Vital Recs., Idaho, Oneida/Cache Stake, Franklin Ward,
Vital Records.
9. Mormon Immigration Index, George FOSTER.
10. Cathedral of Manchester, Lancashire, England, marriages, f0,443,328,
P. 214, Family History Library, SLC.
Resources:
Mary Ann Maughan Atkisson
423 Virginia Street
Salt Lake City, UT
84103
atkissons@aol.com
