Chattooga County GaArchives History of the Capt K R Foster 's Plantation at Foster's Store, GA. Written by Michelle Doss ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Michelle Doss http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00028.html#0006861 20 January 2004 *********************************************** Foster's Store Plantation Miss Lissia's (Malissa Mayo Foster) daughter, Miss Carrie Adeline (belle of the plantation) recorded her memories of the beloved plantation with such gentility in a literary journal entitled, "The Sunny South." She recalls cascading waterfalls, beautiful mountains, sultry southern Georgia mornings and " night air redolent of a breath of roses....." It is believed that their plantation began as an antebellum log cabin, probably built by slaves and eventually developed into a large plantation and community known " far and wide " as Foster's Store, GA. The first home of the Foster's was the 1859 log cabin, he built for his bride in " the forks of a road that held promise." ( It is believed that this was the home from which, Malissa Foster wrote letters to her husband during the War Between the States.) Circa 1888, the large two story colonial plantation home was constructed. Structures that also made up the plantation included a mill, gin, general merchandise store, tannery, post office, school, carriage house, smoke house, and prior to the war, slave quarters. The mistress of this plantation was Malissa Ann Mayo Foster. After a courtship, she married Kinchen Rambo Foster in 1859. This was only a few years before the outbreak of the memorable conflict, the War between the North and the South. Young gallant K. R. Foster was called to serve the "bonny sunny south." He enlisted in Co. K 21rst Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry, the Army of Northern Virginia. "With aching hearts and wet eyes, they bade each other goodbye and with a broken, "God be with you, my wife," Carl (K. R.) was gone. Oh how desolate, how unutterably lonely, the young girl-wife was when left alone! But she was determined to be brave, and then she had her darling baby, little Alfred, to console her and while away many lonely hours. Then there were the very long letters to write to the absent loved one, and everything to be kept bright and beautiful for him, when he should come home on a furlough. But alas, the cruel war has no pity, for lonely waiting wives, fond old mothers and little children! The furlough's were few and far between, like angels visits..." Mr. Foster's father, Judge Robert S. Foster had a plantation, in the same area. During the War, that decided the fate of the nation, it was occupied by Northern forces. Damages on the plantation were devastating to the Foster family..... Later soldiers under the command of W. G. Sherman, left the area and Sherman began making plans for his " March to the Sea." Records indicate that a during this period 100,000 Union soldiers came through Chattooga County .* It is noted that Union soldiers spent a night at Judge Robert S. Foster's antebellum plantation near the Chattooga River in October of 1864. Later Judge Foster, filed for restitution of Yankee looting. Family stories speak of our family being of the "plantation class" and hiding their precious silver during the raids. A friend of the Foster family, Miss Naomi Shropshire recalls, that time... * "Hoop skirts were in vogue then, and we wore full skirts. I had several thousand dollars in Confederate money in a bustle around my waist, and my small amount of jewelry and a few keepsakes in huge pockets under my hoops. They left very disappointed, when they found little of value. " The plantation home no longer remains, but the family who lived there continues to live on through it's descendants. Capt & Miss Lissia have been an inspiration for, Miss Lissia's Plantation Bed & Breakfast. Cherished family heirlooms, photos, and stories fill the plantation cottage. Miss Lissia's takes you back to another time and tells the historical saga of a prominent southern family... He brought us to this place and gave us land: a land flowing milk and honey.- Deuteronomy 26:9 * Chattooga: A Story Of A County And It's People ~Bob Baker Excerpts from The Sunny South- Carrie Foster Excerpts from Lissia- Malissa Foster Southern Loyalists Claim Records Washington DC Archives Michelle Doss Michelle & Derek Doss Miss Lissia's Plantation Bed & Breakfast "A Romantic Remnant of the Old West" Voted "Most Historical Charm" By Arrington's Inn Traveler Romantic Central Texas B & B's Water Valley, TX 325-465-4710 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00028.html#0006861 Misslissiasbnb.com www.misslisas.com MisslissiasBBOnline.com