Obituary for Horace Foster, Hardin County, Illinois The subject of this sketch was born in Pope County, now a part of Hardin County November 18, 1829, departed this life 1 December 1915 aged 86 years and 13 days. He was the second son of Horace Foster who was born January 8, 1811 and Phoeba Davis Foster who was born 1 May 1808, they being among the earliest settlers of what is now Hardin County. Horace Foster, his father, and Phoeba Davis were married September 29, 1829 and lived and died on a farm now known as the Miller and Ralph farm about one and a half miles North of Elizabethtown, where the subject of this sketch was born and reared almost to manhood, his father dying about the year 1849, leaving several children and a widow to mourn his loss. The subject of this sketch was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Hobbs December 9, 1849 who still survives him to mourn his loss. To this union 12 children were born, six of whom preceded him to the Eternal world, four of whom died in ifancy. Mrs. Susan Ann Stevens having died April 25, 1902 and Joseph Alexander died September 5, 1912. Of the six now living, five were with him and attended the last sad rites. One Mrs. Judge Tyre of Cave-in-Rock was too ill to attend. Soon after the marriage he and Mrs. Foster made the confession recorded in Holy Writ, and were baptized by Elder Thompson of the Christian Church at Big Springs in Hardin County and he was afterwards chosen as an Elder. On September 14, 1863 he was fully ordained to the ministry and set apart to attend to all the ordinances of the Gospel. He continued to preach and have charge of several churches during the sixties and seventies, and then feeeling that the Church needed an educated ministry he ceased to take care of churches as a regular pastor, but give much of his time to the cause frequently filled appointments for others when requested. In all those years he never ceased to leave the truth and stead, ready to defend the Doctrine of the Bible whenever he felt it was assailed. In his early Christian life it was custom for each denomination to try to gain presbyter even if it had to be done in debate and this was one of his ideals to argue or debate the Scriptures. His main hobby was that the Christian Scriptures contain the whole plan of salvation and anything added in name, word or deed was not only wrong but sinful, and anything left off was an error of emission. He passed the greater part of his life in Hardin County, moving to New Haven about 12 years ago where he continued to reside until the Lord said "It is enough, thou has fought a good fight, thou has kept the faith and hast finished thy cause. It is finished. Come up higher." Elder B.S. Kells of Fairfield, Evangelist of the Christian Church delivered the funeral address at New Haven on December 3rd. to a large concourse of people after which all that was mortal of the Father in Israel, was laid to rest in the Smith Cemetery in White County, there to await the great Resurrection. (page torn) Elder Foster would freely converse upon the Bible and the authenticityof the Christian Scriptures believing with his whole heart that he who believes the fact of the gospel and obeyed it, fully believing and realizing the true menaing of it, would never die, but that his soul would continue to live on and on throughout ceasless ages of Eternity. Dr. I.A. Foster >From the Hardin County Independent 16 December 1915 In the January 6, 1916 a correction was sent by I.A. Foster that Horace and Phoeba ann Davis were married 29 September 1836 ------------------------------------------------------------- UGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organiza- tions or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contri- butor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Wanda Patton Reed