Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Foster, Giles D 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 12:17 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

GILES D. FOSTER, of Plainfield, was born in Otsego County, N. Y., March 29, 
1820. His father, Lyman, a native of Meriden, Conn., at twelve years of age 
accompanied his parents to Lewis County, N. Y., and there continued to reside 
until 1844. For a number of years he owned a paper mill in Otsego County. In 
October, 1844, he came to Plainfield and bought a farm one mile north of the 
village, which he operated for a number of years. His last days were spent, 
retired from active labors, in the village of Plainfield, and here he died at 
ninety years of age. He had been a prominent man in pioneer politics, and was 
recognized as one of the leading Democrats of his locality. For many years he 
held the office of justice of the peace in Lewis and Otsego Counties, N. Y., 
and for some time served as highway commissioner in Plainfield. In 1848 he was 
elected one of the county judges, but the law providing for the office proved 
to be. unconstitutional, so he never took his seat. In religion he was 
connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject's grandfather, 
Giles Foster, a native of Connecticut and a large farmer and miller, was very 
prominent in his section of the state, and as a business man was unusually 
active and efficient. When quite young he served as a private in the 
Revolutionary war. Politically he was a Democrat. In religion he was a life-
long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His death occurred when he was 
eighty-seven. One of his sons, Isaac, was sent west as a home missionary for 
the Presbyterian Church in 1837, and established his home in Plainfield, where 
he remained until 1852 and then went to California. The great-grandfather, 
Timothy Foster, probably a native of England, was commissioned by the king of 
England as high constable in New England. He was a man of large frame and 
great powers of endurance. The mother of our subject, Esther Blood, was born 
near Bennington, Vt., and at fifteen years of age moved to New York with her 
parents. She died in Will County in 1865. In religious views she was a 
Methodist. Her father, Jared Blood, a native of Vermont, served in the 
Revolutionary war. While he was a farmer by occupation, his attention was 
largely given to the public service. While living in Vermont he served as a 
member of the legislature, and after going to New York he was judge of the 
court of Chenango County for several years. The family of which our subject 
was the oldest consisted of seven children, the others being Louisa J., 
deceased, who was the wife of Albert Beckwith; Lafayette, deceased; Augusta 
M., who married Alonzo Hemstreet and lives in Plainfield; Mary A., deceased; 
Helen M., Mrs. Allen Bliss, deceased; and Cornelia E., wife of John Piatt, a 
farmer of Plainfield Township. The education of our subject was obtained in 
local schools and Louisville Academy at Louisville, N. Y. In 1844 he 
accompanied his parents to this county, after which he remained with his 
father for eight years. In 1852 he went to California via Panama, being one of 
the first passengers who crossed the Isthmus of Panama on the railroad. 
Arriving in the far west, he engaged in mining near Columbia, Tuolumne County, 
Cal. He also farmed for a year. In 1859 he sold his interests in California 
and returned to Plainfield. With the exception of a few years on a farm, he 
has since made this village his home, and for twenty years he served as 
justice of the peace here, also for two years was a member of the board of 
trustees. In political matters he believes firmly in Republican principles. He 
has never identified himself with fraternal organizations, although his father 
was a prominent Mason and one of the organizers of a blue lodge in Joliet. 
December 18, 1878, Mr. Foster married Miss Emma Hawkins, daughter of Ephraim 
and Artemisia (Cleghorn) Hawkins. Her father, a native of New York state, went 
to Canada in youth and there settled on a farm. While he was still a young man 
he removed to Beloit, Wis., and bought and improved a farm. Later he came to 
this county, and after a few months in Joliet he embarked in the grocery 
business, which he conducted in that city and in Lockport for several years. 
While in Canada he married Miss Cleghorn, who died in Joliet. Both were 
members of the Presbyterian Church. His death occurred in September, 1895, 
when he was seventy-nine years old. Of his three children, Emma was born in 
Beloit, Wis.; Edward M. is publisher and manager of a mining paper in Denver, 
Colo.; and Carrie is a clerk in the county recorder's office at Joliet. Mrs. 
Foster was educated in Joliet and Lockport, and possesses the traits of 
character that win the regard of associates. In religion she is a 
Congregationalist. To her marriage four children were born, viz.: Helen A.; 
Edward D., who is a student in the law department of Michigan State 
University; Esther A. and Alice E.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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