Montour County PA Archives Biographies.....FOSTER, James 1842 - 
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  Author: Biographical Publishing Co.
  
  HON. JAMES FOSTER,* chief burgess of the borough of Danville, Montour County,
  and general manager of the Danville Stove Manufacturing Company, which is the
  largest stove company in the eastern part of the state, was born March 18, 1842,
  and is a son of Thompson and Eliza (Irwin) Foster.
  
    Thompson Foster was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and was born in North Ireland.
  His trade was that of a blacksmith and mechanic, which he had learned during his
  younger days. He left his native country and came to the United States, locating
  in Pittsburg, Pa., where he followed his trade a short time, and then moved to
  Danville, Montour County, Pa. He next was connected with the mammoth blacksmith
  shops of the iron works of Danville, where he remained many years, when he
  retired from the active duties of life and moved to Philadelphia, where he died
  at the age of seventy-nine years. He was joined in marriage to Elizabeth Irwin,
  a native of North Ireland, and they were the parents of the following children:
  Alexander; Elizabeth; James, the subject of this sketch; Jennie; Thompson;
  Thomas; and Frances. Mr. Foster served as councilman of Danville and as a
  director of the public schools.
  
    Our subject received his elementary education in the public schools of
  Danville and then worked with his father, learning the trade of a blacksmith. In
  1862 he enlisted in Company A, 132d Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., for a term of nine
  months, but at the expiration of that time he re-enlisted and served throughout
  the close of the war. The most noted battles in which our subject participated
  were Antietam, in which he was wounded; Chancellorsville; and Fredericksburg. At
  the close of the war he was a member of the 194th Regiment, of which he was
  first lieutenant; he was honorably discharged in 1865, but again re-enlisted in
  the 214th Regiment, which was discharged in March, 1866. Returning to Danville,
  he took up his former trade, which he followed until 1882. On August 7th of that
  year the Danville Stove Manufacturing Company was organized, with the following
  officers: Henry Vincent, president; our subject, superintendent; and W. J.
  Baldy, treasurer. They purchased the De Long Foundry, which they operated at
  first on a small scale, but the business increased so rapidly they were obliged
  to enlarge their plant; accordingly, they erected a large five-story structure
  238 feet long, and they now employ a force of 150 men. The present officers are
  W. B. Chamberlain, president; James Foster, general manager; J. A. Yorks,
  treasurer; and J. C. Lynn, secretary. Our subject is also traveling salesman,
  and has established agents in all the principal cities east of the Mississippi
  River. The company manufactures the well-known Beaver Steel Plate Furnace, in
  which either bituminous or anthracite coal may be used; also parlor and cooking
  ranges.
  
    James Foster was united in marriage to Mary Gulick, a native of Danville, and
  a daughter of Isaac Gulick, who comes from the oldest families of Montour
  County. The following children have blessed the home of our subject and wife:
  John, a prominent shoe merchant of Danville; Elizabeth; Phoebe, deceased;
  Jennie; Alexander, a bookkeeper; and James, deceased. Mr. Foster is a member of
  St. Paul's Methodist Church, of which lie is steward and a trustee; also
  superintendent of the Sabbath School. He is a member of Calumet Lodge No. 279,
  I. O. O. F., and is a member of Goodrich Post No. 22, G. A. R., of Danville, of
  which order he served four years as district deputy. Our subject was one of a
  committee to organize the Danville Water Works and was secretary and
  superintendent of the same for many years. He owns a fine residence on Walnut
  street and other property in Danville.
  
  
  
  Additional Comments:
  * The information contained in this biography was supplied by the subject of
  this sketch. A type-set copy of the biography was sent to the subject to be
  proof-read, but the subject did not edit and return the copy, so this biography
  may contain typographical errors.
  
    Extracted from:
      
      Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District
      Published by 
      Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)
  
  
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