George Washington Foster, Sr. was the founder of the Foster family homestead in Vermont. An old genealogy table, obtained from Priscilla Backman, and researched many years back for earlier Fosters lists George Washington Foster Sr.'s father as Thomas Foster (1749/50-1832), of Kent, Connecticut.
According to this pre-existing genealogy (click "Chart" link below to view), Thomas Foster's father was Nathaniel Foster.
This is where online data from the Mormon Church begins; with George Washington Foster Sr.'s grandfather,
Nathaniel Foster (1725-1787) of Brewster, Massachussetts. It extends back through Chillingsworth Foster (1680-1764), Marshfield, Massachussetts; John Foster (1642-1732), Weymouth, Massachussetts (the first of our ancestors born on American soil); and beyond, to 1558, in Ipswich, England.
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John Foster's parents were Thomas Foster Jr. (1600-1682) and Elizabeth Whitmore Foster (1618-1695), in all likelihood both young English emigrés. About Thomas's origins, there is little question. It has been established by family historians that he and his brother arrived on the ship Hercules around 1635 (thanks to Ann Hardy for this) as part of the Massachussetts Bay Colony. In the 1630s there were only a few thousand colonists in New England. The settlers of Plymouth, the first colony; the inhabitants of Weymouth, the second colony; and a new influx of the larger Bay Colony, with the majority of these arriving from England around 1635. Other than native Americans, there was no one else.
As for Elizabeth Whitmore, records indicating that she was "born in Weymouth, Massachussetts in 1618" are almost surely in error. It is possible that Elizabeth could have been born on American soil in 1618, a child of the earliest Plymouth colonists, but she could not have been born in Weymouth, Massachussetts, as even its precursor, the Wessagusset settlement, did not exist until 1622. It is perhaps most probable that, like Thomas Jr., she was one of the 1635 Bay Company colonists (totaling no more than a few hundred). If so, she would have been just 17 at the time of the crossing.
In any case, Elizabeth Whitmore and Thomas Foster, Jr., were married in Braintree, Mass. in 1638. Elizabeth was 20 and Thomas Jr. was 38. Four years later, their son John was born in Weymouth (almost certainly where Thomas and Elizabeth lived). A link to the early history of this Weymouth colony is provided below.
The Foster lineage data is indicated back through two more generations, to Thomas Foster, Sr. (1565-1638), of Ipswich, Suffolk County, England, and his wife, Abigail Wimes (1573-circa 1638); then lastly to Abigail's parents, Matthew Wimes (1558-unknown) and Mrs. Matthew Wimes (1560-unknown), also of Ipswich. (Present-day Ipswich link below.)
Note: On December 27, in response to an e-mail inquiry, we received this corroborative (and very kind) response from Jodi Purdy-Quinlan, of the Massachussetts Historical Society:
"...Yes, John Foster was the son of Thomas Foster. Also, according to the genealogy in page 233 of vol 3 of the History of Weymouth, "Thomas Foster had lands granted to him in the "east field," first given to John Allen." (Weymouth Land Grants, 261) He certainly resided early in Weymouth, in 1640. He removed to Braintree and to Billerica before 1659. He was made a freeman of the Mass Bay Colony, 26 May, 1647. His wife was Elizabeth ____. For further details consult the Thomas Foster Record, 1889.
Children born at Weymouth:
Thomas, b. 18 Aug 1640
John, b 7 Oct. 1642
Hopestill, b 26 Mar 1648 in Braintree
Joseph, b 28 Mar 1650 in Braintree
Good luck,
Jodi Purdy-Quinlan..."
Clicking the Ancestral Data link immediately below will take you directly to the Nathaniel Foster page in the extensive data center of the Mormon Church. Once there, click on highlighted names to explore the
heritage. Records go back several more generations, to 1558, as described above.
NOTE: Weymouth link below updated June 28, '04
WEYMOUTH COLONY HISTORY-Historical context. (John Foster was born in Weymouth, MA in 1642. It appears that he was the first of our ancestors born on American soil.)
PRESENT-DAY IPSWICH-Ipswich Borough Council Web Site
