Andrew Boyd Foster

Andrew was the grandfather of our Grandma Bagley:

Thomas Boyd Foster married Eleanor Cowan in 1837. Their first 5 children were sons: William, Samuel, Thomas, Andrew, and Hugh. All 5 of these boys fought in the Civil War. Our Andrew Boyd Foster is #4 on this list. The family's sacrifices for the Confederacy cannot be overstated. The two oldest sons died in the war. The third son was shot in the ankle, resulting in his foot being amputated, and living with a wooden extension for many years. Andrew and Hugh were both captured and in prisoner of war camps, and it certainly appears that these imprisonments were very tough on them.

As was a common custom, Andrew's middle name came from his Grandmother Sarah "Sally" Ann Boyd (could she have been the original 'Grandma Sally'?)

Here are the summarized Civil War records of Andrew Boyd Foster:

He enlisted at Caperton's Ferry, Alabama under Capt. George Cowan, probably his uncle, on June 12, 1862, just about a month before his 21st birthday. After this he is listed on the role cards until Feb 21, 1864 when he was able to take a short furlough. On his return to service he re-enlisted "for the war". In July of that year, he is "missing and presumed to have been captured", which in fact, he was. Later records show that he was captured near Marietta, Georgia on July 15, 1864. He then was held at Louisville, Kentucky and Camp Chase, Ohio before being transfered to City Point, Virginia in March of 1865 where he was held until the end of the war.

After the war he married Nancy Brewer in Jackson County Alabama, where they had three daughters before moving to Texas. The third of these was our Sally Pauline Foster, mentioned in the last post.[there is a published book which says that her name was Sally 'Brown' Foster, and unfortunately it has been widely quoted, but in the census records her middle initial is consistently listed as "P", so this matches our family memories]

The couple settled in Comanche County in west-cental Texas, near the town of Sipe Springs. Here they aquired land and livestock, and had 6 more children. The Comanche Newspaper had a section that told of "Sipe Springs Doings", and on June 10, 1882 it said:

"The sheep interest is getting to be quite an important one...Mr A.B.Foster and Bro own about a thousand..."

It is a mystery as to which brother this could be, although it seems most likely that is was Hugh, who did move to Sipe Springs in the early 1880s.

Andrew worked as Deputy Sheriff for two years and was then elected Sheriff in 1891 and 1893, for two years each time. Although we cannot know much about him at this distant time, we do know he had enough respect in the community to be elected Sheriff after serving as Deputy, and then re-elected for a second term - the office of Sheriff being one of the most important public positions in the late 19th century West. (just watch any 'Gunsmoke' episode if you don't believe me) For religion, he was raised in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and this denomination was very active in his home in Texas, to which he seems to have remained faithful.