Family Sketches - Part 3 - The Death of Our G-G..Grandmother

It is a difficult decision to write this article. Some things are better left behind. The tenderness with which Thomas writes about the loss of his wife is remarkable, and he must have wanted to communicate this to his descendants. Thomas Boyd Foster and Eleanor Susan Cowan had married on April 6 1837 in Bolivar, Jackson County, Alabama. She was pregnant with her 11th child in the early spring of 1854. Here are the events, exactly as Thomas wrote it in January 1893:

"In 1853 but little of importance remembered save work, work. I had to have timber cut and put upon the bank of the river. Money had to be raised for the Pogue land. And I could sell fuel to the steam boats ..... The year 1854 rolls on. The darkest period of my life. In the early part of the year I was at home but little. Had been out attending to the duties of my office. [County Surveyor] Returned home. Had several plats and certificates to make; was engaged in this work. My wife, not feeling well, laid down on a small bed by me. She called my name two or three times in quick succession. I turned toward her. She was going into a spasm. These spasms continued until sometime in the night. She was relieved. Expected to be confined soon after. [give birth] The time came. The spasms returned on the 27th of March 1854, her babe was born. The mother was a corpse. Tongue cannot tell; thoughts, inexperienced cannot imagine. Words, when spoken advisedly, fall from the lips meaningless. Time heals many sorrows. The grave alone can cover these. Nearly half a century has elapsed. The Savior said "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know herafter". The knowing time is at hand. This may be wrong. Father forgive. The next summer after the death of my wife I took my children to the mountain for health."

His normal writing style was not in the short sentences of this paragraph. He obviously remembered Eleanor with a very special love.

A visit to Caperton Cemetery

I am excited to now use several posts to tell of my Mothers ancestry, much of which had been lost to our family during the 1900s.

I recently visited my son and his wife in Tennessee. As part of this visit, I was able to visit Caperton Cemetery in Jackson County, Alabama. This is the burial site of our ancestors Samuel and Susan (Caperton) Cowan and Thomas Boyd Foster.

Thomas married Eleanor Cowan, the daughter of Samuel and Susan. Eleanor became our g..grandmother. It seems likely that she was also buried in this spot, but there is no stone, so it is possible that she was buried in some other family plot, as she did die a few years before her parents. After Eleanor died while giving birth to her 11th child, Thomas married Sarah "Sallie" Mason. She is also buried in this cemetery. From other sources, we believe that the Mason family had a close relationship with the Fosters. Sarah also died relatively young, after bearing three children.

As time has progressed, the stones of Samuel and Susan have been broken and are in the process of disintegration. The "SAMU" are the only letters or numbers that are ledgible on Samuel's stone. Susan's inscription is mostly clear, but will not be for long. The stone of Thomas Boyd Foster is very clear and is in the attatched picture.

This stone is of particular interest as it contains a motto of the Freemasons "In Hoc Signo Vinces". Translated "In This Sign Victory". Along with the words is a carving of a cross with a crown hanging over it. This symbol honors his leadership in the Freemasons, for which there are several historical records as verification. Thomas was born in 1810 and died in 1895. He was born in Virginia. His family moved to Tennessee when he was still a boy. After he was grown, he settle in Jackson County Alabama.

Other than spending time with my son and his lovely wife, the most exciting part of the trip was obtaining a copy of the short autobiography of Thomas Boyd Foster. I will share several sections of it over the next few posts.

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.