Saturday, May 30, 2015

Foster Connections

According to an old piece of paper found in an old bible that was in my family, my 3rd g-grandfather, Daniel Hildreth, named his first son, Charles Foster Hildreth, who was born in 1819 in Minisink, Orange, NY. This middle name of Foster might be a clue, either to the first wife of Joseph Hildreth (1753-1789) or to somebody on Daniel's maternal side, or perhaps, to somebody who became guardian to Daniel after his father died.  Whatever the connection, here is a list of people with the Foster surname in the 1790 census (pg 134) who lived nearby Samuel Hildreth and Daniel Hildreth II, starting with those listed closest to the Hildreth names just mentioned:

• Nathan Foster
• Stephen Foster (only 1 person in this household, a male over 16)
• Benj. Foster
• Chistopher Foster
• Stephen Foster

So we know there were Foster families near our Hildreth families in 1790, and even before then as I have found some deeds between Stephen Foster and Daniel Hildreth from 1757. And yes, there were also a couple marriages between the Foster and Hildreth families. Here are the ones I've discovered so far:
  • Ephraim Hildreth, a brother of my ancestor Nathan, had a daughter named Phebe (1733-1787). This Phebe Hildreth married Christopher Foster, possibly the name we see on the 1790 census. I believe Christopher remarried and had more children, but I'm not sure.
  • Joseph Hildreth, another brother of my ancestor Nathan, had a daughter named Sarah, who I believe was born around 1705. That Sarah Hildreth married Stephen Foster around 1725 and they had 8 children, one was a son named Stephen, who is possibly the person we see in the 1790 census.
So Foster is a Southampton family with definite ties to ours. My genealogy radar tells me the connection might be significant since my 3rd g-grandfather gave his first son the Foster name.

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