366 FOSDICK, WILLIAM WHITEMAN generating financial, governmental, and community support; assuring public engagement; establishing and evaluating outcome measures; monitoring and reporting to the community the overall progress in the implementation of the vision; and celebrating success. Kara Clark
FOSDICK, WILLIAM WHITEMAN (b. January 28, 1825, Cincinnati, Ohio; d. March 8, 1862, Cincinnati, Ohio). William W. Fosdick, a lawyer and a poet, was the son of Thomas R. and Julia Drake Fosdick. His father, a Cincinnati merchant and banker, died August 1, 1829, when William was a child. His mother was a famous actress, and an aunt, Mrs. Alexander Drake, was another famous and talented actress. The Drakes were the pioneer theatrical family of the Ohio River Valley. William was raised in Covington and graduated in 1845 from Transylvania College, where he studied law. He practiced in Covington, Cincinnati, and New York City. The front page of the October 26, 1850, Covington Journal included an advertisement of his law office on Third St. in Cincinnati. After his time in New York, he returned to Cincinnati and edited the literary journal Sketch Club. He was also a poet and a constant punster, and for a few years he was regarded as the poet laureate of Cincinnati. His novel Malmiztic was met with both high praise and loud ridicule. It was said of him that if he had not been consumed by playing chess, he might have accomplished more in literature. Fosdick was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Advertisement, CJ, October 26, 1850, 1. Coyle, William, ed. Ohio Authors and Their Books: 1796–1950. Cleveland, Ohio: World, 1962. Ford, Henry A., and Kate B. Ford. History of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cleveland, Ohio: Williams, 1881. Hill, West T., Jr. The Theatre in Early Kentucky: 1790–1820. Lexington: Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1971. “Mrs. A. Drake,” CJ, May 16, 1874, 2.
FOSTER. Foster, an Ohio River community, is located in the northeastern tip of Bracken Co., at the mouth of Holt’s Creek. Originally known as Foster’s Landing, it was named for landowner Israel Foster. On August 19, 1847, Richard Lindsey established the first post office there. On January 30, 1850, Foster was incorporated as a sixth-class city, and the name of the post office was changed to Foster the same year. Early settlers used the river landing to send tobacco, grain, and other goods to markets in Cincinnati and New Orleans. Foster was an important shipping point, and the landing was used in 1853 to receive materials to construct a suspension bridge at Falmouth. In the late 1870s, Israel Foster donated land to build a Northern and a Southern Methodist Church. The Northern Church was soon disbanded, and its members joined the Southern congregation. The 1884 atlas of Bracken Co. depicts Foster as a fairly large town, in which the following men conducted business: W. W. Erion, George Holmes, Harry Ketchum, J. J. Ketchum, A. Lively, the Mar-
kley brothers, and L. B. Plummer. The railroad, built in 1888, promoted additional transportation and shipping. In 1907 Foster received a natural gas line. A Kentucky Historical Highway Marker relates the story of an early American Indian raid at the mouth of Holt’s Creek in summer 1793. The raiders crossed the Ohio River, hid their canoes in Holt’s Creek, and proceeded across country to Bourbon Co. to steal horses. Simon Kenton, who was in the area at the time, gathered a group of men to ambush the war party upon its return to the river. After concealing themselves for four days, Kenton’s men killed six warriors, scattering the others, and retrieved the stolen horses. Today, what remains of Foster is located between Ky. Rt. 8 (the Mary Ingles Highway) and the AA Highway. The new pool level of the Ohio River covers remnants of the old boat landing and of the original town. Foster is no longer incorporated, and the AA Highway has removed most of the traffic that used to pass through town along the Mary Ingles Highway. Bracken Co. Extension Homemakers. History of Bracken County. Bicentennial ed. Brooksville, Ky.: Bracken Co. Extension Homemakers, 2002. Rennick, Robert M. Kentucky Place Names. Lexington: Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1984.
John E. Leming Jr.
FOSTER, RANDOLPH SINKS (b. February 22, 1820, Williamsburg, Ohio; d. May 1, 1903, Newton, Mass.). Randolph Foster, a bishop and an author, was the son of a jailer in Clermont Co., Ohio. The family moved to Kentucky, and he attended Augusta College. In 1837 he was admitted to the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Over the years, he traveled widely in his preaching and teaching. In 1852 Foster received his BA from Ohio Wesleyan College, and in 1858 the same school awarded him a DD (doctorate in divinity). He served as president of Northwestern University in Chicago (1857–1860) and of Drew Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J. (1870–1872). In 1872 he was elected a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He authored more than a dozen books, the most famous being the religious work Objections to Calvinism as It Is (1849), which was written while he was the pastor of a famous Methodist church in Cincinnati, Wesley Chapel. In 1876 he moved to Boston, where he spent the rest of his life. He was an oftenrequested speaker and traveled widely throughout the country. He died in Massachusetts in 1903 and was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Bishop Foster,” Newton (Mass.) Graphic Supplement, May 8, 1903. Coyle, William, ed. Ohio Authors and Their Books: 1796–1950. Cleveland, Ohio: World, 1962. Mohs, Mayo. “Your Town: Augusta, Ky., Battleground of Giants,” KTS, June 27, 1956, 21–23. Rankins, Walter H. Augusta College. Frankfort, Ky.: Roberts, 1955. “Recent Death,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 2, 1903, 2. “Translation,” Zion’s Herald, May 6, 1903, 550–56.
FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS (b. July 4, 1826, Lawrenceville, Pa.; d. January 13, 1864, New York City). Songwriter Stephen Foster was born at White Cottage, his family’s homestead along the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh. He was the 10th of 11 children of William Barclay and Eliza Tomlinson Foster. His mother was the half sister of Dr. Joseph S. Tomlinson, president of Augusta College, Augusta, Ky., and Dr. John Tomlinson, an Augusta physician. Stephen and his mother are said to have visited them in Augusta at least once, in May 1833. Today a Kentucky Highway marker in Augusta suggests that Foster was influenced by Negro spirituals he heard there. Foster was schooled at home, as was typical on America’s frontier. He evidenced much interest in music and received some formal musical training from Henry Klaber, a German immigrant composer who was influential in Pittsburgh’s musical circles. By age 18 Foster was writing words and music, creating the first of his many songs. At age 20 Foster became a bookkeeper in his older brother Dunning’s merchant firm in Cincinnati and continued to pen music. He saw river life firsthand and noted the mingling currents in American culture. His genius blossomed. In Cincinnati he began to write songs in earnest while establishing friendships with musicians, minstrels, and publishers. He gave manuscript copies of “Oh! Susanna,” “Old Uncle Ned,” and other songs to several acquaintances in Cincinnati. Queen City minstrels sang his compositions, increasing the popularity of these songs. “Oh! Susanna” (1847) became the marching song of thousands of Americans joining the California gold rush. In 1849 Foster decided to devote himself full-time to music composition and sent one of his best songs, “Nelly Was a Lady,” to a New York City publisher. He negotiated a favorable contract with this firm, Firth, Pond & Company, and maintained a satisfactory business relationship with it for several years. Foster returned to Pittsburgh, where the years between 1850 and 1855 were his most successful. He entered into an agreement with Edwin P. Christy, leader of the famous Christy Minstrels, whereby Christy agreed to pay Foster a small fee for the privilege of singing Foster songs before they were published; Foster would then be able to affi x “As Sung by the Christy Minstrels” on his music’s title pages. Foster’s business skills were poor, as he sold the rights to “Old Folks at Home” in 1851 to Christy for a paltry $15; when this song was published, it bore the surprising statement, “Composed by E. P. Christy.” More than 160 compositions poured from Foster’s pen during these years. Many were of only passing interest, but several enduring favorites were created: “Camptown Races” and “Nelly Bly” (1850); “Old Folks at Home” and “Ring, Ring the Banjo” (1851); “Massa’s in de Cold Ground” (1852); “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Good Night,” and “Old Dog Tray” (1853); “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” (1854); and “Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming” (1855). On July 22, 1850, Foster married Jane Denny McDowell, daughter of a Pittsburgh physician. Their daughter and only child, Marion, was born