Abiel Foster (August 8, 1735 – February 6, 1806) was an American

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and politician from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was nam ...

. He represented

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

and the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

Biography

Foster was born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, in 1735, the son of Captain Asa Foster of Colonel Ebenezer Colonial Regiment and Elizabeth Abbot. A relative of Jedediah Foster, a judge, American Revolutionary and Harvard Law graduate (1744), the first member of the Foster family in America to receive a "liberal education". Abiel Foster was inspired to follow in the footsteps of Jedediah and entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1756. After studying in theology, he was ordained as a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

in Canterbury, January 26, 1761, he married Hanna Badger in that year. He served as pastor in Canterbury until 1779. At that time Abiel Foster retired to private life but would not be long before he returned to public service. During his 18 years as Minister of Canterbury he built trust with the people and he was appointed to the General Court. During his life Abiel Foster held "various offices of trust and honour with reputation to himself and usefulness to the community. Abiel Foster served in Congress under first

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and 2nd President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

, while working with the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

, to help build a functioning federal government. While a member of the Continental Congress, Abiel Foster left an impression on a young

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...

, after a meeting one summer afternoon. Webster's father,

Ebenezer Webster Ebenezer Webster (born in Kingston, New Hampshire, April 22, 1739; died in Salisbury (now part of Franklin), New Hampshire, April 22, 1806) was a United States farmer, innkeeper, militia member, politician and judge. He was the father of Daniel ...

told his son that he could have had Abiel Foster's place in the Congress if he had more votes. Ebenezer extolled the virtues of an education to his son, explaining that it was an education that made the difference between him and Foster. He said that "It is education that has made Foster what he is and the lack of it has made your father what he is". Abiel Foster's first wife Hanna died in 1768. His second wife, Mary Wise Rogers, was the granddaughter

John Rogers (Harvard) John Rogers (January 11, 1630 – July 12, 1684) was an English Puritan minister and academic in early Colonial America. Biography Eldest son of minister Nathaniel Rogers, he was born in Coggeshall, a small town in Essex, and immigrated to New ...

; they had eight children. Martha, who married Jeremiah Clough, Mary who married Henry Gerrish, Abiel Jr. who married Susanna Moore, Elizabeth who married Enoch Gerrish and Nancy who married John Greenough.

Career

In 1775, Foster was Deputy to the Provincial Congress at Exeter. From 1783 to 1785, Foster was a delegate for New Hampshire to the Continental Congress. Between 1784 and 1788, he was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Rockingham County N.H. On March 3, 1789, he became a member of the

First United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in ...

, under the first Constitution of the United States of America, as a Representative from New Hampshire until March 3, 1791. He returned to the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population ...

in 1791, serving there until 1794 when he was elected again to the U.S.

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. He served there from March 3, 1795, to March 3, 1803. On July 14, 1798, Foster voted in favor of the

Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed th ...

Death

Foster died in Canterbury on February 6, 1806. He is interred at the Center Cemetery, Canterbury, New Hampshire.

Memorial

March 22, 1942, the California Shipbuilding Company launches its 16th Liberty type, 10,500-ton freighter, S.S. Abiel Foster. The day before, the S.S. Benjamin Franklin, launched November 16, 1941, completed its test run. The S.S. Abiel Foster took part as a troop supply ship during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and contributed to the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

References

External links

* tp://digitalpreservation.gov/pub/drstaff/lawmaking/JnlContCong/PDF-files/Jnl-Cont-Cong-v26.pdf Journals of the Continental Congress 1784-1789 *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Abiel 1735 births 1806 deaths People from Andover, Massachusetts American Congregationalist ministers Harvard College alumni Continental Congressmen from New Hampshire 18th-century American politicians New Hampshire state senators Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire 19th-century American politicians 18th-century Congregationalist ministers People of colonial Massachusetts People from Canterbury, New Hampshire 18th-century American clergy