Dwight Foster (December 7, 1757 – April 29, 1823) was an American lawyer and politician from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

, the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Early life

Foster was born in Brookfield in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

, and attended the common schools in Brookfield. He graduated from the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the former name of Brown University) at Providence in 1774. He then studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and was admitted to the bar association in 1778. He remained in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

to practice law, beginning his law practice in Providence. He received his Master's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1784.

Career

After returning to Massachusetts, Foster held various positions in the government. He served as justice of the peace for Worcester County from 1781 to 1823, as special justice of the court of common pleas in 1792, and as sheriff of Worcester County in 1792. In 1791, he was elected as a Federalist candidate to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was elected as a United States House of Representatives to the

3rd United States Congress The 3rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Penn ...

in 1793, and was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses. He served in Congress from March 4, 1793, until his resignation on June 6, 1800. While in Congress, he was Chairman of the

United States Senate Committee on Claims The United States Senate Committee on Claims was among the first standing committees established in the Senate. It dealt generally with issues related to private bills and petitions. After reforms in the 1880s that created judicial and administra ...

. In 1799, he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention and on June 6, 1800, he was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by Samuel Dexter's resignation. He served in the Senate until his resignation on March 3, 1803. He was a member of the State House from 1808 to 1809 and a member of the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Counc ...

in 1818. In 1813 he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. Foster died in Brookfield on April 29, 1823, aged 65, and is interred in

Brookfield Cemetery Brookfield Cemetery is an historic cemetery on Main Street (Massachusetts Route 9) on the west side of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Established in 1714, it is the town's only cemetery. It consequently holds the burials of many of Brookfield's fo ...

there.

Family life

Foster's father was Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Jedediah Foster, who graduated from

in 1744. Foster married Rebecca Faulkner on May 7, 1783, and they had one son, Alfred Dwight Foster. He was the brother of U.S. Senator

Theodore Foster Theodore Foster (April 29, 1752January 13, 1828) was an American lawyer and politician from Rhode Island. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party. He served as one of the first two United States senato ...

, and was the grandfather and namesake of

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...

and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Dwight Foster MA.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Dwight 1757 births 1823 deaths People from Brookfield, Massachusetts People of colonial Massachusetts American people of English descent Pro-Administration Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Federalist Party United States senators from Massachusetts Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Sheriffs of Worcester County, Massachusetts Massachusetts lawyers Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island 19th-century American lawyers Brown University alumni Harvard University alumni Members of the American Antiquarian Society Burials in Massachusetts