Eleazer Kingsbury Foster (May 20, 1813 – June 13, 1877) was a lawyer and politician in the United States. Foster was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. His father Eleazer Foster was a prominent lawyer of New Haven until his early death in 1819. His mother, Mary Pierpont, was a great-grandchild of Rev. James Pierpont, one of the principal founders of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

.Connecticut Reports: Proceedings in the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
/ref> Foster graduated from Yale in 1834. He studied law in the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, was admitted to the bar in March, 1837, and settled in practice in his native city. He represented New Haven in the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

in 1844 and 1845, and again in 1865 when he served as Speaker of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

. In 1845, 1846, 1848, and 1849, he was Judge of Probate for the district of New Haven. In 1854 he was appointed State's Attorney for

New Haven County New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...

, and was nominated Register in Bankruptcy when that office was created, and continued in both these positions till his death. Besides his professional success, Foster's social qualities gained him the warm regard of a large circle of friends. He died, in New Haven, after a brief illness, of pneumonia, June 13, 1877, aged 64 years. He married Mary, daughter of William C. Codrington, a lady of English birth, and formerly of

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, but then of New Haven, Jan 2, 1838. She died Sept 25, 1872. Of their children, two daughters died before their parents, and three sons, all graduates of Yale, survived him.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Eleazer Kingsbury 1813 births 1877 deaths Politicians from New Haven, Connecticut Yale Law School alumni Connecticut lawyers Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Speakers of the Connecticut House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut 19th-century American lawyers