James Heron Foster (18 April 1822 – 21 April 1868) was a journalist and politician of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He was the founding editor of three Pittsburgh newspapers, most notably the '' Pittsburgh Dispatch''.

Biography

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on 18 April 1822, Foster became a resident of Pittsburgh in the spring of 1831. He was the youngest son of Alexander W. Foster, for many years a prominent attorney in Western Pennsylvania. As a youth Foster worked as an apprentice in the printing business. At the age of only nineteen years, he became the initial editor of the Pittsburgh ''Morning Chronicle'' in company with publisher Richard G. Berford. Foster was a social and moral crusader from his earliest editorials, targeting such vices as drunkenness, corner loafing, and desecration of the Sabbath. Subsequent to his time at the ''Chronicle'', he co-founded and edited the ''Spirit of the Age'', which, after he left it, became the ''

Commercial Journal __NOTOC__ The ''Commercial Journal'' was a mid-19th century newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Beginnings The paper was founded as the ''Spirit of the Age'' by J. Heron Foster, J. McMillin and J. B. Kennedy on 19 April 1843, w ...

''. In 1846 he put out the first issue of the ''Dispatch'', the paper with which he was connected in editorial and ownership roles for the rest of his life. A staunch opponent of slavery, Foster was nominated by a Free Soil Party convention in late 1852 for Mayor of Pittsburgh. He ran a distant third for that office behind the two main-party candidates. By 1855 he had aligned himself with the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

s; historian Michael F. Holt called him "the city's leading Know Nothing editor." Foster was elected to the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 1858 session and again for the 1859 session, each time on a fusion ticket comprising

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and allies. Foster served as an officer in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, eventually attaining the post of district

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

. After the war, he was brevetted from captain to colonel for meritorious service. He had been known as "Colonel" even before the war, from his rank in the state militia. After a lengthy struggle with lung disease, Foster died on 21 April 1868 at his home in

Allegheny City Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

. A funeral procession more than a mile long escorted the remains to Allegheny Cemetery.

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, in his travelogue ''

The Innocents Abroad ''The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress'' is a travel book by American author Mark Twain. Published in 1869, it humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel ''Quaker City'' ( ...

'' (1869), noted with sadness the loss of the man he called "a most estimable gentleman." The two had met on the overseas voyage on which the book was based. Foster's three children with wife Julia Manuel Foster included suffragist

Rachel Foster Avery Rachel Foster Avery (December 30, 1858 – October 26, 1919) was active in the American women's suffrage movement during the late 19th century, working closely with Susan B. Anthony and other movement leaders. She rose to be corresponding secr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, J. Heron 1822 births 1868 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors American male journalists 19th-century American newspaper founders Journalists from Pennsylvania Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Politicians from Pittsburgh Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania Free Soilers Pennsylvania Know Nothings Burials at Allegheny Cemetery 19th-century American male writers Union Army officers American militia officers