Wilder D. Foster
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Wilder De Ayr Foster (January 8, 1819 – September 20, 1873) was a politician from the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
.


Biography

Foster was born in
Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...
where he attended the common schools. He moved to Michigan in 1837, and engaged in the hardware business at
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
in 1845. He was city treasurer and member of the board of aldermen and then became Mayor of Grand Rapids in 1854. He was a member of the
Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...
in 1855 and 1856 and was again mayor of Grand Rapids in 1865 and 1866. In a special election on April 4, 1871, Foster was elected as a
Republican 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 ...
from
Michigan's 4th congressional district Michigan's 4th congressional district is a United States congressional district that from 2003 to 2013 included portions of Northern and Central Michigan, consisting of all of Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, ...
to the
42nd United States Congress The 42nd 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 in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1871, ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas White Ferry. (Foster defeated Ferry's brother
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, who ran as the Democratic nominee.) In 1872, after new district boundaries were drawn, Foster was reelected to a full term in the
43rd Congress The 43rd 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 in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...
from
Michigan's 5th congressional district Michigan's 5th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The district is represented by Republican Tim Walberg. Predecessors From 1873 to 1993, the 5th was based in the Grand Rapids a ...
. In all, Foster served in Congress from December 4, 1871, until his death in Grand Rapids. He is interred there in Fulton Street Cemetery.


See also

*
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899) The following is a list of United States senators and representatives who died of natural or accidental causes, or who killed themselves, while serving their terms between 1790 and 1899. For a list of members of Congress who were killed while in ...


References


The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Wilder De Ayr 1819 births 1873 deaths Mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan Republican Party Michigan state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan 19th-century American politicians