Joseph Foster & Abigail Vail

Sally’s 7-great Grandparents:

Joseph Foster 1638 -1708 | his parents
& ca 1664 wife Abigail Vail ca 1645 – | her parents
of Lynn, Mass and Southampton, Long Island


my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!


Joseph Foster, son of Christopher Foster 1603-1687 & Frances Stevens 1607- ?, was born 1638 in Lynn, Mass.
His family removed to Southampton, Long Island in 1651.
He married ca 1664 Abigail Vail
and he died 30 Jan 1708 in Southampton, Suffolk Co, NY.
Abigail was baptized in Mar or May 1645.

Children of Joseph Foster and wife Abigail:
1. Joseph Foster ca 1665 – 1704 Southampton, LI
married Abigail Jackson 
a. Josiah Foster 1698 – Southampton LI
married ?
b. Christopher Foster ca 1700 –
i. Christopher Foster ca 1723 –
married ca 1745 Hannah 1723 – 4 Nov 1775
c. Deborah Foster 17 Sept 1701 –
d. Joseph Foster 27 July 1704 –
i. Christopher Foster nfi
ii. Abigail Foster 1726 –
married Culver
iii. Damaris Foster 1730 –
iv. Mary Foster
v. Hannah Foster
married Abraham Dixon
2. Christopher Foster ca 1668 – 7 Feb 1748 Southampton, LI
town clerk of Southampton for many years

married 1st 26 Nov 1691 Hannah Pierson 1671 – 7 Feb 1697
daughter of Samuel of East Hampton
a. Abigail Foster 27 Oct 1692 –
married David Haines
b. Hannah Foster 28 Oct 1694 –
married Samuel Jones
married 2nd 19 Aug 1697 Mrs Abigail (Lupton) Topping ca 1673 –
daughter of Christopher
3. Obadiah Foster ca 1671 –
received share of father’s estate

4. Daniel Foster 1676 – 5 Nov 1744
married 23 May 1710 Lydia Wood ca 1687 –
*5. Nathan Foster ca 1678 -died 1737 Elizabeth NJ
married Mary Lyon
6. Jeremiah Foster 1680 – 1732
7. Peter Foster 1682 – bef Jun 1732 SC
8. Damaris Foster 1684 –
married Dec 9 1714 Jeremiah Culver ca 1680 –
9. Penelope Foster 1686 –

Information was found in
“Foster Geneology” by F C Pierce 1899
“The Early History of Southampton, LI, NY by Howell 1887.
NJArchives.
“The Christopher Foster Family History 1603-1953” by Helen Foster Snow


 

Daniel Foster 1676 – 1744 | his parents
&1710 Lydia Wood ca 1687 – ? | her parents
of Southampton Long Island


Children of Daniel Foster and Lydia Wood:
1. Jonas Foster 25 June 1711 – 7 Mar 1743

married Abigll Howell 1711 –
a. Jedediah Foster 12 May 1738 – 22 May 1832
He served as a private in Colonel Josiah Smith’s Suffolk County, Militia 1st Regt. of Minute Men. Pension #57982. He fought in the Revolutionary War.
His birth and death dates are on his tombstone,
in the Village Cemetery at Palmyra, Wayne, New York.
He moved to Palmyra after his sons founded it in about 1800.”

married Elizabeth Howell 11 Nov 1740 – 1822
i. Elizabeth Foster ca 1761 – bef 1793 SH NY
married ca 1778 Ebenezer Howell Jun 1744 – 29 Aug 1825
ii. Eunice Foster 10 Dec 1763 – 1829
married Robert Woodhull ca 1760 –
iii. Phebe Foster 1765 –
married Moses Culver
iv. Joel C Foster 13 Dec 1767 – 2 Feb 1829 -61y 1m 19d [ts]
burial in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY
married ca 1790 Mehetabel Jessup 1771 – 15 Mar 1855 84yr ts
burial in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY
v. Abram [Abraham] Foster 6 Dec 1769 –
married Hannah Halsey ca 1773 –
vi. Cyrus Foster 1772 –
burial in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY [no dates]
married Millicent Reeves ca 1775 –
burial in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY [no dates & first name gone]
vii. Lucena Foster 1774 – 1828
married Lewis Jessup
viii. Zenas Foster 1779 –
married Hannah Reeves ca 1783 –
ix. Benjamin Pliny Foster 1780 –
married Linda Reeves ca 1785 –
x. Harriett Foster 1782 –
married Joseph Tibbetts ca 1779 –
b. Aaron Foster ca 1740 –
c. Abraham Foster ca 1742 – 1768
d. Daniel Foster ca 1744 –
married Phebe Raynor ca 1748 –
e. Wakeman Foster ca 1746 –
married 1st Martha Sawyer ca 1746 –
married 2nd Phebe Cleves ca 1746 –
f. Catura Foster ca 1748 –
married John Culver ca 1745 –
g. Ann Foster ca 1750 –
married James Brewster ca 1745
2. Lydia Foster 30 April 1713 –
3. Mehitable Foster 24 Jan 1715 –
married Mr. Campfield ca 1710 –
4. David Foster ca 1717 –
married ca 1745 Eunice Reeves ca 1725 –
a. David Foster Jr ca 1751 –
5. Abigall Foster 8 Oct 1719 –
6. Daniel Foster Jr. 22 Mar 1722 –
married Temperance Halsey 1725 – 2 Apr 1800
7. Phebe Foster 27 Sep 1724 – 26 May 1790 age 66
married 1761 Abner Reeves 1707 – 6 May 1798 91st yr
8. Christopher Foster 23 Feb 1727 – 26 Aug 1823
married Phebe Hildreth ca 1738 – 9 Dec 1787
a. Luther Foster 1 Sept 1770 – 16 Nov 1846 Warsaw NY
married 1791 Ruth Hedges d. 7 Mar 1860
i. Solon Foster 1811 – Salt Lake City, Utah
married Sarah Downing
1. Solon Foster Jr 1852
married Sarah Margaret Moody
b. George Woodwards Foster 1789 –
married Ellen Rasmussen Matheson
line of Claire


Deacon Joel C Foster 1767 – 1829 | his parents
& Mehetable Jessup 1771 – 1855 | her parents
of Palmyra New York


“Joel Foster and two of his brothers, Abraham and Cyrus were the founders of Palmyra, New York, along with William Hopkins, Elias Reeves and Luther Sanford.
Joel made a good boat using nails made by his brother Cyrus, and they took a colony up the Hudson and up the Mohawk, Oswego and Seneca Rivers, partly by portage, the first time this trip had been made by boat. This was in 1793. Joel’s boat became quite famous and brought many other Southampton families to Palmyra. The boat was later used as a pleasure boat around Seneca Lake. Later many other Southampton families joined the little colony.”

Foster, Mahetable, wife of Joel, March 15, 1855, 84y

Foster, Joel, Feb. 2, 1829, 61y 1m 19d

e-mail from Bill Doyle: In our basement there is a tomb stone for “Deacon Joel C. Foster”, with a death date of Feb. 2, 1829, 61y 1m 19d. We just wanted to let you know that our research has led us to believe that he is the 7th in descent from Christopher & Frances Foster. Our sources include the 1789 History of Wayne County New York through 1877, published by EVERTS, ENSIGN, & EVERTS of Philadelphia 1877, it’s Library of Congress catalog card # is 75-37578 and a couple of websites as noted below . Included in this particular book is actually sketch of Hiram Foster, son of Deacon Joel C Foster and descriptive accounts of the Foster’s pioneering efforts in New York and elsewhere. Deacon Joel C Foster, Hiram and two of his sons are original settlers of our town, Palmyra, NY in 1791 (aka the Long Island Purchase via the Southampton Company). We’re still not sure why the head stone is in our basement. But, we believe that Deacon Joel C Foster is actually buried in the Palmyra NY cemetery. One other thing just crossed my mind…Do you have any pictures of Hiram or Harvey in which you have scanned that would be email-able? We have a picture from what we believe is circa 1860’s with Colonel CCB Walker and many men in the front of this house. I would be curious to know if any of the men in it were Fosters. The picture was left behind in a safe and is prominently displayed in our stairway.

f-house-joel2
“Viewforth”
a place where Joel apparently spent some time

f-Front-hall-1st-floor-Pain f-Library-2 f-Diningroom
front hall – library – dining room
Deacon-Joel-Foster-Tombston
the mystery tombstone from the basement of house
very difficult to read the script at the bottom of the stone is,
“Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord”.

Children of Joel Foster and Mehetable Jessup:
1. Harvey Jessup Foster 1 Nov 1792 Southampton – 21 Oct 1861 Palmyra

married 1817 Julia Stevens 1797 – 21 Jan 1835
both buried E Palmyra Cem.
2. Hiram Foster 1794 – 24 Apr 1880 age 86 years

married Nancy ? 1798 – 19 April 1897
both buried in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY 080-4
3. Julia Foster 1796 –

4. Harriett Foster 1798 –
5. Clarissa Foster 8 Dec 1798 – 11 May 1863 Illinois
married 27 Sept 1818 Joel Warner
6. Lewis Henry Foster 2 May 1800 – 8 Oct 1848 Palmyra
married 2 Oct 1827 Hannah Carpenter 1798 – 1874
7. Newton Foster 26 June 1804 – 13 July 1892 88yr Buffalo NY
burial in East Palmyra Cemetery, NY Foster, Newton, son of Joel & Mahetable, July 13, 1892, 88y
married ca 1825 Eliza E Moore 6 Sept 1802 – 30 Dec 1861 Palmyra
Foster, Eliza, wife of Newton, Dec. 30, 1861, 59y 3m 24d
8. Joel Foster 1807 – 25 Dec 1879 72 years ts Palmyra
Foster, Joel, Dec. 25, 1879, 72y
married Harriett ? 1810 – 18 Feb 1835 25 yr ts
Foster, Harriet, 1st wife of Joel, Feb. 18, 1835, 25y
married 4 Nov 1836 Mary Jessup 1811 – 16 Aug 1881 70 yr ts
Foster, Mary, 2nd wife of Joel, Aug. 16, 1881, 70y
9. Cephas Herman Foster 24 Nov 1808 – 15 Jan 1892 Marion, Iowa
10. Fanny Foster 1810 –
11. Eliza Jane Foster 1813 – 26 June 1844 age 31yr ts dsp
Foster, Eliza Jane, dau. of Joel, June 26, 1844, 31y

CENSUS RECORDS: 1800 Ontario County, New York page #348
FOSTER, Joel has 4 boys under 10 years old, 1 boy 10 to 16, 2 males 16 to 26, 1 male 26 to 45; 1 girl under 10, and 1 female 26 to 4CENSUS RECORDS: 1810 Ontario County, New York page #207

FOSTER, Joel has 3 boys under 10, 3 boys 10 to 16, 1 male 16 to 26, 1 male 26 to 45; 1 girl under 10, 1 girl 10 to 16, and 1 female 26 to 45.
Joel was a witness to Robert Haines Will in 1810 and Joel and his sons Harvey and Hyrum were witnesses to David Haynes Foster’s Will in 1813.

1-Joel-C-Foster 2-Mahetable-wife-Joel-Foste 3-Eliza-Foster-wife-Newton 4-Chloe-Foster-Parsons-dau-5-Eliza-Jane-Foster-dau-Joe 6-Amanda-Foster-dau-Joel 7-Lewis-Foster-son-Joel 8-Mary-Foster-dau-Lewis

Palmyra Village Cemetery

All From Sec I – Lot 326, near the top of the hill,
except Lewis and dau Mary, who are on T-527 near the office

Paul Sutton Kamalsky

Find-A-Grave Photo Volunteer

Newark, Wayne Co., NY

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46798303

Would you be interested in joining the project?

3 thoughts on “Joseph Foster & Abigail Vail”

  1. Sally,

    I am a descendant of Joel Warner and Clarissa Foster, and came across your blog in a Google search. I would like to know more about your research regarding them. I know quite a bit about Joel Warner’s family, and know they came from Onondaga County. But I honestly had nothing on Clarissa, except last name of Foster.

  2. I am a Vail/Veal researcher. I believe that the Abigail that married Joseph Foster was Abigail Vail, oldest daughter of Jeremiah Vail and his first wife, Catherine. They lived in Southampton, but moved to Southold, across the water from Southampton, when Abigail was 16. [Her christening was recorded in Salem, Mass as 18 May or March 1645.] Jeremiah Vail left land to Jeremy Foster, son of Joseph Foster and later his son John, Abigail’s half brother, was appointed guardian of Jeremiah Foster in 1694. This looks to me like a grandfather’s gift to his namesake. The 1902 Vail genealogy lists her husband as a Horton but others have rejected this relationship. Abigail’s brother Jeremiah2 did have a daughter who married a Horton as acknowledged in Jeremiah2’s will. This is the conclusion I have drawn so thought I would pass it along to a researcher who appears to do quality digging. Did any of your immediate Fosters go to Cape May?
    Joan Best

    1. I am a Vail descendent and have been doing research on and off for the past 5 years. I also lived in Southampton for part of my childhood ( 1951-1959). “Aunt” Ruth and “Grandpa” Doc were our well loved honorary relatives. June Foster was our church’s children’s choir director and we sang with her all the time we were there. From what you say here we really were shirt tail relatives! How wonderful and mysterious is God’s love.

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