David Jones Foster was born March 14, 1806, in Dudley, Massachusetts, the son of a hotel keeper, Silas Foster and his wife Lucina Pickering. As a young man, he left home and established a button factory, store and hotel in Petersham, Worcester, Massachusetts, besides running the largest freight and stage business from Worchester to Brattleboro west with the Hon. G. Twitchell.
He married Charlotte Fowle of Boston Jan. 28, 1835 in Petersham, Massachusetts. They had six children: William (1836-1837); Charlotte F. (1838-1884); George E. (1840-1881); Lucinia (1841-1910); Albert J. (1845-1933); and Julia A. (1847-1928).
In 1842 all of his property was burned, and he was left with $25,000, with which he established a business in Boston importing tailors’ trimmings. In crisis in 1857, he failed but paid 50 cents on the dollar, and in two years had paid in full interest and principal.
Foster was active in keeping up and encouraging the three local militia companies in his home area. He introduced new and attractive uniforms for two of them, one of which chose him as their captain.
In 1863 he retired from business, and having previously visited the White River area in 1859, he then bought the Rogers’ estate with an estimated 3,000 acres of pine land.
In 1864 his son, Albert J., came to Whitehall, and by 1867 he and his father had established a large mercantile business, with branch stores in Hesperia and Denver townships.
Around 1866 at a cost of $8,000 Foster erected a two-story wooden building known as the Foster Block. It was located on Colby Street, just west of the alley where the Century Building now stands. The second story of the building was used for large group meetings and a place for thespians to perform their plays and entertainment. On Saturday morning, Jan. 9, 1875, with the temperature indicating 12 degrees below zero, fire struck the Foster block. At the time it was occupied by Dr. J. A. Wheeler’s drug store, the Post Office and Postmaster Hedges’ family. The rear portion of the building was able to be saved, but there was a loss to Foster of about $3,000, which was not covered by insurance. Wheeler’s stock of drugs loss was about $4,500 with insurance about $2,500. Postmaster Hedges’ loss was about $300 in household good besides the loss of Mrs. Hedges' wardrobe. Foster also had a suite of rooms and sustained a slight loss on furniture and clothing.
In 1875, even though the rear position of the building was reportedly saved, it appears that Foster decided to rebuild at the other end of the block, just north of the railroad tunnel on the corner of Colby and Thompson streets, which is at the west end of where the Century Building now stands.
Unfortunately, this three-story building burned, along with many others, July 30, 1881 when Whitehall suffered one of its first major fires. Businesses that were located in the Foster Block alone included K. F. Morse hardware, the post office, C. C. Thompson’s real estate office, Riley’s barbershop, Ruggles City Drugstore and Gale’s restaurant. On the second floor was Ellsworth’s law office, Cunningham’s dental rooms, Dr. Adam's office and the apartments of the Foster family. On the third floor was the Opera Hall.
Foster spent portions of his time in the east, as half of his estates were there. He was a man of enterprise and ready to second anything for the good of Whitehall. He built 13 dwellings in the area besides improving numerous lots. It was reported that his wife and daughter Lucinia came to town on the train and spent some time in February 1879. This seems to be the first time there was anything published about family coming to visit, although there may have been other visits that just didn’t make it into the newspaper.
David Foster died July 23, 1881 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His wife died in 1895. They are buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
