Henry A. Foster

Henry Allen Foster (May 7, 1800 – May 11, 1889) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a United States Senator from 1844 to 1845.

Henry Allen Foster
United States Senator
from New York
In office
November 30, 1844 – January 27, 1845
Appointed byWilliam C. Bouck
Preceded bySilas Wright
Succeeded byJohn A. Dix
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 17th district
In office
March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
Preceded byRutger B. Miller
Succeeded byDavid P. Brewster
Personal details
Born(1800-05-07)May 7, 1800
Hartford, Connecticut
DiedMay 11, 1889(1889-05-11) (aged 89)
Rome, New York
Political partyDemocratic

Life

His family moved to Cazenovia, New York when he was a boy. He was admitted to the bar in 1822, and commenced practice in Rome, NY.

He was Surrogate Judge of Oneida County from 1827 to 1831, and from 1835 to 1839, and Rome's Town Supervisor from 1829 to 1830, and from 1833 to 1834. He was a member of the New York State Senate (5th District) from 1831 to 1834, and from 1841 to 1844, sitting in the 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 64th, 65th, 66th and 67th New York State Legislatures.

1848 caricature cartoon on the U.S. presidential race, featuring Henry Foster as a piglet.

Foster was elected as a Democrat to the 25th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1839. Afterwards, he resumed the practice of law in Rome, NY. He was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Silas Wright, and served from November 30, 1844 to January 27, 1845, when a successor was elected by the State Legislature.

He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court (5th D.) from 1864 to 1871, and was ex officio a judge of the New York Court of Appeals in 1870. He was later President of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College and Vice President of the American Colonization Society.

He was buried at the Rome Cemetery in Rome, NY.

References
  • United States Congress. "Henry A. Foster (id: F000304)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • Henry A. Foster at Find a Grave
  • The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 128ff, 133f, 140 and 415; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
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