John is my second great-grandfather.
John was born in Chatum, Argenteuil, Quebec, Canada. He is the son of Daniel and Nancy Stewart Foster. In 1868, John Foster, Sr., with his wife and family, moved to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, then a small village located in the northern Wisconsin wilderness. He worked in the lumber mills in Chippewa Falls.
In the spring of 1869, anxious to make a home for his family, he walked 20 miles through the wilderness with his double-bitted axe on his shoulder, to Bobs Creek, now known as Keystone, Wisconsin. He located a suitable spot on which he staked his claim. There were two or three Canadian and French couples in the community, and he stayed with them while hewing out the logs to build his first home. He then bought a team of oxen and moved his family to the new home. About twice a year, a few of his neighbors would pile into his wagon and go to Chippewa Falls to secure supplies for the neighborhood. It took three days to make the trip, and on the return, the load was so heavy that the men walked and pushed the wagon to assist the oxen through the muddy roads.
The family lived in Bobs Creek for 19 years, during which time John, Sr. built a large house to replace the small cabin. In 1888, he purchased the large Dumke Farm at Eagleton, which was one of the two largest farms in the area, and became known as the Foster Farm. His wife Anna Cowan Foster died in 1892, and was buried in Chippewa Falls, some years later he sold the large Foster Farm and remarried to Emma Polanski and moved back to Chippewa Falls, where he spent his remaining years, dying at the age of 83.
Both John Foster Sr. and Jr. farmed in the summer, and spent their winters in the timber country north of Eagleton. John Sr. owned several logging camps.
John and wife Anna Cowan had 8 children; John, Jr., Nancy Stewart Sweet, William Randolph, Margaret Bothwell, Anna (Amy) Elizabeth Marshall, Daniel Nelson, George Fortier, Gertrude Charlotte Dettloff. John and Emma Polanski had 3 children; Ethel Dorothy Sukopp, twins Millicent Larson and Mark. Mark died at age nine months.