Foster Community
Located off 90-A on FM 359 1.4 mi. from FM 723 [4 mi. NW of Rosenberg] [2004]
The Foster community began in the fall of 1821 as a permanent campsite settled by Randolph Foster (1790-1887) on what was then one of the largest single land grants in Texas (11,601 acres). The John Foster grant, deeded by Stephen F. Austin, came from the relationship between Foster, his father John (1757-1837) and Austin. John was one of Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists, and Foster family members participated in the Texas War for Independence. Sugar cane was the area's dominant industry in the 1840s, and Foster community thrived from its production and export. Other crops that benefited the community included pecans and cotton. Local residents tamed wild horses found on the upland prairies for domestic use and trade. The community's first school, which offered up to grade five, was held in Randolph Foster's home before construction of a one-room schoolhouse also used for early community religious services. African American students studied at Jones Creek School. The community's first post office initiated mail service from the area's general store in 1882. The volume of local sugar production was so great that in the 1920s, Imperial Sugar Company built a railroad between Foster community and mills in Sugar Land. In 1928, Sugar Land Industries bought acreage in this area and named it Foster Farms. By the end of World War II, several factors led to the community's decline: the end of area sugar crops; the closing of the railroad; the Great Depression; and changes in ownership and farming techniques. In 1944, the community's schools, post office and general store closed. Today, adjacent to Houston, the state's largest urban area, Foster exists in memory as a pioneer Texas community.
FOSTER, TEXAS-POSTMASTERS
John Foster John and Randolph Foster High School, 4400 FM 723 [2002]
John Foster John Foster was born on May 25, 1757, in South Carolina to William James and Mary (Hill) Foster. Family history indicates he may have served with his brothers in Charleston against a British attack in June 1776. He married Rachel (Gibson), and they had at least six children, four of whom eventually lived in Texas. About 1781, the Fosters crossed the Appalachians and traveled almost 2,000 miles by flatboat to the Spanish-occupied Natchez District of present-day Mississippi. There, Foster became a substantial landowner and cattleman. After Rachel died, he married Mary (Smith) Kelsey, and of their seven children, three would come to Texas. After Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, Foster opposed the decrees of the appointed governor and petitioned Congress for an elected legislature. He established the town of Washington, and after it became the territorial capital in 1802, helped found Jefferson College. In 1822, Foster joined his son Randolph in Texas and became one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists. In 1824, he received an 11,600-acre grant in what is now Fort Bend County. He is believed to have established a school on his property that eventually became the Foster Community School. On December 25, 1835, John Foster signed the Columbia Resolutions urging Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico. Leaving behind four sons to support the struggle for Texas independence, Foster went to Wilkinson County, Mississippi, in early 1836 to live in retirement at the home of one of his daughters. He died there on January 26, 1837.
John Foster Land Grant
From Richmond take FM 723 north to westbound 359 until Winner-Foster Rd., then 1mile [1989]
John Foster (1757-1837) came to Texas in 1822 as a member of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colony. He received a grant of about 12,000 acres of land from the Mexican government. Following his death the land was divided among his ten children. A community which grew up in the area was named Foster. Over the years the Foster lands have yielded abundant wildlife and numerous agricultural products, including cotton, rice, pecans, and sugar cane. Twentieth-century land uses have included housing developments and oil and gas production. John Foster Land Grant [Spanish]
Randolph Foster John and Randolph Foster High School, 4400 FM 723 [2002]
Randolph Foster Born in the Natchez District of Spanish West Florida on March 12, 1790, Randolph Foster was the son of John and Rachel (Gibson) Foster. After service in Captain Randal Jones' Company during the War of 1812, Randolph hunted and explored throughout what was then the southwest, including stops in this part of Texas. When he heard that Moses Austin had permission to settle 300 families in Texas, he headed back to the area. Foster arrived in Texas with Stephen F. Austin in 1821 as an "old three hundred" colonist. In 1824, he received title to 4,400 acres in present-day Fort Bend and Waller Counties. He served as an Indian scout for the colony. In 1829, he married Lucy Ruffin Hunter (1804-1872). They made their home on the John Foster Grant and had seven children. During the War for Texas' Independence from Mexico in 1836, Foster helped procure munitions for the Texian army, then joined Captain Wyly Martin's Company. In April 1836, when Santa Anna and his vanguard troops sought to cross the Brazos at present-day Richmond, Foster and his outnumbered comrades delayed them long enough to prevent them from reaching Harrisburg in time to capture the Texian government. A prominent planter and rancher, Foster signed the petition to create Fort Bend County and supported the Foster Community School. In 1856, he was appointed a trustee of the Frost Institute, a private school, by the Texas Legislature. He died at the home of one of his daughters, near the later established Foster Community, on August 18, 1878.
Randolph Foster Land Grant [Spanish]
That is George Poindexter Foster's signature. He was the son of John Foster. He was my G,G,G,G Uncle. He was the first ever Justice of the Peace Pct #4 for Ft Bend County from 1838-1840 and again in 1852. Then in the 1860's he was appointed Chief Justice as you see written on the check. He was born in 1812 in Mississippi and died in Bryan, Texas in 1895.
Jess Stuart
