CHARLES P. FOSTER one of the prominent citizens of Layton Township, was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, March 12, 1836, a son of Simeon Foster, a carpenter by trade, and of old Puritan ancestry. William Foster, grandfather of our subject was born in Connecticut and was a soldier of the War of the Revolution, and also of the War of 1812. He was the father of four children namely: William, Simeon, Samuel and Olive. He was a prominent farmer and also ran a steamboat on lake Champlain. He was a member of the Methodist church, and was a man of integrity and character. Simeon Foster, a son of the above and the father of our subject was born in Vermont, and was married to Phoebe Foss, and they were the parents of seven children, viz.: Almon, William, Matilda, Richard, Francis, Charles and George. Mr. Foster lived for a time in St. Lawrence, Franklin County, New York, and then moved to Akron, Ohio, in 1837 where he died at the age of forty0two. He was also a member of the Methodist Church, and an industrious and upright citizen.

Charles P. Foster, our subject, enlisted in Company H. Forty-Third Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served one year. He was in the battles of Stone River, Johnsonville, and Nashville, and was neither taken a prisoner nor wounded, but did good and faithful service, and was honorably discharged at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the war Mr. Foster resumed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. In 1876 he came to Pottawattamie County, where he settled on a farm. Both Mr. and Mrs. Foster were members of the Methodist Church, of which Mr. Foster was a class leader and steward, and is a member of the U.S. Grant Post, G.A.R., of Avoca. He served his country when it needed his services, and when he was required to leave his wife and children to endure exposure and fight the battles of the Union.

He is descended from good American parentage, and men who fought our battles for liberty and founded a Government, and his children should be proud of the sterling ancestry from which they spring. For many generations they have been soldier citizens, who honorably fought for their country.

Mr. Foster was married September 5, 1857 to Elizabeth Garthwaite, who was born in England August 16, 1842, and was but four years of age when she was brought to America. She was the daughter of Edward and Margaret (Blenkinsop) Garthwaite. The father was an Englishman, born in County Durham, England, and was a shoemaker by trade. They were the parents of nine children, viz.: Elizabeth, Ann, Mary, George, Alonzo, Melissa, Ellen, Ida and Fred. Mr. Garthwaite came to America in 1846, and first settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he remained seven years, and then, in 1853, he settled on a farm in Wisconsin, where he is yet living, at the age of seventy three years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Garthwaite were members of the Methodist church. He has filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and is an honorable and upright citizen.

To Mr. and Mrs. Foster have been born seven children, three of whom died in infancy. The living children are: Jennie, Wesley, Maude and Floy. Jennie married Mr. Stevenson, a farmer of Lincoln Township, and they have one child, Delmer; Maude is a successful teacher in this county; and the remainder of the family are at home.

Contributed by: Darlene Vergamini