2042.  iii.    EDNAH,  b. ;  m.  William  Robinson.    Res..  South  Peacham.  Vt.
1070.  JOHN  WETHERBY  FOSTER  (Abner,  Elijah,  Aaron,  Ephraim,  Abra-
ham, Reginald),  b.  Templeton,  Mass.,  April  15,  179S;  m.,  in  Athol,  April  18,  1S26,
Dorinda  Goddard ;  b.  Athol.  July  27,  1805;  d.  May  30,  1874.  He  was  a  carpenter
and  millwright.  John  W.  Foster,  who  was  bom  in  Templeton,  Mass.,  in  179^,  was  of
the  sturdy  New  England  nature,  and  spent  his  life  for  the  betterment  of  mankind
by  following  the  pursuits  of  thought  and  work  for  which  he  was  best  fitted.  He
was  mechanically  inclined,  and  "was  endowed  with  more  of  that  which  men  call
genius  than  is  the  ordinary  mechanic.  This  line  of  work  came  very  natural  to  him
as  his   father,  Abner  Foster,  was  a  mechanic  of  no  ordinary  ability — he  was  the


FOSTER    GENEALOGY.  319


patentee  of  the  first  mortisiug  machine  used  in  the  making  of  sash  and  blinds.  His
patent  was  signed  by  Andrew  Jackson  as  president  of  the  United  States,  and  Martin
Van  Bureu,  as  secretary  of  state.  John  W.  followed  his  father's  footsteps.  He  was
the  inventor  of  the  first  rolling  machine  used  by  shoemakers  in  place  of  the  lap  stone.
He  also  put  together  the  first  power  loom  ever  brought  to  this  part  of  the  country.
He  afterward  duplicated  this  loom  and  made  many  of  them  for  one  of  the  pioneer
woolen  manufactories,  the  late  Rutas  Bullock,  of  Royalston.  He  d.  leaving
five  sons  and  three  daughters,  Sept.  8,  1S49.     Res.,  Phillipston  and  Athol,  Mass.
