Ephraim Hubbard Foster (September 17, 1794September 6, 1854) was an American politician, who twice served as a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. During his

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

career, he was a member of the Whig Party.

Biography

Foster was born near

Bardstown, Kentucky Bardstown is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the list of counties in Kentucky, county seat of Nelson Count ...

, in Nelson County, the son of Robert Coleman Foster and the former Ann Hubbard. In 1797 he moved with his parents to Tennessee, where they settled in the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

area. He later graduated from Cumberland College (1813) and later studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, being admitted to the bar in 1820. He owned slaves. He also served in the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

and was for a time private secretary to

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. He was a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1829 to 1831 and again from 1835 to 1837, serving each time as Speaker. Upon the resignation from the U.S. Senate of

Felix Grundy Felix Grundy (September 11, 1777 – December 19, 1840) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13th United States Attorney General. He also had served several terms as a congressman and as a U.S. senator from Tennessee. He ...

to accept appointment as

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

, the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

elected Foster his successor. He served in the Senate for the first time from September 17, 1838, to March 3, 1839. The legislature elected him to continue in the new term, but he declined, refusing to take their instruction in how to vote while a Senator; the legislature then turned to Grundy, still Attorney General, to succeed him, which (controversially) Grundy agreed to do. However, Grundy died in office about a year later. Alfred O. P. Nicholson agreed to serve on an interim basis; then for a period the seat was vacated entirely, but eventually the legislature agreed to elect Foster again to the seat and he agreed to serve. His second period of service in the Senate was from October 17, 1843, to March 3, 1845. During this time he chaired the Senate Committee on Claims. Later in 1845 Foster received the nomination of the Whig party for

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

, but was defeated in the election by Aaron V. Brown of the Democratic Party. Following this, Foster returned to his Nashville law practice until shortly before his death. He is buried in the old City Cemetery in Nashville. His only daughter Sallie married Benjamin F. Cockrill, the son of planter Mark R. Cockrill, and they had a son, Benjamin F. Cockrill Jr.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Epharim H. 1794 births 1854 deaths People from Nelson County, Kentucky American people of English descent Whig Party United States senators from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee lawyers Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee People of the Creek War United States senators who owned slaves 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly