Joshua Lane Foster (born October 10, 1824, in Canterbury, New Hampshire - d. January 29, 1900, in

Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region (New Hampshire), Seacoast region and ...

) was an architect and publisher who was the founder of the newspaper ''

Foster's Daily Democrat ''Foster's Daily Democrat'' is a six-day (Monday–Saturday) morning broadsheet newspaper published in Dover, New Hampshire, United States, covering southeast New Hampshire and southwest Maine. In addition to its Dover headquarters, ''Foster's'' ...

'' in 1872. The former owner of ''States and Union'', a pro-states-rights newspaper, he continued to write and edit in this vein. Originally he founded this new newspaper as a pro-slavery alternate view to the anti-slavery local papers. Foster's racism and hatred of President Lincoln are part of the historical record of nineteenth-century New Hampshire. After Foster's death, the ''Democrat'' remained in the ownership of the Foster family until 2014. Until that sale, it was one of the few independent newspapers left. In the first issue of ''Foster's,'' Joshua said:

''"We shall devote these columns mainly to the material and vital interests of Dover and vicinity. Whatever may tend to benefit this people and enhance their prosperity, will receive our warm and enthusiastic support."''''Foster's'
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Foster was trained as a carpenter, and practiced as an architect in Concord for about ten years,"Joshua L. Foster," ''Granite Monthly'' 28, no. 2 (February 1900): 118-119. though this was ended by the financial turmoil surrounding the

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...

. In at least 1856 he was in partnership with Fernando S. Robinson. Extant buildings designed by Foster include the Merrimack County Courthouse (1855–57, now altered)Merrimack County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form
(1979) and the Deerfield Town House (1856).Deerfield Town House NRHP Registration Form
(1980) Both of these buildings have been listed on the United States

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, and the Deerfield Town House has also been included in the Deerfield Center Historic District.Deerfield Center Historic District NRHP Registration Form
(2002) After the panic, he purchased the ''Gazette'' of Dover in 1858, which he ran until 1861, when he briefly returned to architecture, practicing in Manchester. From 1863 he published other papers in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

and

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, returning to Dover in 1872 to found the ''Daily Democrat''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Joshua L Foster, Joshua L. 1824 births 1900 deaths People from Canterbury, New Hampshire 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American male writers Architects from New Hampshire