Nathaniel Foster (1781 – December 27, 1853) was a 19th-century American

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US *Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska *Potters, New Jerse ...

and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

Life and career

Foster was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1781. He moved north to coastal

North Yarmouth, Maine North Yarmouth, officially the Town of North Yarmouth, is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County, Maine, United States. North Yarmouth is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and tow ...

(now Yarmouth), where he established a pottery business on Gooches' Lane (today's East Elm Street). In 1804, he married Rebecca Swasey, with whom he had twelve known children, including daughters Diantha Heald (in 1809) and Mary (1807). Mary died in 1823, aged fifteen or sixteen; Diantha died in 1852, aged 42 or 43. She married John Corliss, another potter, in 1831. The family lived at 14 Baptist Street (today's Church Street).Architectural Survey Yarmouth, ME (Phase One, September, 2018
- Yarmouth's town website) Foster helped lay out the adjacent Baker Street around 1848.

Death

Foster died on December 27, 1853, aged 71 or 72. He is interred in Yarmouth's Old Baptist Cemetery, alongside his wife, who survived him by 22 years. She died in 1875, aged 90. Foster's sons, Benjamin and William, who were his assistants, ran the pottery after their father's death. The building housing his pottery was torn down in 1891.''Images of America: Yarmouth'', Alan M. Hall (Arcadia, 2002), p.31 Joel Brooks later succeeded Foster as Yarmouth's potter."Yarmouth Historic Context Statement"
, Town of Yarmouth, 2020 He lived on Gooches' Lane, near Foster's pottery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Nathaniel American potters 19th-century American merchants Artists from Maine 1781 births 1853 deaths People from Massachusetts People from North Yarmouth, Maine People from Yarmouth, Maine