Robert Coleman Foster I (July 8, 1769 – September 27, 1844) was an American attorney and politician.

Biography

Foster was born in Virginia on July 8, 1769. He was married to Ann Hubbard. He settled 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 ...

, where his son Ephraim was born in 1794, before moving his family to Nashville in 1797. He was one of Nashville's earliest residents, and one of the original twelve trustees of Davidson Academy, which eventually became

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee ...

, and eventually part of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

. Foster was elected to 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 ...

as a member of

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 ...

, serving from 1803 to 1807, including a term as speaker of the House in the 6th General Assembly, from 1805 to 1807. He served in the Tennessee Senate in the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 16th General Assemblies (1809–1815 and 1825–1827) and was elected Speaker of the Senate in 1813 and 1825. He was a candidate for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1815 and 1817, running unsuccessfully against

Joseph McMinn Joseph McMinn (June 22, 1758 – October 17, 1824) was an American politician who served as the fourth Governor of Tennessee from 1815 to 1821. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, he had previously served in the leg ...

. Foster died on September 27, 1844, and is buried in the

Nashville City Cemetery Nashville City Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of Nashville's prominent historical figures are buried there. It includes the tombs of 22,000 people, 6,000 of whom were African Americans. Overview Nashville ...

. Three of Foster's sons:

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

and

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, became politicians.

References

Sources

*Zollicoffer-Bond, Octavia. (November 14, 1909). "The Foster Family." ''The Nashville American.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster I, Robert Coleman 1769 births 1844 deaths Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators Tennessee lawyers Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee People from Kentucky 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly