| Notes |
- COLEMAN FOSTER (born March 5, 1822 -- died July 23, 1903) is listed in the 1850 Davie County, NC census as living in the home of his mother, Elizabeth Stinchcomb Foster. She is listed as Head of Household-- his father (Benjamin Foster) having died in 1836.
Note: Sarah Foster, age 16 (born about 1834) also is listed as living with Elizabeth during the 1850 census. What is Sarah's relationship to Elizabeth and Benjamin who had no known daughter named Sarah ? Could she be the daughter of one of Benjamin's brothers or could she be Sarah (born 1835), the daughter of Radford Foster, who may have been Benjamin's cous
He married MINERVA CALL (born Qctober 31, 1828 -- died March 20, 1895), daughter of JOHN CALL and MARGARET ELIZABETH (Peggy) SHEETS before 1828 in NC.
Coleman is listed in Davie County Heritage article 705 by Elsie Greene Wilcox. SOURCE: Davie County 1850 Project.
Coleman (37 yrs old-born abt 1822) is listed as #905, Farmer, in the 1860 Davie County, NC Census.
Living with him are his wife, Minerva (Call) Foster (27 yrs old - indicating she may have been born about 1833 rather than 1828 as other records indicate) and their children: George Foster ( 6 yrs old-born about 1854); Mary Jane Foster ( 4 yrs old-born about 1856); Sarah E. Foster (2 yrs old-born about 1858). Also living in Coleman's household is Spencer Steward ( 19 yrs old-born about 1841), a laborer.
Adjacent to Coleman (in the 1860 census) are the households of: Nathan Haneline and his wife, Sarah (Foster) Hanline, listed as #904; Coleman's brother, Samuel and his wife, Candis (Caudle) Foster, listed as #907; and George Foster and his wife, Sarah (Tabor) Foster, listed as #91
Note: George Foster was an uncle of Coleman and Samuel. Sarah (Foster) Haneline, daughter of Samuel Foster, was a first cousin of Coleman and Samuel -- and the niece of George Foster.
Coleman and Minerva also are listed in the 1900 Davie County ( Fulton Township) census. Living with them are their daughters, Martha, age 35, and Emma, age 32. Also living with them are Jennie Call, age 20 (born circa 1880); Jessie Call, age 15 (born circa 1885); and Will Call, age 9 (born circa 1891). They may be the children or, more likely, the grandchildren of one of Minerva's brothers, e.g., Nathan or Henry G. Call. They also could be the grandchildren of her sister, Elizabeth whose first husband was David Call, Jr., a second cousin.
Coleman and Minerva are buried in the Fork Baptist Church cemetery with the following marker, "Rest sweet rest, Our Father and Mother, Amiable and beloved ones farewell: Not on this perishing stone but in the book of life and in the hearts of their afflicted friends is their worth recorded."[Stafford.FTW]
Coleman and his brother Samuel both served in the 42nd Infantry Regt., NC Troops,Confederate Army (Coleman in Company E and Samuel in Company F).
Their brother, John, enlisted on July 21, 1862 in Company A, 11th Missouri Infantry Regt., CSA and apparently served in that unit throughout the war. His Regiment (commanded by Major James Phillips towards the end of the war) was surrendered on May 26, 1865 at New Orleans, Louisiana by General E. K. Smith, CSA to Major E.R.S. Canby, U.S.A.. John was paroled at Shreveport, LA. on June 8, 1865. He attempted to walk home but died of yellow fever somewhere in Georgia. (See Note, below).
John's second wife, Mary Cantrell (whom he married after the death of his first wife, Rebecca Wyatt) wrote to the Foster and Wyatt families ( in Davie County, NC) after John's death to advise that she was unable financially to continue caring for all seven children --three from John's marriage to Rebecca and four from his marriage to Mary. She asked for someone to come to Lawrence County, Missouri and take Pleasant Lee Foster, Perry Marshall Foster and Hiriam Mitchell Foster to live with John's family in Davie County, North Carolina.
John's brothers, Coleman and Samuel--who had just returned home, on foot, to Davie County after General Robert E. Lee's surrender of all Confederate forces at Appomattox, VA--went to Missouri to bring the three boys back to Davie County. The round trip by covered wagon, including crossing the Mississippi River by raft, took nearly three months to complete. Upon arrival back in Davie, Pleasant Lee was given a home by his maternal grandfather, William Wyatt. Hiriam Mitchell was taken in by his Uncle, Coleman Foster and Perry Marshall by his Uncle, Samuel Foster.
Note: The life of the Confederate soldier was filled with hazards resulting from his decision to support Jefferson Davis in preserving the South's heritage and creating a separate nation.
Those who joined at the start of the war were at least able to savor the early victories that generated Southern optimism for so long. As
there was no draft for the Confederate Army, all soldiers were volunteers. Without the economic opportunities the North afforded,
many younger sons chose to become career soldiers because their oldest brother would inherit the family plantation.
The Confederate soldier's life was arduous. Often he had no shoes, and his clothing was ragtag since there was no money for uniforms as
there was in the Union Army. Most of the time the men were undernourished. In 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia's monthly rations for every 100 men were a quarter pound of bacon, 18 ounces of flour, 10 pounds of rice, and small amounts of dried fruit and peas--meager provisions that were not always available. While he was the same height as a Union soldier, the Confederate soldier averaged 10
pounds less.
Confederate soldiers who fell ill often relied on medical home remedies from native plants. Burns were treated with cucumber, colds with wild cherry or watermelon sugar, diarrhea with rose geranium, and pneumonia with a mixture of opium, quinine, and brandy.
If the wounded had to be treated at Union hospitals, their injuries were taken in the order of severity. Frequently the timeliness of
treatment depended upon the degree of sympathy the surgeon felt. While a competent surgeon could amputate an arm or leg in under
fifteen minutes, patients were often forced to bite on a bullet, a comfort that was always more available than anesthesia. The risks
from infection were great since medical instruments were wiped and used again. Many in the deep South also died from malaria, smallpox,
and diphtheria.
A soldier spent his leisure time in camp chewing tobacco, reading the New Testament, singing songs such as "Dixie" around the campfire, and sharing stories of home. It was perhaps his spiritual faith and love of home and family that sustained him in the worst of times. He might have worn a straw hat that his sister made for him to shelter him from the sun on long marches. Many carried a pin that held a locket
of hair from a sweetheart.
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1822 - 1903 (81 years)
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