Richard Foster (abolitionist) facts for kids

Richard Baxter Foster (born October 25, 1826 – died March 30, 1901) was an American abolitionist. This means he worked to end slavery. He was also an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he became the first leader of a college for African Americans in Jefferson City, Missouri.

During the Civil War, Foster joined the 1st Missouri Regiment of Colored Infantry. This was a special group of soldiers, mostly African Americans, who fought for the Union. Foster helped create education programs for these soldiers. In 1866, he became the head of the new Lincoln Institute. This school received money from his former regiment. Today, this college is known as Lincoln University.

Richard Foster's Early Life and Schooling

Richard Foster was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on October 25, 1826. His parents were Richard and Irene Bourroughs Foster. He went to schools run by the Congregationalist faith. He studied at Henniker Academy and later graduated from Dartmouth College in 1851.

Fighting for Change: Foster's Activism

After college, Foster moved to Illinois and then to Iowa. He taught in schools for African Americans. In 1856, he joined John Brown, another abolitionist. They took part in attacks against settlements that supported slavery in Kansas. This time was known as Bleeding Kansas.

Later, Foster moved to Nebraska. In 1862, he joined the 1st Regiment Nebraska Volunteer Infantry to fight in the American Civil War (1861–1865). In 1863, African American soldiers were allowed to join the Union Army. Foster then chose to become an officer for a black regiment. He became a first lieutenant in the 1st Missouri Regiment of Colored Infantry. This group was later called the 62nd Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops.

As an officer, Foster helped educate the soldiers. Many of them had been enslaved people. His regiment was stationed in Louisiana and Texas. They fought in the Battle of Palmetto Ranch. Many soldiers in the regiment also got sick and died from diseases. Foster left the army in January 1866.

Starting Lincoln Institute: A New School

After the war, Foster and other officers and soldiers from his regiment worked together. They raised money to start a school for formerly enslaved people in Missouri. Foster first suggested that Central Methodist University should allow black students, but this idea was rejected.

So, he moved to Jefferson City, Missouri. After some challenges, he opened the Lincoln Institute on September 17, 1866. It started with only two students. The school had money problems at first. Foster hired famous people like Henry Ward Beecher and Frederick Douglass to help raise funds.

Foster was the school's president and only teacher until 1868. Then, he hired W. H. Payne, an African American, to teach. Foster wanted the school to get money from the government. This money was set aside for higher education by the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Acts. This plan was not approved at first. But with help from politicians James Milton Turner and Moses Dickson, the school got more state funding. This was on the condition that Foster first raise $15,000.

With help from groups like the Western Sanitary Commission and the Freedmen's Bureau, Foster raised the money. This greatly improved the school's finances. In 1890, Missouri officially made the school a land-grant university. This meant it would focus on farming, mechanics, and teaching. Foster left his role as principal of the school in 1870 and 1871. He returned for part of 1871.

Foster's Work as a Minister

In 1871, Foster left the school for good. In May 1872, he became a minister in Osborne, Kansas. He had been allowed to preach since 1868. He led the First Congregational Church there for ten years. He also helped lead other churches nearby during this time.

From 1882 to 1884, he led a Congregational church in Red Cliff, Colorado. He then led churches in Milford, Kansas (1884-1886), and Cheney, Kansas (1886-1890). In 1890, he went to Stillwater, Oklahoma. There, he started a new church and led it until 1894. He then led churches in Perkins, Oklahoma, and Okarche, Oklahoma. He also continued to teach, giving lectures at Kingfisher College later in his life.

Richard Baxter Foster died in Okarche, Oklahoma, on March 30, 1901.

Foster's Family Life

In 1891, Howard University gave Foster an honorary doctor of divinity degree.

On October 23, 1851, Foster married Jemine Ewing in Brooklyn, Illinois. They had one son. Jemine died on October 3, 1853. Foster married again on March 8, 1855, to Lucy Reed in Clay, Iowa. With Lucy, Foster had eight sons and two daughters.