Samuel (Sam) Thompson Foster
Born: November 9, 1829
Birthplace: Union District, South Carolina
Father: Isaac J. Foster (?-?)
Mother: Frances (nee Stribling) Foster
1st Wife: May Ham (1836-1896)
(Buried: Laredo City Cemetery, Laredo, Texas)
Married: January 11, 1855
2nd Wife: Bettie Moore (1861-1939)
(Buried: Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas)
Married: 1896
Children:
Elizabeth Foster Atlee (1855-1932)
Ida Alice Foster Kerr (1866-1941)
Mary Foster (1867-1966)
Samuel Thompson Foster (1881-1941)
Occupation Before the War
1855-1858: Practiced law in Halletsville, Lavaca County, Texas
1858-1860: County Clerk in Oakville, Texas
1860-1861: Justice of the Peace in Oakville, Texas
Civil War Career
August 1861: Served in local reserve company
January 1862: Joined Company H, 24th Texas Cavalry
April 10, 1862: Mustered in as 1st Lieutenant, Company H, 24th Texas Cav
1862: Unit marched to Arkansas
1862: Stationed at Fort Hindman
January 11, 1863: Was captured at Arkansas Post
1863-1865: Captain of Company H, 24th Texas Cavalry (Promoted while in prison camp)
May 1863: Exchanged at City Point
May 1863: Brigade joined Cleburne's Division, Army of Tennessee
September 19-20 1863: Fought at Chickamauga
November 25, 1863: Fought at Missionary Ridge
November 27, 1863: Wounded at Ringgold Gap
March 1864: Returned to his unit
May-September, 1864: Atlanta Campaign
May 27, 1864: Fought at Pickett's Mill
July 21-22, 1864: Fought at Bald Hill
August 31-September 1, 1864: Fought at Jonesboro
November-December 1864: Franklin-Nashville Campaign
November 30, 1864: Fought at Franklin
December 15, 1864: Wounded in the right leg 6 inches above the Knee at Granbury's Redoubt, Battle of Nashville
Late December, 1864: Evaded capture and rejoined his unit
March-April 1865: Carolinas Campaign
April 1865: Unit Reorganized; Given command of Company I, 1st Texas Consolidated
April 26, 1865: Surrendered 51 men of his company at Bennett Place
May 3, 1865: Began journey home
Occupation After the War
1866: Texas House of Representatives
Voted against the Fourteenth Amendment
Helped set in place proto-Jim Crow Laws
Moved to Corpus Christi, due to lawlessness in Oakville
Manager at N. Gussett Merchandising and Banking house.
Helped organize the First Baptist Church of Corpus Christi; held first meeting in his home
1875: Organized the Star Rifles militia companies to protect town from Mexican bandits
1880: Moved to Laredo
1880-1919: Commissioner for U.S. District Courts, Southern District of Texas
Became a member of the Free Masons
Commander of Santos Benavides Post 637, UCV
Memoir and Diary, One of Cleburne's Own, published by Norman Brown in 1964
Died: January 9, 1919
Place of Death: Laredo, Texas
Age at Time of Death: 89
Burial Place: Masonic Section, Laredo City Cemetery, Laredo, Texas
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