FROM STRONGSVILLE:
Mrs. Nathan FOSTER, nee Betsey HULET, was born in Lee, Berkshire County, Mass., April, 1811. In 1816 her father’s family removed to Brunswick, Medina County, O., and suffered many dangers, hardships and privations.
November, 1832, there was a double wedding in John JULET’s home, when his daughters, Jane Teresa and Betsey, were married, the first becoming Mrs. Aaron PORTER, and Betsey, Mrs. Nathan FOSTER. The ceremony was performed by Rev. John JANES, of precious memory. His wife and infant daughter, now Mrs. Mary B. INGHAM, of Cleveland, were present.
Soon after marriage the young couples located in Albion, living in the same house. There Jane, Mrs. FOSTER’s eldest child, was born. Mr. FOSTER purchased a farm one half mile east of Albion and built, in the then thick woods, the log house which, as the years sped past, became too small for the growing family, and was abandoned for the new brick house erected a little east of the old cabin. Mrs. FOSTER is the mother of three sons and five daughters; all except the youngest, Fannie, who died in infancy, are still living.
Jane married Frederick J. BARTLETT, and resides at Cedar Point, this county. Mary became the wife of Mitchell CLARK and was widowed in early life. She subsequently married J.T. HULET; her home is in Berea. Hanna A. lives with her parents; and Emily M., wife of Rev. J.P. MILLS, owing to her relation to the itineracy, has “here no continuing city.”
Two daughters and the three sons are college graduates. Mrs. FOSTER’s father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, as were three of her uncles. Her eldest brother served in the war of 1812, and George H., her eldest son, in our civil war. Mrs. FOSTER, at eighty-six, is bright and active, both in home duties and the various church and reform societies of which she is a member. As a “real” daughter of the American Revolution she was recently presented with an elegant souvenir spoon, from Washington, D.C., through the “Western Reserve” Chapter, Cleveland, of which she is a member. Well posted on the vital questions which are stirring society, and with mental powers still forceful, she is spending her sunset days in her pleasant Berea home.
Hanna A. FOSTER, daughter of Betsey HULET FOSTER, should not be omitted from this memorial, originated and sponsored by Cleveland women, with whom she has long been intimately associated, and by whom she is admired and loved. A valued member of the Ohio Woman’s Press Club, a poet of more than local reputation, gentle, refined, and unselfish to the degree of immolation, her life has been one of devotion to others. At the celebration of Cleveland’s Centennial birthday, she easily won the prize offered for the best written ode for the occasion. As non de plumes were signed to all the poems, the judges had no idea to whom they belonged until after a decision had been reached.
Miss FOSTER’s dainty verse and prose have not only graced the pages of print, but have contributed much to the pleasure of church anniversaries and college reunions in the town in which she resides.
When Fanny GRANGER came from Great Barrington, Mass., to Brunswick, Medina county, in 1827, to visit her sister, Mrs. Dr. SOMMORS, she never dreamed of returning home the promised bride of Fletcher HULET.
The promise was made good, and the first seventeen years of her married life Mrs. HULET spent on the Brunswick farm, with its still wild surroundings; but at the opening of Baldwin Institute the parents came to Berea to educate their six children. Martha married Charles LYON; Margaret, a beautiful girl of rare promise, graduated in ‘59 married William CHAPPELL, and died early; Clara became the wife of Dr. John WHEELER, for many years the beloved president of Baldwin University; and Harriet married T.B. WALKER, and resides in Minneapolis. Gilbert died in early manhood. Marshall’s home is in the South.
Mrs. HULET was a superior woman, fitted by nature, education, and environment to grace whatever position it was her lot to fill, in home or society. Her quiet dignity and gracious manners were charmingly blent. There was always room at her table, and a spare bed for the unexpected guest. Surely, no one ever made such delicious coffee as “Aunt Fanny.” But the dear hands have long been folded in restfulness. Her grave is in our village cemetery, but her cherished name is in our hearts. Other names, just as worthy could not be obtained, hence do not appear in this sketch, but it matters little.
Hannah A. FOSTER, Berea
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