United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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FOSTER, Abiel

1735–1806

Office

Continental Congress, Representative

State/Territory

New Hampshire

Party

Federalist, Pro-Administration

Congress(es)

Continental, 1st (1789–1791), 4th (1795–1797), 5th (1797–1799), 6th (1799–1801), 7th (1801–1803)

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Biography

FOSTER, Abiel, a Delegate and a Representative from New Hampshire; born in Andover, Mass., August 8, 1735; was graduated from Harvard College in 1756; studied theology; was ordained and installed as pastor in Canterbury, N.H., in 1761 and served until 1779; deputy to the Provincial Congress at Exeter in 1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1783-1785; judge of the court of common pleas of Rockingham County 1784-1788; elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791); member of the State senate 1791-1794, and served as its president in 1793; elected as a Federalist to the Fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1795-March 3, 1803); died in Canterbury, N.H., February 6, 1806; interment in Center Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

American Philosophical Society Library

Philadelphia, PA
Papers: In the Richard Gimbel Collection of Thomas Paine Papers, 1692-1921, approximately 176 items. Subjects covered in the papers include Abiel Foster.

Indiana Historical Society

Indianapolis, IN
Papers: In the Northwest Territory Collection, 1721-1838, 4 boxes. Includes letters and papers of Abiel Foster. A finding aid is available in the repository.

The Morgan Library
Department of Literary and Historical Manuscripts

New York, NY
Papers: In the Ford Collection, 1787, 1 item. A receipt signed by Abiel Foster on May 4, 1787.

University of Chicago Library
Butler-Gunsaulus Collection

Chicago, IL
Papers: 1796, 1 item. A letter from Abiel Foster to an unidentified recipient written on March 13, 1796. Abiel Foster recommends buying land in the western country if the Spanish Treaty is made and also mentions the fairness or unfairness of "taking the Census."
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Foster, Abiel, 1735-1806. Mr. Abiel Foster's Motion for an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: 4th February 1800, Committed to a Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union. [Philadelphia]: Published by Order of the House of Representatives, [1800].

Roberts, Daniel A. Hon. Abiel Foster of Canterbury, New Hampshire. Chicago: Gunthorp-Warren Printing Company, 1957.

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