LaFayette Sabin Foster was born in Franklin on Nov. 22, 1806. After graduating from Brown University, he studied law in Maryland and eventually became a lawyer in Norwich. He is most noted, however, for his involvement in politics.

Foster served several terms as state representative, and was Speaker of the House during most of them. His two terms as a Connecticut senator in Washington, 1855-1861 and 1861-1867, were served during the difficult times surrounding the Civil War and its aftermath.

In March 1865, Foster was elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate, at that time a position held by the most senior member of the party in power, and second in the line of presidential succession after the vice president. Following Lincoln’s assassination in April, Foster became acting Vice President until his term was up in 1867.

In 1870, he was appointed an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and served until the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1876. Returning to practicing law, he lectured on law at Yale and served on state comissions for simplifying legal procedures and resolving a boundary dispute with New York State.

One aspect of Foster’s career which is frequently overlooked is his involvement with the New London County Historical Society. At the time of the society’s incorporation in 1870, Foster was a justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He is not listed as one of the original incorporators, but he was elected the first president of the society and served until his death in September 1880.

During his tenure, the society expanded its holdings considerably, moved from the Common Council chambers in City Hall to larger, fireproof rooms in the National Union Bank building, and revised its bylaws. Small committees were set up to investigate matters of historical interest, including the actual dates of the establishments of the first Congregational churches in the area and the location of the Pequot fort in Mystic which was destroyed in 1637.

Foster is frequently noted in the secretary’s annual report as making “well timed and appropriate remarks” on the death of such notable members as Henry P. Havens. In 1878, when the secretary had noted the need for members to “advance the interests” of the society, Foster also “addressed the meeting in a few well-timed, pertinent remarks relative to the importance and interest of the society, forcibly impressing all present with the desirability of individual effort, and clearly elucidating the importance of making the society what can be expected and realized by such an institution in New London county, the cradle of our infant colony.”

On Foster’s death on Sept. 19, 1880, the society met and prepared a “memorial” to be sent to local newspapers and the family, as was the custom of the time. After lauding his political service: “In every public station to which he was called he advanced to its highest position,” the members turned to Foster’s work for the society. They noted their “sincere sorrow” at his passing, “and profound acknowledgement of his ardent and uniform devotion to the work of historical research, investigation and record for which the society is established.”

A portrait of Foster was donated to the society by his widow.

Patricia M. Schaefer has been researching and writing about colonial Connecticut for the past quarter century, and is a volunteer researcher at both the NLCHS and Mystic Seaport. Her current project involves the upcoming new edition of “The Diary of Joshua Hempstead 1711-1758.”