Description
This collection includes: a school record (no location) written by
Charles Foster (1836), listing the number of days students have attended class;
an letter, from Foster brothers, J.M. and E.T., in the 54th Regiment at
Burnside Barracks, Indianapolis, to their brother John (1862); an inventory
(1861) of the estate of Dr. Joseph Layton; and two daguerreotypes.
Background
The Foster and Layton families, one northern, the other southern, were
related by marriage. What little is known of either family is contained in
evidence discovered in this collection. Charles Foster was an Indiana school
teacher in the early years of the 19th century. Three Foster brothers, possibly
Charles' sons, J.M., E.T. and John, lived during the Civil War years in
Indianapolis. A Dr. William A. Foster, residence and age unknown, was the
nephew of a Dr. Joseph Layton, who practiced medicine in St. Tammany Parish,
Louisiana just before the Civil War.