Gatter Stewart family pictures

Family Photo Slideshow

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Philip Worthington Foster

Philip Worthington Foster was born a century ago today, June 1st, 1910, at the family home at 423 Fourth Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. He was the fifth surviving child and third surviving son of Harry Walter and Harriet Smith Edwards Foster. He moved with the family to Morristown, N.J., when his father purchased a hardware store there. He was educated at The Peck School, graduated from Morristown High School and attended Williams College. He later studied at the New York Institute of Photography.

He married Gertrude Marguerite “Bunny” Bates on December 26th, 1938, in Mendham, New Jersey. With his wife he established and operated the Laurel Hill Herb Farm in New Jersey. The farm, which comprised over 300 species of herbs, was a Mecca for horticulturalists throughout the world. It became a reliable source of herb seeds when they were difficult to obtain elsewhere. During World War II he was a partner in a small woodworking shop, under contract to Bell Telephone Laboratories for test models of radar components.

A personification of Yankee ingenuity, he could fix most any inanimate object, or contrive new gadgets for most any task. While spending summers in Litchfield County, Connecticut, as a boy, he fell in love with that area, and always intended to settle there. He built a cabin at Goshen during the 1930s, but at war’s end he and Bunny moved the herb business to Falls Village, Connecticut, just down the hill from Goshen. He became, in effect, a naturalized Yankee, or, as his son called him, a “Yankee by choice.”

His first child, Christopher Goodwin, always known as “Kit,” was born September 9th, 1944, in Morristown. A daughter, Margaret Rosemary, always called “Rosemary,” was born at Sharon, Connecticut, on December 20th, 1946.

The following year Bunny and Phil started a magazine about herbs, the American Herb Grower, published monthly and later quarterly as The Herb Grower until 1986. He served as publisher and printer of the magazine, his wife as editor and principal writer. His horticultural photography was often featured in the magazine, and was also used in two books authored by his wife.

He also started a printing business, the Laurel Hill Press, one of the first photo-offset printing shops in the region. He made or adapted much of the equipment needed for the business, including sophisticated cameras for the offset work and collating machines for the magazine. In addition to printing The Herb Grower and serving the printing needs of the surrounding community, Laurel Hill Press published a number of facsimile editions of historic herbals and other rare horticultural books. These included John Evelyn’s Kalendarium Hortense and The English Vineyard Vindicated by John Rose, gardener to Charles II.

He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1968, the noted botanical and zoological institution. Named for Carl Linnaeus, the founder of the modern system of classification for living things, the Linnean Society was established in 1788 by Sir James Edward Smith, a collateral ancestor.

Active in Scouting as a boy, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout with gold and silver palms, earning 42 merit badges. He returned to Scouting as an adult, serving as Neighborhood Commissioner for the former Tunxis Council, Boy Scouts of America, in northwest Connecticut and later as Cubmaster of Pack 16, Scoutmaster of Troop 16 and adviser to Air Explorer Squadron 16, all of Falls Village. He received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor for Scouters, from Tunxis Council in 1958.

He became licensed as an amateur radio operator in 1957. Combining his new hobby with a life-long interest in observing and forecasting weather, he helped organize the New England Weather Net, a daily on-air meeting of “ham” operators in the region, in the late fifties. The Weather Net later became associated with long-time weathercaster Don Kent of WBZ in Boston, furnishing the station on-the-spot weather reports from throughout New England.

He served his community as a member of the Board of Assessors in Falls Village for 25 years. He was also a member of the Canaan Exchange Club and Christ Church, Canaan, where he served on the Vestry.

At the age of 71, with the help of his son-in-law Jay Louden, he built a small retirement home on a subdivided part of the Falls Village property. During the mid-1980s, he and Bunny found The Herb Grower an increasing burden, and they slowly let it become dormant. The occupied themselves with planting new gardens at their new home, but never completely disengaged from the old property next door. After Bunny suffered the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in the early 1990s, Phil became devoted to her care. At the age of 86, he suffered a massive stroke, but recovered to join her at a nursing home, where they spent the remainder of their married life together. She died on November 29, 1997, less than a month before their 59th wedding anniversary.

Phil then moved to a nursing home nearer to his children. He died Sunday, May 23rd, 1999, at Fairview, the Odd Fellows Home of Connecticut, in Groton, Connecticut.

Philip Worthington Foster

Philip Worthington Foster (1 June 1910 - 23 May 1999) was the sixth child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) married on 25 January 1900 to Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).

Philip married Gertrude Marguerite Bates {Foster](b. 17 November 1920, m. 26 December 1938, d. 29 November 1997 ) They had two children

1. Christopher Goodwin (9 September 1944, m. 28 June 1974,)
2. Margaret Rosemary [Louden] (20 December 1946, m. 30 August 1968,)

 

Bunny and Kit

Kit: The cradle in which I was photographed in 1944 and 45 was made by my father, to

the pattern of one in the Ford Mansion (Washington's headquarters during the

Revolution, Morristown). We still have it, our children all spent time in it. 

Kit in 1945

 Becky, Kit and Ben July 1946: photo courtesy of Kit

  

 Kit & Nana: with my maternal grandmother, Emeline Goold Vernam Bates. We

have lots of Vernam and Bates pix, saved for another time.

Philip Worthington Foster and Gertrude Marguerite Bates {Foster] had two children:

1. Christopher Goodwin ("Kit") (9 September 1944, m. 28 June 1974,)
2. Margaret Rosemary [Louden] (20 December 1946, m. 30 August 1968,)

Harry Lincoln Foster

Harry Lincoln Foster (12 February 1906 - ) was the forth child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) married on 25 January 1900 to Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).
Linc married twice. His first marriage was on 12 September 1931 to Mary Reginald (b. 21 April 1908 - d. 22 Nov. 1970). They had two children.

1. Harriet Rebecca Foster (b. January 14 1935 - 
2. Benjamin Griswold (b. 3 January 1936 -  )

 

Linc w/cigarette c. 1935: photo courtesy of Kit Foster 

  

H. Lincoln Foster and Reginald (Reggie) T at their marriage in ?

Becky, Kit and Ben July 1946: photo courtesy of Kit

Linc and Timmy's wedding, 23 December 1949:  Photo courtesy of Kit

Ellery (Woody, now Woods) Sinclair, Ben, Linc, Sheldon Sinclair, Timmy, Becky.

Here is Linc's obit from the New York Times:

H. L. Foster, 83, Teacher and Horticulturist
Published: April 10, 1989

H. Lincoln Foster, a teacher and horticulturist, died of cancer Friday at Sharon (Conn.) Hospital. He was 83 years old and lived in Falls Village, Conn.

Mr. Foster was president of the American Rock Garden Society from 1964 to 1968, the author of a 1968 book, ''Rock Gardening,'' and many articles on the subject. He was also the recipient of many horticultural awards and the creator, with his wife, Laura Louise, of Millstream Gardens in Falls Village, Conn., a rock garden with many Alpine plants.

He was a native of Newark, a graduate of Williams and Trinity Colleges and a teacher of Latin and English. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949.

Surviving, besides his wife, are a daughter, Rebecca Light of Guilford, Conn.; a son, Benjamin, of Wallingford, Conn.; two stepsons, Ellery and Sheldon Sinclair, both of Falls Village; three brothers, Dudley, of Port Hueneme, Calif., Philip, of Falls Village, and Richard, of Santa Barbara, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.

Richard Ward Foster

Richard Ward Foster (18 June 1914 - ) was the seventh child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) and Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).

Mag and Dick Foster 1936

This photo was taken from Tim Burke's flikr site

He married Eileen

 

Family group at Undermountain Rd, Falls Village, 10 August 1947

Back row: Mag, Ben, Dick, Eileen, Bunny, Linc

Front row: Rick, Lynn, Becky, Rosemary, Judy, Kit.

The had f children

1. Judy m. Tom Burke d.
2. Lynn
3. Andy
4. Rick

Judy had four children

1. Tim
2. Sharon
3. Brendan
4. Kevin

(See his memoir, All Our Yesterdays.)

Emma Burke and Dick Foster

Tim Burke and Emma

 

Melissa ... [Burke] and Emma Burke

Eleanor Pierrepont Foster [Chalfin]

Eleanor Pierrepont Foster born 22 February 1904, the third child of Harriet Smith Edwards (10 June 1873 - 23 April 1943) and Harry Walter Foster (21 July 1870 - 15 December 1944).

She married Bruce G. Chalfin in ... and had two children

1. Barbara Chalfin
2. Bruce (B.G.) Chalfin Jr.

Eleanor: photo courtesy of Kit Foster, who was given it by Ekeanor's granddaughter, Anne Powers Higgins




Chalfin, Eleanor Pierrepont. Herbs Described. Lynchburg, Va.: The Mutual Press
CHALFIN, ELEANOR PIERREPONT THE USEFUL HERBS, Rutsburg, Virginia Published By Author/Mutual Press 1957. Stapled wraps. Good. First page ripped out, before the title-page. Tear to upper left front cover at the spine. ; Small 8vo 7½" - 8" tall; 60 pages. Offered for US$ 8.00 by: The Avocado Pit - Book number: 44204

Death of Mr. Bruce G. Chalfin in Cuba -
Posted: 18 Jun 2004 3:46AM GMT
(Anyone interested in a copy of the US Department of State's "Report of the Death of an American Citizen" for Mr. Bruce G. Chalfin, please contact me so I can conduct research to locate the record. Mr. Chalfin died in Cuba on September 8, 1942.)

BRUCE G CHALFIN IV

Name: Bruce G Chalfin
Spouse: Elenor P
Birth: abt 1901 - location
Residence: 1930 - city, Morris, New Jersey