Before the township received the name of Foster, in honor of Hardy FOSTER, the first European settler of the township, it was known as North Fork Township.

Hardy FOSTER moved to Foster Township form Georgia, settling, on Section 17 in 1823 and removing later to Section 8, where he built a cabin on the Vandalia-Salem State Road. He opened a stagecoach stop there, it being about halfway between the State Capital of Vandalia and the county seat of Salem. It was 14 miles north of Salem on the road and 6 miles northeast of Patoka.

Fosterburg was located on the west 1/2 of the northeast 1/4 of Section 8 in Foster Township. The land was owned by Hardy FOSTER and the village was laid out by hom on the 6th of March, 1854 and surveyed by County Surveyor, William Marshall. The plat was recorded the 10th of March, 1854. It consisted of four blocks, each containing eight lots. The town was originally given the name of Fosterburgh, but officially recorded as Fosterburg.

The post office had been established in 1833, which lasted until the late 1870's. Hardy FOSTER also put in a horse mill in 1833, which he ran until 1850. Samuel B. JONES, William EAGAN and Andrew H. FOSTER, who was a nephew of Hardy, put in a sawmill in 1853.

Fosterburg soon turned into a prosperous little village with great potential. The first general mercantile was put in the home of William DOOLEN in 1854, who was the eldest son of Irish immigrant Daniel DOOLEN. James ARNOLD and William RITTER put in a second mill. Later merchants were Samuel B. JONES, Thomas S. JONES, Daniel McCONNEL, J. W. ARNOLD, among others.

Dr. William WHITE was the first physician of Fosterburg. The village also contained a Methodist-Episcopal Church and a school. The school had as many as 50 students in 1859. The village had twelve homes in its peak, two physicians, three General Mercantiles, two mills, a photo-gallery of the tintype, blacksmith, wagon shop, stage stand, Fosterburg School and Fosterburg Church.

The death blow for Fosterburg came as a result of the railroad passing it and instead going through what became Vernon and Patoka. Also, the main road no longer passed through Fosterburg. The post office was closed in Fosterburg and opened in the hamlet of Lester, a few miles to the east. It was located in Section 10. At the crossroads of Vermundy and Jones Roads. Lester had a nice two-story general mercantile. Lester also had Arnold Chapel (a Methodist-Episcopal Church, North) and Arnold Chapel School. All that remains of Lester in 2003 is a single home and the sign that says "Lester." The church burned down in 1960 and the school was torn down after years of non-use.

The second family to settle in Foster Township was that of The "Widow"Mary (WHALEY) JONES, whose many Jones descendants still live in the township. They first settled on Section 18 in 1826, from Georgia.

The Moses GARRETT Family came in 1826 from Georgia, settling on Section 10. He was known as "Squire" GARRETT. He was Justice of the Peace. Many of his descendants are still living in the township in an area known as Garrettsville, on Sections 10 and 11.

Isaac NICHOLS settled in 1830 on Section 29, later called the "Caldwell place." Mordecai SMITH came from North Carolina in 1831 and settled near East Fork Creek. Thomas MOON in Section 16 from New York was the first teacher in the township. Mark COLE, Jonathan GREEN, Jesse and Daniel DOOLEN all settled in 1836. Ross JONES settled one mile north of East Fork Creek on the Vandalia-Salem State Road.

Airs CONANT settled on Section 11 after having first lived in Patoka Township, where he was the first Justice of the Peace and first schoolteacher in the township. He was an educated man, soldier of the War of 1812 out of Georgia, but originally from New England, descendant of Governor Roger CONANT, First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Airs taught a subscription school in Foster Township.

John ARNOLD settled in 1844 and built a horse mill on East Fork Creek on the Kinmundy-Foster Township line.

Three MORGAN brothers, Benjamin Arnold MORGAN, John Barb MORGAN and Wesley Deskin MORGAN came in the 1840's as boys to the county. They left Alabama and came to Foster Township to live with their cousin, Frances (ATKINS) ARNOLD, who was the daughter of Mary (MORGAN) ATKINS, their father's sister. It was said that B. A. and J. B. were extremely opposed to slavery. W. D., however, returned to the south and fought for the Confederacy with his brother George during the Civil War.

The McWHIRTER, family began settling here in the mid 1840's from Wilson County, Tennessee. Some of the family settled in Foster Township and some in Tonti Township.

Most all of the settlers of Foster Township were southerners. One of the exceptions was the BASSETT family, who came from Indiana settling on Section 22 in 1858. Harvey Foster BASSETT was the son of Elisha BASSETT, JR. of the prominent New England Bassett family.

During the dark days of the Civil War (War Between the States) all of the citizens of the township rallied to the flag of the Stars & Stripes, southerner and northerner alike. They all fought bravely to see that the Union would endure into the future for all mankind.

The first birth in Foster was that of Sarah "Sallie" FOSTER in 1824, daughter of Hardy and Mary (JONES) FOSTER. Sallie married William DOOLEN in 1840.

The first death occurred in 1827, that of Elizabeth MORRIS, age 18, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (JONES) MORRIS.

The first marriage was that of Elizabeth JONES, daughter of the "Widow" Mary (WHALEY) JONES to John F. HOLT, son of Harmon HOLT, who was the first settler of Patoka Township.

In a later immigration to Foster, the township received a group of immigrants from Bohemia. They settled in the southern part of the township, south of East Fork. Among these people were the DOUDERA'S, ROLLER'S, JEZEK'S, BILEK'S, PALANKA'S, MAZANEK'S, HOWDA'S, KOTRA'S, SKOKAN'S and LODKA'S. Many of them are still in the township.

Most of the people of Foster Township today are descendants of the original settlers. Among them are: BASSETT, BRIMBERRY, COX, DOUDERA, FRAKES, GARRETT, GREEN, GRIFFIN, HEADLEY, HICKS, JACKSON, JONES, KLEEMAN, KLEIBOCKER, LOWE, LYBARGER, MUELLER, PERKINS, SCHAUB, SCHOONOVER, SHULER, STEPHENS, TOCKSTEIN, THOMAS, WILLIAMS and others.

There were also many orchards in Foster Township, but today, 2004, there are none. The only orchards today in northern Marion County are in the area of Alma and Tonti Townships. There were orchards all around the Nichols Home, the acres on the northeast corner of Kinoka and Jones Roads in Foster Township. There was also an Apple Orchard west of Sandy Branch School on Sandy Branch Road. There was also an orchard on the Bassett Farm on Greenridge Road.

There was at one time a Sorghum Mill in Foster Township. It was located on the north side of Sandy Branch Road, east of Garrett Road, just as you begin to go down hill. Nothing like Sorghum-Molassas on a homemade hot roll.