Caroline Rose Foster

Her father, Charles Grant Foster (1842-1927), was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1842. During the 1861-1865 Civil War, Foster's father served as a lieutenant, presumably for the Union. Foster's father later became a member of the New York Product Exchange and a warehouse and grain business called Ward & Foster in New York City.[5]

Her mother, Emma Louise Thompson (1842-1880), was born in New York City in 1842.[5] She was the daughter of James Burnet Thompson of Mendham.[6]

Charles Grant Foster and Emma Louise Thompson were wed on November 12, 1869. After they married, they lived with Charles's sister Harriet Foster and her husband John Seely Ward on Pierrepont Street in the Brooklyn Heights.[5]

Charles and Emma had two sons before Caroline: Ward (1870-1873) and Charles, Jr. (1874-1877). They both died in childhood, before Foster was born.[5]

Caroline Rose Foster was born on April 6, 1877 in New York City to Charles Grant Foster and Emma Louise Thompson.[7]

By 1878, Foster's mother was suffering with tuberculosis; she travelled outside of New York City to receive medical care for tuberculosis.

Miss Dana's School for Young Ladies, which Foster attended from 1886 to 1896.

From 1878 until 1880, the Fosters rented the Willows from General Joseph Warren Revere, a Union general of the Civil War and grandson of Paul Revere. This was possibly to stay near Morristown for treatment. However, in 1880, Foster's mother Emma Louise Thompson passed away from tuberculosis.[5]

In 1881, Charles G. Foster bought the Morris County farm from the family of General Joseph Warren Revere, who had died the previous year. Included in the purchase was The Willows, the Gothic Revival mansion partially designed by Revere, and all of the art and furniture within. Foster renamed it Fosterfields, and from 1881 to 1915 developed it as a farm breeding Jersey cattle.

Referring to a memory from 1883, Foster has stated:[8]

At the mature age of six, my greatest joy was to sit by the side of [Jacob Arnold's road] and watch the world go by in buggies, farm wagons, ahorse and afoot.

After the move, Foster's aunt, Caroline Thompson, joined the household to care for Foster in her youth.[4]

Beginning in 1886, Foster attended Miss Dana's School for Young Ladies in Morristown.[4]

In 1896, she graduated from Miss Dana's. Her social debut was held on April 7, 1896 at 11 PM in McAlpin Hall in Morristown, a venue that often hosted dances and entertainments at the time.[9][10] According to Morris County Park Commissions scanned documents, 125 to 150 guests were invited. Its catering menu included chicken and lobster croquettes, chicken salad, "boned turkey," Neapolitan ice cream, "ice cream fruits," Tortoni cake, Afghan biscuits, bon-bons, frappés, lemonade, and a punch bowl. Henry Giesmann's Orchestra performed at the event.[11]

When Foster's father fell ill and retired from business, Foster's responsibility to manage the farm increased.

In 1906, Foster appears to have travelled to Salem, New Hampshire to serve as part of the supper committee for Harvest Supper, a food festival and auction fundraiser highlighting farm products.[12]

Foster and her father were included in a directory of prominent New York families' homes (referred to as "fashionable addresses") in a 1907 Dau's New York Blue Book.[13]

Throughout her youth, Foster had a strained relationship with her father. In 1916, at the age of 39, she began to build a one-room Cape Cod-style cottage outside of the mansion, in order to have a respite from the main house.[14] Skilled in carpentry, Foster determined to complete construction on her own. In her diaries, she referred to the cottage as "The Temple of Abiding Peace."[4]

Of the construction, Foster recalled:[15]

"Pa said I couldn't do it, but at night he would sneak out and see what I'd done, then boast to his friends about it."

Foster completed construction in 1919. The Temple of Abiding Peace was used as her workshop, to entertain guests, and to craft birdhouses with friends.[16] The flower garden in front of the cottage historically included lilacs, peonies, irises, phlox, and daisies, as described in Foster's diary entries and illustrated in a friend's 1920 watercolor landscape.[15] As of 2022, a similar garden still blooms in its original location.

Circa 1917, her uncle - Sheriff William H. Thompson (1914-16) - appointed Foster as the first female deputy sheriff in Morris County.[4] Around that time, Foster sold war bonds ahead of the U.S.A.'s involvement in World War I.

In 1921, Foster was elected to the Morris County Republican Committee and held the position until 1961.[4] She also served as a challenger at polling booths.

Foster wanted to drive an automobile, but her father would not allow it. On Christmas Day, 1922, her friends bought her a Ford, adorned it with a red ribbon, and left it by the house. The following day, Foster drove 2 hours to Hartford, Connecticut to visit her aunts.[3]

In 1927, Caroline Foster inherited the 213.4-acre Fosterfields property and preserved it as a working farm using the farm practices of her childhood. She ensured maintenance of the Reveres' mansion to reflect its 19th-century appearance,[17] including intricate wall murals.[18]

In 1955, she met Washington Valley historian Barbara Hoskins while collaborating on the book Washington Valley: An Informal History. Published in 1960, the book was written to prevent the historic Washington Valley district from being converted into a reservoir by the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority. Hoskins later became a close friend of Foster's. Hoskins has stated:[3]

"If [Caroline Foster] had lived in another era, she could have been a great lawyer or master mechanic...I never knew anyone like her and I never expect to again."

View of the main barn at Fosterfields. Foster spent 99 of her 102 years on the Fosterfields property.

While writing her will in 1974, Foster arranged to bequeath Fosterfields to the Morris County Park Commission to be preserved as a "living historical farm" - a type of open-air museum. She requested that the property "be kept as simple as possible, and that the natural condition of the property be maintained to the extent possible in order that the wildlife and trees and flowers…may be protected and preserved."[19] Fosterfields became the first living historical farm in New Jersey.[20] The farm presently depicts farm life circa 1900.[21]

On July 26th, 1979, Foster died at 102 years of age. Foster spent 98 of her 102 years at Fosterfields.[22] Her funeral was held on July 29th 1979 at Fosterfields.[3]

A scholarship named for her, The Caroline Rose Foster Scholarship for Independence and Self-Determination, offers $1,000 to students based on an essay contest and standardized test scores. It is sponsored by the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, part of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.[23]