Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917

Variant names

Hide Profile

Military man, journalist, and diplomat. Served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, 1873-1880; to Russia, 1880-1881; and to Spain, 1883-1885. Served as U.S. secretary of state, 1892-1893.

From the description of Letter : United States Legation, Mexico, to A. Langdon, Washington, D.C., 1880 Feb. 7. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 57210087

Epithet: US Minister in St Petersburg

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001345.0x0001f5

Diplomat, U.S. secretary of state, lawyer, and publisher.

From the description of John Watson Foster papers, 1872-1917 (bulk 1872-1905). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77866498

John Watson Foster was an American military man, journalist, and diplomat. He served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison in 1892 and 1893. He also helped the Qing Dynasty in drafting the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 as a legal consultant and commissioner. His grandchildren included John Foster Dulles, who also became a U.S. Secretary of State, Allen Welsh Dulles, a director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Eleanor Lansing Dulles, an economist and diplomat.

From the guide to the Selected Papers of John W. Foster, 1892-1916, (Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections)

John Watson Foster (b. Mar. 2, 1836, Petersburg, Indiana-d. Nov. 15, 1917, Washington, D.C.) was a Civil War Union Army Officer, US Diplomat, and Presidential Cabinet Secretary. After the Civil War he became a journalist, and served as editor of the Evansville Daily Journal from 1865 to 1869. He was then appointed as United States Minister to Mexico, serving from 1873 to 1880 under Presidents Ulysses Grant and Rutherford Hayes. In 1880 President Hayes transferred him to the post of United States Minister to Russia, where he served from 1880 to 1881. In 1883 he was appointed as United States Minister to Spain, serving at that position from 1883 to 1885. In 1892 he was appointed as United States Secretary of State during President Benjamin Harrison's Administration, serving from 1892 to 1893. He was the grandfather of Eisenhower Administration Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

From the description of Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 12202848

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Banta, D. D. (David Demaree), 1833-1896. David D. Banta papers, 1857-1895. Indiana University
referencedIn John Tyler Morgan Papers, 1840-1907, (bulk 1882-1907) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Owen Wister Papers, 1829-1966, (bulk 1890-1930) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906. Papers of Horatio Nelson Rust, 1799-1906 (bulk 1870-1906). Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Walter Quintin Gresham Papers, 1857-1932, (bulk 1883-1895) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Lester Hood Woolsey Papers, 1831-1958, (bulk 1909-1929) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Robert Lansing Papers, 1831-1935, (bulk 1914-1920) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
creatorOf General Records of the Department of State. 1763 - 2002. Proceedings of the Conferences Between the Hawaiian Commissioners and the Secretary of State National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Vol. XXXVII. 1877-1881.includes:f. 1 Aline Tolstoi: Letters to Baron Jomini: 1873-1877, n.d.: Fr.f. 3 Aleksandr Cantacuzene, at Bucarest: Letter to Baron Jomini: 1877.: Fr.f. 7 Aleksandr Cantacuzene, at Bucarest: Letter to his uncle, Prince Go..., 1877-1881 British Library
creatorOf Spaulding, Mr. (Oliver Lyman), 1833-1922. Oliver Lyman Spaulding papers, 1861-1921. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Fairbanks mss., 1819-1939 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
referencedIn Lester Hood Woolsey Papers, 1831-1958, (bulk 1909-1929) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn William Roscoe Thayer papers, 1762-1927 (inclusive), 1872-1921 (bulk) Houghton Library
referencedIn Dulles, Eleanor Lansing, 1895-1996. Eleanor Lansing Dulles papers, 1867-1993, bulk 1935-1990. George Washington University
referencedIn Stuart, James Arthur, 1880-1975. Papers, 1907-1965. Indiana Historical Society Library
referencedIn Samuel Wells Williams family papers, 1809-1983, 1809-1941 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Stuart, James Arthur, 1880-1975. Papers, 1907-1965. Indiana Historical Society Library
creatorOf Ormsbee, Ebenezer J. (Ebenezer Jolls), 1834-1924. Samoan land commission records, 1887-1895 [microform]. Vermont Historical Society
creatorOf Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875. Autograph letter signed : Boston, to William Pitt Fessenden, 1855 Oct. 20. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Elliott, John Bennett, 1836-1904. Letters, 1851-1853. Indiana University
creatorOf Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917. Letter : United States Legation, Mexico, to A. Langdon, Washington, D.C., 1880 Feb. 7. Buffalo History Museum, Research Library
referencedIn Oliver Lyman Spaulding papers, 1861-1921 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917. Selected papers of John W. Foster, 1892-1916. Princeton University Library
referencedIn William Woodville Rockhill papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Prentice, George D. (George Denison), 1802-1870. George D. Prentice : miscellaneous papers, 1849-1868. The Filson Historical Society
creatorOf Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917. John Watson Foster papers, 1872-1917 (bulk 1872-1905) Library of Congress
referencedIn Wylie, Theophilus Adam, 1810-1895. Theophilus A. Wylie papers, 1814-1992 (bulk 1830-1895). Indiana University
referencedIn James Russell Lowell additional papers, 1802-1898. Houghton Library
creatorOf Selected Papers of John W. Foster, 1892-1916 Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special CollectionsManuscripts Division
referencedIn Henderson, J. B. (John Brooks), 1870-1923. Journal of trip to Formosa with the Chinese Commission, for the purpose of transferring officially that Island to the Japanese [manuscript], 1895. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn William Lindsay Scruggs Papers, 1828-1955, (bulk 1893-1898) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Walter Quintin Gresham Papers, 1857-1932, (bulk 1883-1895) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Henry L. Dawes Papers, 1833-1933, bulk 1833-1903 Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Williams, S. Wells (Samuel Wells), 1812-1884. Samuel Wells Williams family papers, 1809-1983 (inclusive), 1809-1941 (bulk). Yale University Library
referencedIn Skilton, Julius A. Julius A. Skilton excerpts from statement : ms., 1884. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Joseph Stanley-Brown Papers, 1730-1941, (bulk 1890-1899) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Foster, John Watson, 1836-1917. A fish story : typescript, 1916. Houghton Library
creatorOf Abbay, Septimus W., 1843?-1910. Roll of Confederate prisoners of war confined in barrack no. 47, Rock Island, Illinois within the time between the last days of 1863 and the last part of June 1865 / compiled from the combined recollection of Sep. W. Abbay, B.J. Coopwood, J.W. Minnich, J.M. Johnston and J.B. Foster, on September 7th, 1904. Knox College, Seymour Library
referencedIn Moore, John Bassett, 1860-1947. Papers of John Bassett Moore, 1866-1949 (bulk 1885-1938). Library of Congress
creatorOf Hay, John, 1838-1905. Correspondence, 1854-1914, "Fiske" to "Gilder." Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
referencedIn Walter Hines Page letters from various correspondents, American period Houghton Library
referencedIn Joseph Hodges Choate Papers, 1745-1929, (bulk 1852-1917) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Fairbanks, Charles W. (Charles Warren), 1852-1918. Papers, 1819-1939. Indiana University
referencedIn Frederick M. Dearborn collection of military and political Americana, Part I: The Revolution and the Administration, 1669-1958. Houghton Library
referencedIn Williams, S. Wells (Samuel Wells), 1812-1884. Samuel Wells Williams family papers, 1824-1936 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Joseph Hodges Choate Papers, 1745-1929, (bulk 1852-1917) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Abbay, Septimus W., 1843?-1910. person
correspondedWith Banta, D. D. (David Demaree), 1833-1896. person
correspondedWith Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893 person
correspondedWith Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917. person
correspondedWith Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885 person
correspondedWith Dawes, Henry L. (Henry Laurens), 1816-1903 person
associatedWith Dearborn, Frederick M. (Frederick Myers), b. 1876 person
associatedWith Dulles, Eleanor Lansing, 1895-1996. person
associatedWith Elliott, John Bennett, 1836-1904. person
correspondedWith Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901 person
associatedWith Fairbanks, Charles W. (Charles Warren), 1852-1918. person
correspondedWith Gresham, Walter Quintin, 1832-1895 person
correspondedWith Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901 person
correspondedWith Hay, John, 1838-1905 person
associatedWith Henderson, J. B. (John Brooks), 1870-1923. person
associatedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Langdon, Andrew, 1835-1919. person
correspondedWith Lansing, Robert, 1864-1928. person
associatedWith Literary Society of Washington (Washington, D.C.) corporateBody
correspondedWith Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891 person
associatedWith Moore, John Bassett, 1860-1947. person
associatedWith Morgan, John Tyler, 1824-1907. person
correspondedWith Olney, Richard, 1835-1917 person
associatedWith Ormsbee, Ebenezer J. (Ebenezer Jolls), 1834-1924. person
associatedWith Page, Walter Hines, 1855-1918 person
associatedWith Prentice, George D. (George Denison), 1802-1870. person
correspondedWith Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912 person
associatedWith Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) corporateBody
correspondedWith Rockhill, William Woodville, 1854-1914 person
correspondedWith Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 person
associatedWith Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906. person
correspondedWith Scruggs, William Lindsay, 1836-1912. person
associatedWith Skilton, Julius A. person
associatedWith Spaulding, Mr. (Oliver Lyman), 1833-1922. person
associatedWith Stanley-Brown, Joseph, 1858-1941. person
correspondedWith Stuart, James Arthur, 1880-1975. person
correspondedWith Thayer, William Roscoe, 1859-1923 person
associatedWith United States. Dept. of State. corporateBody
associatedWith Williams, S. Wells (Samuel Wells), 1812-1884. person
associatedWith Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875. person
correspondedWith Wister, Owen, 1860-1938. person
associatedWith Woolsey, Lester Hood, 1877-1961. person
correspondedWith Wylie, Theophilus Adam, 1810-1895. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
China
Japan
China
Russia
Bering Sea
Indiana
Alaska
China
United States
Spain
Mexico
United States
Japan
Canada
United States
Subject
American politics and government
Bering Sea controversy
Diplomacy
Diplomatic and consular service, American
East Asian studies
Fishing
Sealing
Sino
Occupation
Cabinet officers
Diplomats
Diplomats
Diplomats
Lawyers
Publisher
Activity

Person

Birth 1836-03-03

Death 1917-11-15

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zc814j

Ark ID: w6zc814j

SNAC ID: 76436644