Herman Foster (1800 - 1875)
Born at Andover (MA); died at Manchester (NH).
Lawyer and state legislator.
Portrait by A. Tenney, c. 1861.
Presented to the State by Mr. Foster.

Foster (1800 - 1875) was born at Andover (MA). He studied at Derry (NH) Academy, but he had problems with his eyesight and could not complete his studies. Foster taught school for several years, then went into the mercantile business at Boston (MA), where he failed. For the next eight years Foster lived on a farm at Warner (NH), while reading law. He opened a law office at Manchester (NH) in 1840, and he practiced law at Manchester the rest of his life.

Foster served as treasurer for Manchester's city government (1842, 1843), and was elected a State Representative (1845, 1846). He became legal counsel for a number of Manchester corporations, and served as a trustee of Manchester Savings Bank and a director of Amoskeag Bank. Foster served as Manchester City Solicitor (1857), and was twice elected to the State Senate (1860, 1861). He was President of the Senate in 1861, when this portrait was painted. He later served two more terms as a State Representative (1868, 1869).

References: Charles H. Bell, The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire (1894).