Mr. Foster takes an active part in promoting the welfare of Newburgh's charitable institutions. He is president of the Associated Charities, trustee of the home for the Friendless, and member of the board of managers of St. Luke's Hospital. In religious affiliations he is identified with the Church of the Good Shepherd, holding the office of warden.
Mr. Foster married Mary Ann Taylor and seven children were born to them, of whom four are living.
ANSON J. FOWLER, attorney of Walden and Newburgh, was born in Walden, N. Y., in 1878. He was educated at New Paltz Normal School and was engaged in the mercantile business at Walden, five years. He read law in Newburgh, and was admitted to the bar in 1905.
Mr. Fowler is president of the Electric Light Co., Walden, and a director of the Walden National Bank. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and I. O. O. F. He is a son of Nicholas J. and Elizabeth (Millspaugh) Fowler.
NICHOLAS JANSEN FOWLER, of English and Welsh descent, son of Peter Hill Fowler and Anna Jansen Fowler, was born on the ancestral homestead near the village of Montgomery, N. Y., May 9, 1847. He attended the famous Montgomery Academy, also the Monticello Academy. After graduating, he was associated with G. Fred Wiltsie, in business at Newburgh-on-Hudson. In 1868, Mr. Fowler located at Walden, N. Y., opening the first hardware store in the village, which he continued for thirty years.
He was the original organizer of the Wallkill Valley Electric Light and Power Company, of which for many years he was president; was one of the original incorporators of the National Bank of Walden and one of its officers until recent years. For many years he has been vice-president of the Walden Savings Bank; is connected with the First Reformed Church of Walden and Wallkill Lodge, F. and A. M., of which he was treasurer for over twenty years. He was a charter member of the Wallkill Valley Farmers' Association, serving many years as its treasurer and doing much to establish it.
Mr. Fowler married Miss Elizabeth Millspaugh, daughter of the late Joseph G. Millspaugh, of Walden, N. Y., May 29, 1872, Three sons were born to them. The eldest, Joseph M., of Kingston, an attorney of distinction, who has represented his district in the legislative hall at Albany; Anson J., an attorney having offices at Newburgh and Walden, who enjoys a large legal business; Fred, who has been highly successful in the electric light and telephone interests of Walden and adjacent villages. Mr. Fowler has been confined to his home for several years.
THOMAS POWELL FOWLER, president of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway Company, was born in Newburgh, October 26, 1851. His father, Isaac Sebring Fowler, was a descendant of Isaac Fowler, who settled near that city in 1747. His mother, Mary Ludlow Powell, was the daughter of Robert Ludlow Powell, who was the son of Thomas Powell, long prominent in the affairs of the Empire State, and one of the most successful men of his time.
Mr. Fowler's childhood was spent at Newburgh. He received his early education at Siglar's School, Newburgh, and College Hill, Poughkeepsie, after which he studied abroad for nearly two years, spending most of his time in Germany. Returning to New York, he entered the banking house of Morton, Bliss & Co., then Morton, Burns & Co, where he acquired a general knowledge of financial affairs. He studied law under Prof. Theo. D. Dwight, at the Columbia College law school, entering the junior class of that institution October 21, 1872. He graduated in May, 1874, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
In 1881 Mr. Fowler was elected director of the Chenango and Allegheny Railroad. In 1884 we find him a director of the West Pennsylvania and Chenango Connecting Railroads. On March 15 of the same year he was appointed receiver of the Chenango and Allegheny Railroad and the Mercer Coal and Iron Co. On March 31 following Mr. Fowler was elected director of the New York, Ontario and Western. In 1886 he was elected president. He has also served as director in the boards of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad and other corporations.