W. T. Foster

W. T. FOSTER came to Western Kansas in 1879, when he was ten years of age, and has been a farmer and banker in Russell County for many years. He is the first and the only cashier of the Gorham State Bank.

Mr. Foster was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1869. His father, George Foster, was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 1834, grew up there, and in 1859 settled in Philadelphia, where he followed his trade as a marble cutter. In 1879 he brought his family to Russell County, Kansas, and homesteaded a farm of eighty acres three miles southeast of Gorham. On selling that he bought another farm adjoining and is still successfully engaged in raising wheat and stock on a place aggregating 490 acres. He is an independent voter in politics and a member of the Presbyterian Church. George Foster married at Philadelphia Miss Martha Simpson. She was born in Ireland in 1836 and died at Philadelphia in 1875, and W. T. Foster is the second of her four children. Elizabeth, unmarried, lives on the home farm in Russell County, as do the other two children, Susan and John.

W. T. Foster attended public school in Philadelphia and finished his education in Russell County. He had a thorough training on his father's farm and has been identified with the agricultural interests of that section for many years. He left the farm in the winter of 1905 and assisted in organizing the Gorham State Bank in December of that year. He became its cashier and much of the prosperity of that institution is a reflection of his work and influence. The other officers of the bank are: John Mills, of Russell, president, and J. A. Mermis, vice president. The bank has a capital of $10,000 and surplus and profits of $41,000. Mr. Foster is also a director of the Russell Lumber Company.

At one time he served as trustee of Big Creek Township in Russell County. In politics he is independent. He is affiliated with Russell Lodge No. 119, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with Russell Camp No. 1438, Modern Woodmen of America. April 14, 1918, at Colorado Springs, Colorado, he married Miss Sarah Gorham, daughter of E. D. and Minerva (Lytle) Gorham. Her mother still lives at Gorham. Her father was the Kansas pioneer who started and did much to build the Town of Gorham in Russell County.

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