ABSTRACT
George Washington Foster Jr. was born on December 18, 1866, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, George Sr., was a carriage striper and his mother, Isabella Davis Foster (a descendant of Jefferson Davis), was a housewife. Around 1880 the family moved to New York City. It is believed that Foster attended Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan, a selective, private, tuition-free school that offered degrees in engineering and architecture.1
