Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana ArchivesMain MenuIntroduction to the CollectionBishops of the Diocese of IndianaBishops of the Diocese of Northern IndianaParishes and MissionsConventionsOrdinations and PostulantsCamps and YouthEcumenical ServicesDiocesan Officers and GovernanceWomen's Auxiliary - Episcopal Church WomenMiscellaneousJohn David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252
Rev. Colley Alexander Foster
12020-08-02T20:05:17-07:00John David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252327163plain2020-10-21T10:29:19-07:00John David Beatty85388be94808daa88b6f1a0c89beb70cd0fac252The Rev. Colley Alexander Foster was born at an unknown date, though he was reputedly baptized at St. Catherine's Church, Jamaica, on 7 December 1810. On the 1860 census in Elkhart, his age was listed as 47 and birthplace as England. He was the son of Sir Colley Foster, a British naval officer. He had studied law but decided instead to become a clergyman and was ordained to the diaconate in 1837 by Bishop Otey of Tennessee. He served first at Trinity Church, Fishkill, New York, in 1837, but the following year moved south to Randolph, Tennessee, and in 1839 to Holly Springs and Salem, Mississippi. At Holly Springs, he organized a church, and he was recorded in 1840 on the federal census in Marshall County, Mississippi. He established a girls' school in Holly Springs the following year but faced a lawsuit from a rival school over the choice of name. In 1847, he became rector of St. Paul's Church in Evansville, Indiana, where he remained until 1856. In 1860, he became the first resident rector of St. James, Goshen, Indiana, and remained there through 1864. Afterward he moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, serving there through 1876, and then to Sedalia, Missouri, where he died on 25 July 1891. He is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Sedalia.
1media/Rev Colley A Foster_thumb.jpeg2020-08-02T19:52:16-07:00Rev. Colley Alexander Foster, founder of St. James, Goshen1Rev. Colley Alexander Foster, founder of St. James, Goshenmedia/Rev Colley A Foster.jpegplain2020-08-02T19:52:18-07:00