Foster, Ira Roe, 1811-1885

Papers, 1862 May 3-1865 May 5
105 items; 0.25 lin. feet

Foster, Ira Roe, 1811-1885
Rank:	Col.
Regiment:	Georgia. Quartermaster General
Service:	Unknown

Biographical information:

Ira R. Foster was a native of Cherokee, Ga., and apparently a political and personal acquaintance of Georgia Gov. Joseph Brown for many years prior to the Civil War. A lawyer, physician, and state legislator, Foster had extensive business interests in land, flour- and saw-mills in north-central Georgia and Alabama, and remained active in state politics into the Reconstruction period.

During the Civil War years, Foster fulfilled a difficult task as Quartermaster General for the state of Georgia, an office which he continued to fill after the collapse of the Confederacy. In his History of the State of Georgia (New York, 1881) Isaac Avery writes that Foster "exhibited a signal efficiency in the arduous duties."

Scope and Contents:

The Ira Foster Papers contain a very small sampling of what must at one time have been a large and detailed collection relating to the official business of the office of Georgia state Quartermaster General during the Civil War. It consists entirely of incoming correspondence addressed to Foster, and is comprised of relatively routine information submitted by agents across the state concerning wholesale foodstuffs and liquors. Several letters, however, concern other items of supply, such as candles, wire, salt, or iron, and a few items provide some insight into aspects of slavery, sawmill production, and small farming.

Other collections:

A substantial collection of Ira Foster's personal and professional correspondence is located at the Alabama Dept. of Archives and History (NUCMC 84-449).

Reference:

Avery, Isaac. History of the State of Georgia (New York, 1881). Avery included a lengthy letter from Foster describing the "Herculean effort" at removing perishable supplies, books, furniture, and official records from Atlanta as Sherman drew near in 1864 on pp. 310-11.

M-1871
Recat. 5/96 rsc

Link to subject index to the Ira R. Foster Papers

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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