Wilder De Ayr FOSTER, Congress, MI (1819-1873)

FOSTER, Wilder De Ayr, a Representative from Michigan; born in Orange County, N.Y., January 8, 1819; attended the common schools of his native county; moved to Michigan in 1837, and engaged in the hardware business at Grand Rapids in 1845; city treasurer and member of the board of aldermen; mayor of Grand Rapids in 1854; member of the State senate in 1855 and 1856; again elected mayor of Grand Rapids and served in 1865 and 1866; elected as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas White Ferry; reelected to the Forty-third Congress and served from December 4, 1871, until his death in Grand Rapids, Mich., September 20, 1873; interment in Fulton Street Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present