Nathaniel Caldwell Foster Papers, 1830-1936

Summary Information

Title: Nathaniel Caldwell Foster Papers

Inclusive Dates: 1830-1936

Creator: Foster, Nathaniel Caldwell, 1834-1923

Call Number: Eau Claire Mss O

Quantity: 0.3 c.f. (1 archives box and 2 volumes)

Repository:  Housed at the Area Research Center, William D. McIntyre Library, University of

Wisconsin-Eau Claire; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division

Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr. 

Abstract:  Fragmentary records of Foster, a native of New York state who came to Wisconsin in 1854 and became a prominent lumberman and logging railroad operator headquartered at Fairchild after 1876. The collection contains political correspondence with representative James A. Frear; miscellaneous business papers including land titles, maps, mortgages, and financial records pertaining to his land and timber investments in Eau Claire and Clark counties; a few records relating to the Fairchild and Northwestern Railroad constructed by Foster in 1913; and a journal, 1908-1936, of the N.C. Foster Lumber Company. One folder contains land deeds and other business papers, 1830-1870, concerning Daniel Bread and the first Christian Party of the Oneida Nation of Indians.

Language: English

Search Terms
Subject Terms

• Bread, Daniel
• Frear, James A. (James Archibald), 1861-1939
• Fairchild and Northwestern Railroad
• First Christian Party of the Oneida Nation of Indians
• N.C. Foster Lumber Company o Lumber trade—Wisconsin
• Oneida Indians o Railroads—Wisconsin
• Real estate investment—Wisconsin

Biography/History

Nathaniel C. Foster, lumberman, railroad builder, and businessman, was born at Owego, New York, on January 6, 1834. He moved to Wisconsin in 1854, where he operated a sawmill, first at Fort Howard, and after 1876 at Fairchild.

Mr. Foster acquired large tracts of timberland in Eau Claire and Clark counties, and in 1891 organized the N.C. Foster Lumber Company at Fairchild. To facilitate his lumbering operations, Mr. Foster built a logging railroad from Fairchild to Mondovi in 1882. In 1913, he constructed the Fairchild and Northwestern Railroad.

Administrative/Restriction Information Acquisition Information 

Presented by Mrs. H. H. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October, 1953.

Processing Information 

Processed by Jack T. Ericson, January 20, 1967.

Contents List

Box   1Correspondence, 1921-1922Box   1Inventory of the Fairchild and Northwestern RailroadBox   1Manuscript plat maps of land holdingsBox   1Miscellaneous Unsorted business papers, 1843-1920Box   1Miscellaneous unsorted business papers, Daniel Bread, 1830, 1870Volume   1Railroad employee's time book, 1912-1915Volume   2Journal, N.C. Foster Lumber Company, Fairchild, Wisconsin, 1908-1936