Isaac Newton Foster, educator, Burton, Rabun Co., Ga., son of Walton and Rebecca (Bowen) Foster, was born in Towns Co.,Ga., 18 July 1867. His great-grandfather on his father's side, of Irish-Welch extraction, William Foster, was a native of North Carolia, and a gentleman of learning and culture. He married Miss Barbara Garner, also of North Carolina, beneath whose soil both rest. His grandfather, Isaac Foster, was born in North Carolina in 1809, was reared a farmer, and continued to be one all his life. He maried Miss Lucinda Davis, of Buncombe County, NC, and migrated to Georgia and settled in what is now
Towns County in 1830. During his lifetime he served many years as a Justice of the inferior court. He was a well-known and useful citizen, and himself and wife both died in Towns
County in 1887. Mr. Foster's father was born in Towns County, where (at Visage) he now lives. He married Miss Rebecca, daughter of Joseph Bowen, also of Towns County, by
whom he has had four children: Lucinda, wife of J. C. Swanson; India, wife of A. H. Hammpton, Twine, Clay Co., NC; Isaac N., the subject of this sketch, and James F., teacher, Rabun County. Mr. Foster's maternal grandfather, Joseph Bowen, was a native of North Carolina, where he was reared and married Miss Mary Keener, and died when Mr. Foster's mother was a five-year-old child. His widow died at Burton in 1883, aged eighty-four years. Mr. Foster attended the common schools of the county when he was growing up, and afterward went to the Hiawassee high school, where in addition to a thorough English Classical education, he took a course in the higher mathematics and in Latin and Greek. He
next taught school in Towns and Habersham counties until 1889, when he was made principal of Tallulah academy in Rabun County. He has taught here ever since, growing in the public esteem and reputation, with an increasing patrongae every year. Studious and hard-working, and enthusiastically devoted to his vocation, he promises to achieve a brilliant success and attain to honorable distinction in his profession. Of fine natural mental
endowments, of superior scholarly attainments-age and opportunities considered-ambitious, affable, and of prepossessing address, he will undoubtedly prove useful as a teacher, and leave his impress on the community and section. Mr. Foster was married 20 Dec 1891, to Miss Edna, born 1 Feb. 1877, daughter of Martin Tilley, of Rabun County.
SOURCE; From Chuck Foster; an article copied from a book with sketches of Georgian counties; "Rabun County Sketches".
Come to Rabun Come, breathe the purest air, Come, who would like to come, Come, purchase and make bloom Come, hear the song of birds, Or hear the turkey gobble, If there's a cherished home-
That God hath given to earth,
Come, you will find it here,
Without pittance, change or purse.
And drink of our sparkling rills
Or build a summer home
'Mong the ivies on our hills.
Old Georgia's "Garden Spot,"
For the wealthier here's room,
For the poor a happier lot.
In the dark and mossy cove,
Or watch the lowing herds,
As o'er hill and plain they rove.
Or fish in the dancing pools,
Or shoot the quail in stubble;
But obey the legal rules
On earth a perfect haven
The bards would surely moan,
It must be found in Rabun.
