| MOTTO: | "Si Fractus Fortis" (Though broken, Brave) |
| ARMS: | Argent; a chevron vert between three bugle-horns sable, stringed gules. |
| CREST: | An arm embowered in armor, holding a broken tilting spear proper. |
The Foster family can be traced from an ancestry dating to an early period in Flanders. The recorded history of the family begins with Anacher, Great Forester of Flanders, who died in the year 837. This family name was at first Forrester. Later, Forster was the more usual spelling, and finally Foster was most widely used. The name signifies the care of wild lands. In England, the Fosters settled in the northern counties, and the authentic record of the family covers nearly a thousand years.
Sir John Foster accompanied Richard I to Palestine, where he was honored with knighthood. Sir John died in 1220. A number of other members of this distinguished family went to the Holy Lands during the Crusades, and the records of this family clearly reveal their courage and resourcefulness.
The first members of the Foster Family to come to America were the brothers, Sergeant and William Foster, who arrived with the ship Hercules in 1634, and settled in Massachusetts. They were granted several land holdings, and by the year 1700, branches of the family were numerous in many places all over New England. Some of the families into which Fosters married were Brackenberry, Parker, Thomas, Basset, Sears, Bangs, et cetera.
Today, members of this old, and distinguished family are to be found in every state in the Union, and they are well represented in the arts, sciences and professions, as well as the world of commerce. Perhaps, the most exhaustive history of this family is the work by Frederick Clifton Pierce, whose "Foster Genealogy" published in 1899 covers two volumes. This Work covers very many branches of the family down to the close of the nineteenth century.
While various reference depict the Foster arms in slightly different designs: they all show the chevron between three bugle-horns, and it is believed that the design chosen is probably closest to the original shield markings carried during the Crusades.
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