Born 3 Nov. 1840 at Lowell, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.[1] Daughter of Jotham Horton and Judith Delano.[2] Studied at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, Livingston Co., New York, 1855–1856.[3] Married first Addison Avery, 14 Mar. 1860, in Boston; two children.[4] Moved to Montreal, Canada East, Province of Canada; moved to Chicago, by 1865.[5] Divorced, 1869, in Cook Co., Illinois.[6] Married second Elijah Caleb Foster, 25 July 1869, in Dunton (later Arlington Heights), Cook Co.; two children.[7] Moved to Clinton, Clinton Co., Iowa, by 27 Aug. 1870.[8] Admitted to the bar in Iowa, 1872; admitted to practice law by the Iowa Supreme Court, 20 Oct. 1875.[9] Delegate to the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union convention, 1874; appointed legal adviser and superintendent of legislation and petitions, 1880.[10] Moved to Washington, DC, 1888.[11] Organizer and president of the Woman’s National Republican Association, 1888–1910.[12] Spoke in the tabernacle in Salt Lake City, 26 Aug. 1894.[13] Admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar, 20 Dec. 1897.[14] Appointed to assist in various efforts to improve the conditions of women and children under U.S. presidents William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt.[15] Met with EBW in Washington, DC, while she attended the inauguration celebrations of President William McKinley, Mar. 1901.[16] Died 11 Aug. 1910 at Washington, DC.[17]
[1] “U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 8 Nov. 2021), J. Ellen Foster, 3 Nov. 1840; from NARA, Selected Passports, Washington, DC, roll 682. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 15 Aug. 2018), Judith Ellen Horton (LZNL-664).
[2] “Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1840–1915,” database and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 8 Nov. 2021), Judith Ellen Horton and Addison Avery, Jotham Horton and Judith Horton; from Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston. Joel Andrew Delano, The Genealogy History and Alliances of the American House of Delano, 1621–1899 (New York: n.p., 1899), 134.
[3] Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651.
[4] “Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1840–1915,” database and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 14 June 2018), Judith Ellen Horton and Addison Avery; from Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston. Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651.
[5] Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651. Halpin’s Eighth Annual Edition Chicago City Directory 1865–6 (Chicago: T. M. Halpin, 1865), 79.
[6] “Local Intelligence,” Chicago Republican, 31 Mar. 1869, 2.
[7] Illinois Secretary of State, Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, E. C. Foster and J. E. Avery, 25 July 1869, vol. 1, Cook Co., IL, Illinois State Public Record Office. Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651.
[8] 1870 U.S. Census, Clinton Ward 2, Clinton Co., IA, p. 23, J. Ellen Foster.
[9] David C. Mott, “Judith Ellen Foster,” Annals of Iowa 19, no. 2 (Fall 1933): 128. Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651–652. Mary L. Clark, “The First Women Members of the Supreme Court Bar, 1879–1900,” San Diego Law Review, 1999, 95, 103.
[10] Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:651.
[11] Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:652.
[12] David C. Mott, “Judith Ellen Foster,” Annals of Iowa 19, no. 2 (Fall 1933): 136. Edward T. James et al., eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 1:652.
[13] “Mrs. J. Ellen Foster Here,” Salt Lake Herald, 25 Aug. 1894, 3. EBW, Diary, 25–27 Aug. 1894.
[14] Mary L. Clark, “The First Women Members of the Supreme Court Bar, 1879–1900,” San Diego Law Review, 1999, 93, 95.
[15] David C. Mott, “Judith Ellen Foster,” Annals of Iowa 19, no. 2 (Fall 1933): 137.
[16] EBW, Diary, 2 and 5 Mar. 1901. “Utah Woman on the Inauguration,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 9 Mar. 1901, 15.
[17] District of Columbia, Health Department, Death Certificates, 1874–1931, cert no. 35, reg. no. 194065, J. Ellen Foster, 11 Aug. 1910, microfilm 2115390, DGS 4024910, image 2543/3350, FHL.