The Trotting Horse of America; How to Train and Drive Him
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Field, Cover, and Trap Shooting. Embracing Hints for Skilled Marksmen; Instructions for Young Sportsmen; Haunts and Habits of Game Birds; Flight and ... of Water Fowl; Breeding and Breaking of Dogs
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This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Charles James Foster was an American editor of sporting journals and authority on the history of the turf.
Background
Charles J. Foster was born on November 24, 1820, at Bicester, England, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Foster. His family were tenants of the Earl of Jersey, a famous rider to the hounds and patron of the turf, who bred and trained his own horses on his Oxfordshire estate. One of Charles’s earliest recollections was that of standing by his father’s knee on frequent occasions, as over their pipes and home-brewed ale the latter discussed racers with Mr. Ransome, Master of the Horse to the Earl.
His own uncle, Henry King, was recognized as one of the best judges of horses in England and his cousin William Foster was an active turfman.
Education
Foster received a good education at Northampton, but at the age of eighteen shipped on a merchantman and for a number of years followed the sea.
Career
In 1848 Foster came to Boston, drifted westward to Cincinnati, and finally settled in Columbus. Here he is said to have found a place in a law office, and to have been on terms of more or less intimacy with Clement L. Vallandigham, Salmon P. Chase, and Samuel S. Cox.
In 1857 Foster became associate editor of the Ohio Statesman. Interested chiefly in sports, he now began to contribute to Porter’s Spirit of the Times articles signed "Privateer, " rich in the lore of the English turf, interlarded with interesting anecdotes, and written in a lively style. He also wrote for it "The High-Mettled Racer, " the first installment of which appeared August 13, 1857, a story of English country sporting life, which reveals a high degree of literary ability.
After the establishment of Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times in 1859 the "Privateer" articles were continued in that periodical, and when in 1860 George Wilkes went to England to attend the fight between John Ileenan and Tom Sayers he asked Foster to come to New York and help run the paper during his absence. This temporary connection was made permanent and for fourteen years much of the journal’s success was due to Foster’s knowledge, industry, and skill as a writer.
In 1875, with J. D. McIntyre and J. Edwards Whitehead, he established the New York Sportsman, with which he was connected until his death.
His writings were accepted as authoritative. To Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times, he contributed a series of articles, beginning July 21, 1860, on "Lives and Battles of Distinguished Pugilists. " A more notable series was "The Derby Winners, Historical Sketches of the Winners of the Derby for Fifty Years, " which appeared in the New York Sportsman between December 9, 1876, and November 24, 1877.
He wrote the article on "Turf" for Appletons’ American Cyclopedia (1876), and edited Hiram Woodruff’s The Trotting Horse of America (1868).
He also edited Adam H. Bogardus’s Field, Cover, and Trap Shooting (1874), and to "Sketches of the Actors, " begun on January 11, 1862, number of Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times, he made several contributions including sketches of Charlotte Cushman, Maggie Mitchell, and James Hackett. That of the last-named appears in Flackctt’s Notes and Comments upon Certain Plays and Actors of Shakespeare (1863). A novel, The White Horse of Wootton, was published in 1878. Charles J. Foster died on September 12, 1883, in Astoria, New York, in his sixty-third year and was buried in Columbus, Ohio.
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Interests
His knowledge of famous horses and their achievements was extensive and detailed, and Charles J. Foster kept his information up to date by inspecting all the great stables of the country before each racing season.
Foster was almost equally conversant with the prize ring, while gamecocks, which it is alleged he "bred and occasionally bled in sequestered nooks on Long Island" were one of his minor interests.
Connections
Charles J. Foster never married, but lived with two maiden sisters in a cosy country home in Astoria.