Jessica Follett Foster

Jessica Follett Foster was born in 1869 in Sandusky, Ohio to Frank E. Foster and his wife, the former Eliza Ward Follett. Jessica’s father and her maternal grandfather, Oran Follett, were the publishers of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. While living in DeKalb, Illinois, Jessica taught at the Northern Illinois State Teachers College for seventeen years. She was a member of the Martha Pitkin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, tracing her ancestry back to Revolutionary soldier Frederick Follett. Jessica’s lineage is found in volume 35 of the Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book.

From about 1923 to 1934, Miss Foster resided on Wayne Street in Sandusky, and during that time worked as an agent for the New York Life Insurance Company. This advertisement appeared in the January 19, 1924 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal.

In Sandusky, Jessica was a member of the Art Study Club, pictured below at an event in which all the members dressed in historic costume.

In the Centennial issue of the Sandusky Register, on December 22, 1922, she shared excerpts from her grandfather Oran Follett’s meeting with President Abraham Lincoln in October of 1862 (available on microfilm at the Sandusky Archives Research Center).  

In the 1930s, Jessica Follett Foster moved to Los Angeles. She resided there until her death on April 30, 1960. Miss Foster was buried in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

In the collections of the Follett House Museum is a chair which once belonged to her grandparents, Oran and Eliza Follett, and was a favorite of her mother when she was a child.

Eighth Annual Meeting of Ohio Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents

On June 16, 1904, the eighth annual convention of the Ohio Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents was held in Sandusky, Ohio. The morning session met in the Carnegie Music Hall of the Sandusky Library.

Mayor John J. Molter greeted the group on behalf of the city. He said in part, “Yours is the first convention to be welcomed here this season and we therefore give you a double welcome. We recognize that you gentlemen represent a business of great importance. You are ministering agents in time of misfortune. We greet you with as hearty a greeting as we can extend. We hope you may come again, and if you do, we assure you another hearty welcome.” Resolutions and the secretary’s report were read, and the election of officers was held. Mr. Fred Guenther of Detroit gave a talk entitled, “A Talk on the Local Agents.”

Several of the insurance agents brought their wives and children with them to the meeting. During the afternoon session, visiting family members were given a trolley ride from the West House to the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. In the evening, the insurance agents and their families were treated to a ride on the steamer Wehrle to Cedar Point. Ackley’s Band entertained those on board the Wehrle. An article in the June 17, 1904 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that, “The convention was one of the most successful ever held by the association and it would not be surprising if the executive committee again selected Sandusky as the next meeting place.”