Foster Children Tragedy

Foster Children Tragedy. . After emigrating from County Donegal, Ireland, Robert and Lillie Foster settled in a sod house about three miles northwest of this marker in late 1872. Six of their nine children shared the small, primitive home. Within months, two of the children perished in a savage storm., The winter morning of January 7, 1873, was unusually warm. Lightly dressed, Robert Jr., 14, and Sarah, 12, left their sod home to check fox traps at a creek bed one-half mile north. Without warning a ferocious blizzard overtook them. Blinded and disoriented by the fury of the storm, the children became lost and wandered almost two miles searching for their home. Finally they stumbled upon an abandoned sod shanty where they sought shelter. The blizzard continued to blast the area for nearly three days., For weeks the grieving family searched in vain for the children. According to Foster family legend, neighbor Catherine Leao told her husband Daniel of her dream where they would be found. On March 15 he immediately located their frozen bodies. The children were first buried on the Eldridge farm and later removed to Bethel Cemetery.