Name |
Harold Edward Foster |
Suffix |
Sr. |
Birth |
23 Apr 1926 |
Mist, Ashley, Arkansas, USA |
Gender |
Male |
Census |
1930 |
Ashley Co, Arkansas, USA |
Prairie twp, ED 2-21, p 6A, dwelling/family 125/127, b. Arkansas, f.b. Arkansas, m.b. Arkansas; enumerated 14-15 Apr 1930 by Frank E. Denton. |
![1930 Census, Ashley County, Arkansas, Prairie Township, Sheet 6A [stamped 203] 1930 Census, Ashley County, Arkansas, Prairie Township, Sheet 6A [stamped 203]](documents/thumb_cen_1930ACAR_jesse_foster.jpg) |
1930 Census, Ashley County, Arkansas, Prairie Township, Sheet 6A [stamped 203] 121/123 Brooks, Claude O.......47...head
______, Becky F................44...wife
______, H. S...................21...son
______, Leroy..................17...son
______, Raymon.................15...son
______, George.................12...son
______, Claude O............... 4...son
123/125 Perkins, Ernest B......22...head
_______, Essie.................16...wife
_______, Dorothy E.............3/12...daughter
125/127 Foster, Jesse H........47...head
______, Jennie C...............43...wife
______, Morrell F..............17...son
______, Clifton D..............13...son
______, Cynthia M.............. 9...daughter
______, Harrol E...............3 11/12...son |
Religion |
1930 |
Mount Pleasant community, Ashley Co, Arkansas, USA |
Attended the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church with parents until he enlisted in the Army during WWII. |
 |
Bible of Harold Edward Foster Dad was given this bible at Christmas 1940 by his father. He carried it with him when he was in the Army overseas fighting during World War II. It gave him comfort and saw him safely home. |
Census |
1940 |
Ashley Co, Arkansas, USA |
Prairie twp, ED 2-23, p 6B, visit 110, attended school to 7th grade, reads and writes, taken 24-25 Apr 1940 by Frank E. Denson. |
 |
1940 Census for Ashley County, Arkansas, Prairie Township, Sheet 6B 106 Howie, Calvin....33...head....farmer
_____, Erma..........26...wife
_____, Edward........10...son
_____, Caroline...... 5...daughter
107 Howie, Seab......39...head....farmer
_____, Moholee.......24...wife
_____, Mary A........ 5...daughter
_____, Lois Marie.... 4...daughter
_____, Lula.......... 1...daughter
110 Foster, Jessie...54...head....farmer
_____, Jennie........53...wife
_____, Harold........14...son
_____, Clifton.......22...son |
Physical Description |
1944 |
Light red hair, fair skin, blue eyes, 5'10" in height, 150 pounds. |
Draft, Registration Card |
1944 |
Arkansas, USA |
 |
Draft Registration, World War II Serial Card Number: 421
Order Number: 12611
Name: Harold Edward Foster
Address: Rt. 4, Hamburg, Ashley Co, Arkansas
Date & Place of Birth: 23 Ape 1926, Hamburg, Arkansas
Age: 18
Person who will always know your address: Mrs. Jess Foster, Rt. 4, Hamburg, Ashley Co, Arkansas
Employer: Student [High School]
Signed by: Harold E. Foster
|
Military |
1944–1945 |
Germany, European Theatre |
World War II |
- PFC Harold Edward Foster, son of Mrs. Jesse Foster of Portland, Arkansas, was born at Hamburg, Arkansas, April 23, 1926. Educated in the Portland Public Schools, he entered military service on July 31, 1944. After completing his basic training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, he was sent to the European theater, landing at Le Havre, France. Overseas more than 14 months, Private Foster, saw action in the Rhineland, Central Europe, and Ardennes campaigns and won the European Theater Ribbon with three Battle Stars, the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Good Conduct Medal, Victory Ribbon and American Theater Ribbon. He spent seven months with the Army of Occupation of Germany. [After Germany surrendered, he was sent to Radio Operation and Wiring School in January 1945 in preparation to be shipped to fight in the Pacific against the Japanese. But Japan surrendered before they could be transferred.] He was returned to this country and was honorably discharged at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, March 11, 1946. His wife is the former Leona Elizabeth Sansing. They have one child. [Source: Fighting Men of Arkansas and A History of World War II (Little Rock: The Arkansas Historical Institute, 1946), 617.]
SERIAL NO: 38731112
NAME: FOSTER HAROLD E
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT: CP JOSEPH T ROBINSON LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS
DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 1 Aug 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH: ARKANSAS
DATE OF BIRTH: 1926
Private No branch assignment Selectees (Enlisted Men)
|
![Harold Foster, Honorable Discharge [DD214] Harold Foster, Honorable Discharge [DD214]](documents/thumb_doc_DD2141.jpg) |
Harold Foster, Honorable Discharge [DD214] Harold Foster, 38 731 112, PFC, US Army, Co C, 331st Regiment; Inducted: 1 Aug 1944, Camp Robinson, Arkansas; Military Occupational Specialty: Radio Operator 776; Military Qualifications: Rifle Exp, 15 Sep 1944, Combat Infantryman Badge. Battles: Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe. Wounds Received in Action: Germany, 19 Mar 1945. Decorations & Citations: Purple Heart, Victory Ribbon, European African Middle Easter Theater Ribbon w/ 3 Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Overseas Bar. Service Schools Attended: Radio Operators School at Griesbach, Germany. Service outside Continental US & Return: 3 Jan 1945 - ETO - 15 Jan 1945, 26 Feb 1946 - USA - 7 Mar 1946. |
 |
Purple Heart awarded to Harold E. Foster This is the purple heart that Dad was awarded in Germany for wounds during World War II. Dad told me that he received his wound when a German plane came strafing through the camp while he was walking towards the chow line. He jumped over a hedge and was tagged with shrapnel on his hand. He spent two weeks in the infirmary and then was sent back into duty with his hand bandaged. After his death, his purple heart was given to Matthew Aaron Serio, his grandson. |
Military |
1946 |
World War II |
We saw so much, and we were so weary, there wasn’t much cheering.” Dad rode a troop ship back to New York, took a train back to Jefferson Barracks, and then a bus back home to Portland. He thought he would be sent to the Pacific front, but his furlough was extended, and the war ended before he could be deployed. |
 |
USAT Thomas H Barry My Dad, Harold E. Foster was transported home from Europe on the USAT Thomas H. Barry which was a steel-hulled, twin-screw passenger and cargo ship, launched on 15 May 1930 as Oriente by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for the New York and Cuba Mail and Steamship Company's Ward Line. It was acquired by the War Department in June 1941 for use as an Army transport. On 29 Sep 1941, the Acting Chief of Naval Operations, Rear Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll, sent a memorandum to the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, listing a number of Army transports, including Thomas H. Barry, that were to be "eventually taken over by the Navy." The Thomas H. Barry was later designated AP-45. However, the transport was never taken over by the Navy and remained under Army control through the end of World War II. |
Education |
1946–1948 |
Monticello, Drew Co, Arkansas, USA |
Arkansas A & M College |
Census |
1950 |
Clarendon, Monroe Co, Arkansas, USA |
Ward 2, ED 48-10, p 2, Dwelling/family 3B, not in a city or on a place of 3 or more acres, head age 23, works 40 hrs week as an assistant county supervisor for the federal government, [250, 936, 2] b. Arkansas; enumerated 1 Apr 1950 by Randolph, Elmo Gladhill. |
Education |
Sep 1948–Feb 1950 |
Fayetteville, Washington Co, Arkansas, USA |
University of Arkansas, B. S. |
Social Security Number |
Bef 1951 |
Issued in Arkansas |
429-50-5556 |
Residence |
Feb 1950–Jan 1952 |
Clarendon, Monroe Co, Arkansas, USA |
Newspaper |
31 Jul 1952 |
Baxter Co, Arkansas, USA |
Baxter County was officially declared a disaster area Monday by the United States Department of Agriculture, making the farmers of the area eligible for special loans for feed, seed, and fertilizer. Harold Foster, [an] official of the Administration of this county, will have charge of loans here. It has been estimated that the average disaster loan will be about %500. Interest rates on such loans has been set at three percent...The number of Arkansas counties applying for the classification reached 27 by the first of the week and a survey made of the drouth situation by the Arkansas Agricultural Mobilization Committee revealed that the disastrous effects were statewide..." corn is gone, beans are well on their way out, and cotton is either standing still or beginning to slip back fast."...J. V. Highfill, state supervisor of the Farmers Home Administration, emphasized that the agency did not want to make loans for feed only, but preferred to make loans for fall and winter crops since these provide more economical feed for livestock. |
- The Baxter Bulletin, Mountain Home, Arkansas, July 31, 1952, p 1.
|
Newspaper |
22 May 1958 |
Yellville, Marion Co, Arkansas, USA |
FOR SALE -- Shetland pony, 34 months old, bay. Bridle, saddle, martingale complete. Harold Foster, Box 95, Yellville, Ark. |
- The Baxter Bulletin, Mountain Home, Arkansas, May 22, 1958, p 7.
|
Newspaper |
15 Aug 1963 |
Mountain Home, Baxter Co, Arkansas, USA |
County Gets FHA Okay for Drouth Loans. The Farmers Home Administration at Washington last week declared Baxter County farmers eligible for emergency loans due to drouth conditions, according to Senator J. W. Fulbright. Several other counties in this area have been declared eligible. Farmers may receive low-interest loans under the program. Harold Foster of Yellville is in charge of the FHA program in this area. The Baxter County Disaster Committee has not asked for a drouth disaster rating for the county, according to Owen F. Cooper, ASC office manager. Such a rating would make farmers eligible to receive government surplus grains for livestock feed at 75 percent of the price support rate. |
- The Baxter Bulletin, Mountain Home, Arkansas, August 15, 1963, p 4.
|
Newspaper |
5 Sep 1963 |
Mountain Home, Baxter Co, Arkansas, USA |
Ask Disaster Designation for Baxter County. Meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Baxter County Disaster Committee voted to request that the county be declared a drouth disaster area. Approval of the recommendation would make Baxter County farmers and stockmen eligible to receive government grain at 75 percent of the government price support rate. The request must be approved by the State Disaster Committee, then sent to Washington for final approval by the Secretary of Agriculture. Owen F. Cooper, ASCS county office manager, is executive secretary of the Baxter County Disaster Committee. Other members are Frank Cox, chairman of the ASC County Committee, Thurman Wood, county agent, and Harold Foster, FHA representative in this area. |
- The Baxter Bulletin, Mountain Home, Arkansas, September 5, 1963, p 5.
|
Residence |
Jan 1952–Aug 1969 |
Yellville, Marion Co, Arkansas, USA |
Religion |
1950-1970 |
Yellville, Marion Co, Arkansas, USA |
Member of the United Methodist Church. Was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. |
Newspaper |
8 Jul 1970 |
Hempstead Co, Arkansas, USA |
New FHA Program Aids Builders. Builders in Hempstead County and vicinity may put up more homes for rural families because of a new program of the Farmers Home Administration, County Supervisor Harold Foster announced today. Under the plan, Foster said, FHA, the rural credit agency of the Department of Agriculture, can issue a conditional commitment agreeing to finance new or substantially rehabilitated homes for as many as 15 families at a time. Previously, he noted, home financing could be assured only as individual families applied and were approved. With the conditional commitment, builders can proceed with the construction of up to 15 homes in an area, with reasonable assurance that financing will be available to qualified purchasers. The conditional commitment does not reserve funds for a loan nor does it provide for construction financing, Foster pointed out, "but with the growth of the rural housing individual loan program from $486 million in fiscal 1969 to $821 million this year, and with more than $1.4 billion projected from 1971, expansion of rural housing opportunities is assured. |
- Hope Star, Hope, Arkansas, July 8, 1970, p 7.
|
Newspaper |
29 Jul 1970 |
Hope, Hempstead Co, Arkansas, USA |
Rural Housing Loans Available. Persons living in inadequate houses in the country or in towns smaller than 5,500 or where commercial credit is not available should investigate the Farmers Home Administration Rural Housing Loan Program. Harold Foster at the Hempstead county office of the Farmers Home Administration in the Federal Building, Hope will answer any questions. |
- Hope Star, Hope, Arkansas, July 29, 1970, p 1.
|
Newspaper |
26 Oct 1971 |
Hempstead Co, Arkansas, USA |
FHA Operating Loan Funds Available. Harold Foster, County Supervisor, Hempstead announced today that funds are available to farmers for making adjustments and improvements in their farm and home operations necessary for successful farming, to buy livestock, equipment, pay operating expenses, and refinance debts. Each operating loan is tailored to the individual borrower's needs. The FArmers Home Administration supervisory personnel assists the borrower in analyzing his resources plus those obtained by loans for the best use. Loans are made through the county offices of the Farmers Home Administration serving rural areas of the United States. All loans are accompanied by technical assistance in farm and financial management. The interest rate is six and three-eighths percent per year on the unpaid principal. Each loan is scheduled for repayment within a period consistent with the borrower's annual ability to repay. Funds advanced for operating expenses are repaid when the crops, livestock, or livestock products produced during the year are sold. Funds loaned for productive livestock and for farm equipment may be scheduled for repayment over periods from one to seven years. Eligibility of applicants for FHA loans is determined by the County FHA Committee which consists of three local persons that are familiar with FHA loan requirements and local farming and credit conditions in the county. Mr. Foster stated that anyone interested in this type credit assistance in Hempstead County may make application through his office located in the Federal Building, Hope, Arkansas. The office is open from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
- Hope Star, Hope, Arkansas, October 26, 1971, p 5.
|
Newspaper |
22 Dec 1971 |
Hope, Hempstead Co, Arkansas, USA |
Kiwanian Larry Patterson presented Harold Foster, County Supervisor of Farmers Home Administration, as the guest speaker at Tuesday's meeting of Hope Kiwanis Club. Mr. Foster outlines something of the history of the agency with which he is connected, stating that [the] Farmers Home Administration operates under the Agriculture Department and is funded by the Federal government. The Farmers Home Administration is not a primary lending institution, if credit is available elsewhere, but is a supplement to other credit agencies. If and when a family which has secured funds through the FHA gets to the place they will be accepted by a regular lending institution, they are "graduated" from FHA. In Hempstead County in 1971, seven family groups have graduated to other lending institutions. There are actually three divisions or service branches under which FHA operates, the Farm Service Branch; the Community Service Branch; and the Rural Housing Branch; with an Emergency Service Branch assisting the three divisions as necessary demands. In the Rural Housing Branch, which includes incorporated towns of 10,000 or less population, one task is to fit the house to the family size to the income of the family is considering a loan. In Hempstead County in a six months period of 1971 fifty-six families have committed themselves to loans totaling $711,250 through the Farmers Home Administration. This means that fifty-six houses were built; income tax will be paid on the labor of construction crews for fifty-six dwellings; as well as other benefits that will accrue to the county and to the individuals involved. Jack Lowe, Chairman of the Membership Development Committee of Hope Kiwanis Club formally inducted four new members into the Hope Club. The new inductees are Bryan Cunningham, Kenneth Powell, Thomas E. Jackson, and Carl Hamilton. On [the] invitation of the club, Mrs. Hamilton accompanied her husband for his induction. The other wives, having previous commitments, we're unable to attend. |
- Hope Star, Hope, Arkansas, December 22, 1971, p 6.
|
Residence |
Aug 1969–Jul 1972 |
Hope, Hempstead, Arkansas, USA |
Newspaper |
14 Jul 1972 |
Forrest City, St. Francis Co, Arkansas, USA |
 |
Promotion to District Supervisor, Farmers Home Administration Harold E. Foster, a county supervisor for the Farmers Home Administration in Hempstead County, has been promoted to district supervisor, as announced by Robert L. Hankins, state director. Foster will be headquartered in Forrest City and serve St. Francis, Cross, Poinsett, Crittenden, Jackson, and Mississippi Counties. He began his new duties on July 10 [1972]. |
Residence |
Jul 1972–Jun 1974 |
Forrest City, St. Francis, Arkansas, USA |
Residence |
Jun 1974–Aug 1980 |
Jonesboro, Craighead Co, Arkansas, USA |
Occupation |
Aug 1980–26 Dec 1981 |
Little Rock, Pulaski Co, Arkansas, USA |
Arkansas State office, Farmers Home Administration, Department of Agriculture, USA. |
Memorial Tombstone |
1992 |
Ashley Co, Arkansas, USA |
 |
Simeon Castleberry Foster Memorial Application for Standard Government Monument, VA Form 40-1330, was requested by Simeon's grandson, Harold E. Foster, on July 11, 1992. The stone was delivered to Mabelvale, Arkansas. Harold drove the stone down to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Ashley County, Arkansas, and met his brother, Morrell Fred Foster, the sexton of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. They placed their grandfather's memorial tombstone in the Foster family section of the cemetery. |
 |
Overview of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Ashley Co, Arkansas This view of the cemetery shows the location of the Foster family's tombstones in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Simeon Foster's memorial stone is in the center. |
Residence |
Aug 1980–Jul 2011 |
Mabelvale, Pulaski Co, Arkansas, USA |
Correspondence |
8 Nov 2013 |
Letter to a great-granddaughter, Tristen Wallace. |
 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
|
Residence |
Jul 2011–Nov 2015 |
Hope, Hempstead, Arkansas, USA |
Living with oldest son, H. Edward Foster Jr. |
Death |
30 Nov 2015 |
Hope, Hempstead, Arkansas, USA |
 |
Death Certificate # 2015027159 for Harold Edward Foster Sr. Date of Death: 30 Nov 2015, 12:17 p.m. Widowed. Age at death: 89. Cause of Death: End Stage Renal Failure. DOB: 23 Apr 1926, Mist, Arkansas. Residence at death, Heather Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation, 400 W 23rd St, Hope, Hempstead, Arkansas. Father: Jesse Harrison Foster. Mother: Cynthia Jane White. Informant's Name: Fred Foster, son, 8 Arcadia Cir, Bryant, AR 72022. Buried at Pinecrest Memorial Park, Alexander, Arkansas. |
Burial |
4 Dec 2015 |
Pinecrest Memorial Park, Saline Co, Arkansas, USA |
 |
Harold Edward Foster, Sr. Private First Class, US Army
World War II |
 |
Harold Edward & Leona Elizabeth (Sansing) Foster Harold was the son of Jesse Harrison & Cynthia Jane (White) Foster. Elizabeth was the daughter of Louis Elvin & Mattie Frank (Smith) Sansing. |
Person ID |
I2 |
My Genealogy |
Last Modified |
23 Aug 2023 |