John Lee Foister

Life and Orange County connections

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1. about 1898 Chapel Hill forms a volunteer fire company with two borrowed hand reels Chapel Hill's volunteer fire company was formed with druggist E. S. Merritt as chief and two hand reels and a few hundred feet of light hose lent by the University, kept first in a shed behind the express office and then in the basement of the old Central Hotel. S. W. Andrews soon succeeded Merritt, a horse-drawn hook and ladder wagon came about six years later under W. W. Pickard, and John L. Foister became chief on Pickard's death in 1910. People: W. W. (Walter W.) Pickard, Samuel Weldon Andrews, John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), October 6, 1921, p. 1
2. 1910 or 1911 John L. Foister becomes chief of the Chapel Hill fire company After the death of chief W. W. Pickard, Chapel Hill's volunteer fire company chose John L. Foister, a member since 1903, as its chief. He held the post until his death in 1932. People: W. W. (Walter W.) PickardSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News (Chapel Hill), October 6, 1921, p. 1 (Chapel Hill Fire Fighters)
3. 1915 The Chapel Hill fire company buys a Ford fire truck and moves to Columbia Street The volunteer fire company added a Ford fire truck and extra hose and moved its quarters to Columbia Street, where a telephone alarm system and gong were installed with the truck. It had earlier kept its equipment at the old school building near Cobb Terrace and then on the site of Eubanks drug store. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), October 6, 1921, p. 1
4. January 10, 1919 The University faculty thanks Chief John L. Foister's firemen after the fraternity row fire The day after fire destroyed three fraternity houses, the University faculty unanimously resolved to thank the Chapel Hill fire department. Its secretary, Walter D. Toy, wrote to Chief John L. Foister that the library and many nearby buildings had been in immediate danger and that the loss would have been much greater without the firemen.Search the index · DigitalNC: The News (Chapel Hill), January 16, 1919, p. 4 (To The Chapel Hill Firemen)
5. August 22-25, 1921 Chapel Hill's volunteer firemen win prizes at the state tournament and their chief is elected a state officer Chapel Hill's volunteer firemen competed at the State Firemen's Association meeting and tournament at Gastonia, August 22 to 25, winning a first and a second in the races and $225 in prizes, and the association elected their chief, John L. Foister, first vice president. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), September 1, 1921, p. 3
6. by October 6, 1921 Chapel Hill's new motor pumper fire truck arrives A motor-driven American La France fire truck, bought jointly by the town and the University for about $12,500, arrived in Chapel Hill and was to be kept in the new brick fire house on Columbia Street. The twenty men of the volunteer company under Chief John L. Foister were to put the triple-combination truck into service the following week. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), October 6, 1921, p. 1
7. December 16, 1921 Town officials present the new fire truck and fire station to Chapel Hill's volunteer firemen At a banquet at the fire station given by Chief John L. Foister and the firemen for the town officials and University heads, the officials formally presented the new fire truck and new fire station to the fire company. Mayor W. S. Roberson, President H. W. Chase and Louis Graves spoke, and the domestic science department of the Chapel Hill school prepared the dinner. People: W. S. Roberson, Harry Woodburn Chase, Louis Graves, John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), December 22, 1921, p. 5
8. by December 7, 1922 Chapel Hill firemen send $50 to New Bern's fire victims Answering a relief call from the chief of New Bern's fire department after the great fire there burned some 700 homes and left 3,000 people homeless, the members of the Chapel Hill fire department under Chief John L. Foister gave $50, and townspeople sent money and clothing besides. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), December 7, 1922, p. 1
9. by September 11, 1925 Work begins on a new Orange County jail across the street from the Hillsborough courthouse Work began on a new county jail just east of the courthouse and across the street, a brick building of Colonial design with a columned porch, jailer's quarters in front and cells behind, with white and Black, men and women, and juveniles kept apart. The cost with land and equipment was put at about $65,000, to be met by bonds, and the old jail and the small town hall were to be torn down. People: Alexander H. "Sandy" Graham, John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1925, p. 1
10. September 16, 1929 Chapel Hill aldermen refuse to rezone Pittsboro Street for fraternities and apartments After a public hearing on September 16, the aldermen voted unanimously against moving the Pittsboro Street blocks between McCauley Street and West University Drive out of the residence zone into the zone that admits fraternity houses and apartments. Owners led by J. L. Foister had petitioned for the change to raise land values; neighbors led by A. M. Jordan argued that they meant to keep living there. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 20, 1929, p. 1
11. May 15, 1930 Chapel Hill firemen receive state service certificates at their hut At a party at the firemen's hut in the Morgan's Creek valley, J. L. Miller of the North Carolina Firemen's Association awarded service certificates to thirteen Chapel Hill firemen, led by Chief John L. Foister and J. W. Huskey with 26 years each. S. W. Andrews, who had organized the town's first fire company, recalled the struggles of the early fire fighters. People: Samuel Weldon Andrews, John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 23, 1930, p. 3
12. by January 30, 1931 John Johnson serves as the only Black member of the Chapel Hill fire company The Weekly reported that John Johnson, a bricklayer and son of Rev. Andrew Johnson of the medical school's janitorial staff, had been taken into the Chapel Hill fire company as a full member after years of unpaid help at fires, the only Black member of a white fire company in North Carolina by the paper's account. Chief John Foister found nothing in the company's by-laws limiting membership by race; Johnson had first helped the firemen when the Black school building burned about ten years before. People: John Lee FoisterSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 30, 1931, p. 4