Served in the Revolutionary War.James enlisted 17 May 1775 and served as a private in the Liberty Company of the Londonderry Volunteers. He also served as a private in the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment 1777-1781. He also spent time in a Virginia regiment and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

About 1782, James Foster moved his family to Washington County , Pennsylvania and became a pillar in this new community. He was one of the original trustees of the Canonsburg Academy, founded in 1791 with Dr. John McMillan as president, which later developed into Washington and Jefferson College and is now located in Washington, Pennsylvania.

It is James & Ann Foster who are the grandparents of Stephen Collin Foster (1826-1864), the composer of many American standard folk songs. Among others he wrote "Oh Susannah" in 1848 and "Old Folks at Home" in 1851. Stephen Foster died in New York City and is buried in Pennsylvania .

James Foster was one of the original elders of Chartiers Presbyterian Church, which now stands about two miles east of Canonsburg , Pennsylvania .

In 1797 after the death of his first wife, James married Phoebe Baldwin Dodd, the widow of Reverend Thaddeus Dodd of Washington County . She was the daughter of Caleb Baldwin.

On April 7, 1814 at the age of 76, James Foster died and was buried in the new Poland Cemetery , Poland , Ohio . He is buried in the family plot of the Struthers family. The last years of his life were spent with his daughter Mary who had married John Struthers.

http://www.lynnwright.com/AlexanderFoster.htm