Elizabeth Foster

John Foster's parents were Thomas Foster Jr. (1600-1682) and Elizabeth Whitmore Foster (1618-1695), in all likelihood both young English emigrants. About Thomas's origins, there is little question. It has been established by family historians that he and his brother arrived on the ship Hercules around 1635 (thanks to Ann Hardy for this) as part of the Massachussetts Bay Colony. In the 1630s there were only a few thousand colonists in New England. The settlers of Plymouth, the first colony; the inhabitants of Weymouth, the second colony; and a new influx of the larger Bay Colony, with the majority of these arriving from England around 1635. Other than native Americans, there was no one else.

As for Elizabeth Whitmore, records indicating that she was "born in Weymouth, Massachussetts in 1618" are almost surely in error. It is possible that Elizabeth could have been born on American soil in 1618, a child of the earliest Plymouth colonists, but she could not have been born in Weymouth, Massachussetts, as even its precursor, the Wessagusset settlement, did not exist until 1622. It is perhaps most probable that, like Thomas Jr., she was one of the 1635 Bay Company colonists (totaling no more than a few hundred). If so, she would have been just 17 at the time of the crossing.

In any case, Elizabeth Whitmore and Thomas Foster, Jr., were married in Braintree, Mass. in 1638. Elizabeth was 20 and Thomas Jr. was 38. Four years later, their son John was born in Weymouth (almost certainly where Thomas and Elizabeth lived).

Elizabeth Whitmore Baptized on 6 Jan 1604 at Wombourn, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JSY5-BB8