 He was born in Newfane, Vermont in 1817, the son of Sewell Foster, and settled near Waterloo in Lower Canada with his parents in 1822.He worked with his uncle in New England as a railway contractor from 1837 to 1852.He then returned to Waterloo, becoming a merchant and continued to work on railways, including the South Eastern Counties Junction Railway, the Canada Central Railway and the Brockville and Ottawa Railway.