1810 - George Pratt Foster was born 12 Apr 1810, Attleboro, Mass. of George and Eunice Foster; George's middle name Pratt was his paternal grandmother's maiden name.

1831 - George marries in Attleboro on 1 Dec 1831, Fanny Moore, b. 15 Aug 1814 in Attleboro of Joel Moore & Molly Bourne.

1843 - George P. Foster, gunsmith, machinist & pattern maker appears in Taunton, Ma. newspaper "Bristol County Democrat", Dec 29, 1843.

1850 - Fed. census: George P. Foster - Bristol Cnty, Taunton, Ma., pg. 156

1860 - Prov. directory,  George P. Foster, foreman, Bristol Fire Arms Co., Eddy, h. 236 Pine St.; also a George F. Foster, Bristol Fire Arms Co., bds. 236 Pine St.

1860 - Fed. census: closest match is a George B. Foster, Prov. Ctny, RI, 6th ward (to be checked)

1865 - RI State census: (to be checked)

1870 - Fed. census - no entries at ancestry.com for any George Foster (possible that Ancestry.com does not have index yet for 1870)

1874 - George P. Foster dies;  Mass. Probate records; will of George P. Foster of Leichester, Worc. Cnty., Mass.

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SUMMARY  

    Although George P. Foster was foremost a very talented gunsmith and machinist, it appears he was a skilled woodworker as well. In the 1843 Taunton advertisement posted, he mentions making patterns for castings which would have been very exacting work . It has been brought to our attention that there is at least one other plane stamped only G.P.Foster, which we have neither located nor examined.  We also have documents establishing a relationship between George P. Foster and Samuel Cummings which will be added to this page at some point. It is also our opinion that in all probability, this is the same Foster whose "Rifling Machine" was made exclusively by William T. Nicholson. (see Nicholson File Co. / W. T. Nicholson Ad) G. P. Foster has been included under our RI planemakers for lack of a better category at this point in time.