A. Lawrence Foster

Abel Lawrence Foster (September 17, 1802 – May 21, 1877) was a 19th Century American lawyer who served one term as a United States Representative from New York from 1841 to 1843.

[9] After the Civil War he returned to Fairfax, and was appointed one of three U.S. Tax Commissioners for the northern part of the state after Virginia was readmitted to the Union.

[10] In this capacity he was responsible for the sale to the federal government of the Robert E. Lee estate, which is now Arlington National Cemetery.

[12] In the 1890s, his heirs petitioned Congress to compensate them nearly $29,000 (over $712,000 in 2009) for Foster's property and supplies that were used by the Union Army or destroyed by the Confederacy.

In the early 1900s the United States Court of Claims authorized partial payment to resolve the case.