A strong believer in organization and progress, he played instrumental roles in the merger of two large Texas Baptist conventions, and Baylor University's move to Waco.

[1] Foster was the youngest Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives at the time of his election to the office at the age of 33.

His father Joseph sided with the Confederacy, eventually becoming Captain in the 22nd Georgia Infantry Regiment of the confederate army,[5] and was captured during the Battle of Gettysburg.

He labored as a brick mason and cotton picker before saving enough money to afford to attend Waco University.

[12] During his term as president of the press association, Foster and Charles E. Gilbert purchased the Dallas Herald on June 7, 1886.

An 1885 biography of Foster notes[2]From obscurity and poverty he struggled up the rugged heights to distinction and a place in the hearts of his colleagues in the legislature, his constituents and the people of the Lone Star State.

By industry, economy and firmness of purpose, he has gained a competency; built himself a home, and properly utilized and developed the intellect which God has given him.

The lives of such men as the distinguished Speaker of the Nineteenth Legislature, contain a moral that the most ignorant man may read and one that should stimulate the young men of Texas, who thirst for the laurels that crown the brow of successful merit, to earnest and untiring effort.

[22][23] He was the railroad commissioner until 1895, when he became the vice president and general manager of the Velasco Terminal Railway.

Foster became an unordained minister[3]: 24  at the First Baptist Church, which he helped found in Groesbeck[24] in 1873, the same year he moved to town.

Twin sisters Mary and Sophie Hutson, and Emma Watkins Fountain, the daughters of professors, were the first females to enroll at the college nearly half a century before it became coeducational.

[11] The 1903 Long Horn, a student year book published by the seniors of A&M, dedicated the first edition to Foster.

[6] In 1887, he was described as standing "about six feet tall, straight and slight in person, with a finely chisled face, the lower part of which is hidden by a thick, black beard, worn at moderate length.

[4][12] He was initially buried on the grounds of Texas A&M, the only president to have been so,[32] where his funeral was attended by Governor Sayers[38] and Oscar H. Cooper, among others.

[32] In 1939, his grave was moved to the historic Texas A&M Cemetery that was once located on the corner of Luther Street and Marion Pugh Drive in order to make room for the Duncan Dining Hall.