The Murder of Lt. Foster and His Frock Coat

In the Generations Gallery, you can get lost in all the stories and artifacts between the mastodon and the 1908 Holsman Car. But the stories untold in the exhibit are even more remarkable. There is one storied blue military coat tucked in a drawer in the Exposed Collections wall. The story of the coat owner's fate is captivating. 

Painting of Fort Howard from 1889 by B. Ostertac

189 years ago, Lt. Amos Foster was shot and killed by one of his own soldiers, Private Patrick Doyle.   In February 1832, Doyle was detained in the guardhouse for being drunk and disorderly.   Alcohol consumption was a real problem at Fort Howard, especially since part of the soldier’s rations included two gills of whiskey or rum (the equivalent of four shots today).   After a few days, on February 7, 1832, Doyle persuaded a guard to escort him to Lt. Foster’s quarters to talk to him.  After harsh words and a scuffle, Doyle stole the guard’s musket and killed Lt. Foster.  Doyle was immediately arrested.  He was tried and sentenced to death in July of 1832.  It is said Doyle was hanged outside the stockade wall of the fort for all to see.

Entry point of the bullet that killed Lt. Foster

My big question when I started to look at the coat more closely was how do we know?  How do we know what happened and the supposed words exchanged between Lt. Foster and Doyle?  How do we know this was Lt. Foster’s coat?  After I started pulling at this thread I found there is far more to this story than has been told.  After digging through historical documents, different stories of the incident were revealed.  Interesting tales of Doyle’s time while he was incarcerated and even a ghostly haunting of the officer’s quarters are mentioned in people’s memoirs. 

Beyond historical documents, the coat itself can tell you another part of the story.  It reveals Lt. Foster’s role in society while he wore it (a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry based on the coat construction and rank insignia).  It can also share insight to his early demise.  We can clearly see where the bullet entered and exited.  We can see loss of wool from blood staining.  It is also probable the surgeon at the time, Dr. Clement Finely, tried to get at the wounds quickly.   The bottom 7 buttons appear to have been cut off, probably because they were buttoned at the time of the murder.

The coat Lt. Foster was wearing when he was murdered on February 7, 1832

In the old exhibit “On the Edge of the Inland Sea” the real coat was not on exhibit, instead there was a pristine replica.  Why would we not put the real thing out?  The coat has been through a lot!  It has been through 19th century Wisconsin winters, a gunshot, blood stains, and several years in an attic in Texas.  When we were in the initial stages of redesigning the gallery, we knew we wanted to display the real thing.  We were able to do this safely in a drawer in the Exposed Collections wall of the Generations Gallery.  By being in a drawer it’s protected from constant light exposure and damage that can happen when historic textiles are exhibited on mannequins for a long period of time. 

There is so much more we can and will share about this special artifact, but nothing beats seeing the real thing. 

Lisa Kain

Curator

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From the Education Department: National Jewel Day

Image
Today is National Jewel Day, and among our collection at the Neville Public Museum, we have this lovely amethyst gemstone courtesy of Robert Berndt.  While always having a purple appearance, the color of amethyst stones can greatly differ. It can vary from a pale lavender to a vivid reddish violet. With such contrasting colors and being such a plentiful gemstone, amethyst’s value depends on its hue. The more vibrant the stone appears indicates a higher price that it can sell for.  Even though its worth is based on its appearance now, that was not always the case. Ancient Greeks and Romans associated amethyst with warding off drunkenness since both societies believed that the stone was discovered by their god of wine. Ancient Egyptians centered amethyst even more than the other two cultures, though; they created amethyst amulets to bring them closer to the divine and to protect them against harm. They also carved jewelry out of amethyst. Even though the designs were originally ...
Read more

From the Education Department: National Lace Day

Image
February 3 rd is National Lace Day, and here at the Neville Public Museum, we have a lot to celebrate. Lace was first developed in Europe during the 1500s, and two methods of lace making formed simultaneously: needle lace (using a single needle and thread) and bobbin lace (intertwining many threads). Initially, it was made of linen before transitioning to silk and metallic gold threads. In the 1800s, though, lace makers turned to cotton, which is what is currently used. During the 16 th century, lace would often be named after the region it was made in. Even though lace was made all throughout Europe, Italy, France, and Flanders (modern-day Belgium) established themselves as the leading centers for lace making. The finest lace was created by three specialists: an artist who created the designs, the pattern maker who put the designs onto parchment, and the lace maker who made the lace itself. All the effort that went into creating the lace was the reason it was seen as the most treasu...
Read more

From the Education Department: National Fragrance Day

Image
Perfumes and fragrances have been culturally significant for millennia to get us where we are today: celebrating national fragrance day. The first record of perfume dates back to the second millennium BC in Mesopotamia when it was invented by a chemist named Tapputi. In Ancient Egypt, perfume was a staple used to flash one’s wealth as it could only be accessed by the wealthy. Because of its significance, the Egyptians had a god of perfume, Nefertem. He was often depicted with water lilies, which were commonly used in perfume. Queens held perfume dear, not only using it to create a pleasant aroma, but they would also be entombed with a bottle. While Egypt and many other ancient nations saw perfume as a symbol of wealth, the Ancient Chinese would incorporate it into their daily lives, scenting their ink, stationary, homes, and places of worship.   They also would use it for disinfection and purity, believing that it could rid a room of disease although it was primarily used simply fo...
Read more