author
Thomas Dove Foster
1847–1915
An English-born business leader who helped build John Morrell & Company into a major American meatpacking firm, he also became a generous civic figure in Ottumwa, Iowa. His life links immigrant ambition, industrial growth, and local philanthropy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
1 Audiobook
A Letter From the Fire: Being an Account of the Great Chicago Fire.
by Thomas Dove Foster
About the author
Born in Bradford, England, on November 25, 1847, Thomas Dove Foster came from the Morrell family behind the provisions business that became John Morrell & Company. As a young man he entered the family trade and was chosen to help manage the company’s growing American operations.
Foster moved to the United States and became a key leader of John Morrell & Company, with its headquarters in Ottumwa, Iowa. Sources describe him as a major figure in the meatpacking industry and note that he guided the firm’s American slaughtering and packing business during a period of expansion.
He was also remembered as an important civic benefactor in Ottumwa. Accounts of his life highlight his philanthropy as well as his standing in business, and he remained closely identified with the company and the city until his death on July 20, 1915.