Feb 03, 2018 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG) PART TWO
In Part One of this Persons of Note segment we introduced Dr. George M. Foster, who received medical training at McGill University and the Victoria Hospital in Montreal before arriving in Greenwood.
According to his biography in Gosnel's History of British Columbia[1], Dr. Foster served as the Coroner of Greenwood from 1901. But as noted in our last segment, he was already engaged in medical practice here in October 1900, when he performed the post mortem on Greenwood's first murder victim.
The earliest mention we find of Dr. Foster is in the form of a newspaper advertisement, announcing that in 1898, G. M. Foster, M.D., C.M., had offices over Miller's Drug Store in Cascade City. Even at that early date, the doctor was already serving Greenwood residents. On February 5, 1898, the Boundary Creek Times announced:[2]
"Dr. G. M. Foster arrived in Greenwood on Sunday. He has entered into a partnership with Dr. Jakes, whose practice has increased to such an extent that he found it necessary to secure assistance. Dr. Foster is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal. He is a native of Pembroke, Ont., and has renewed his acquaintance with the several Pembrokites who are now residents of the district."
That Dr. Jakes was overburdened by his work load is also apparent in this March 1898 report from the Times:[3]
"Dr. Jakes requested that another city health officer be appointed, as he would not be able to attend to the duties of that office. Dr. Foster was to be approached for the job. At the Mar 12th meeting [of Greenwood City Council], Jakes' resignation was accepted, and Foster was appointed to the post."
Dr. Foster's term as Health Officer was apparnetly short-lived, however. By September 1898, his resignation was also tendered.[4] Council declined to accept it, and we find no further mention of whether or not he actually resigned the position at that time, but also no record of his acting further in that capacity.
"Dr. Foster tendered his resignation to Council, as health officer. The resignation was not accepted, but a committee consisting of Mayor Wood and Ald. Phelan was appointed to interview the doctor on the matter."
A Council report[5] from October of that year mentions his travel to the new town of Niagara, just across the border, which was booming. Whether in the role of City Health Officer or otherwise, the doctor was still attending to medical duties in Greenwood:
"Dr. Foster called attention to the fact that a man was seriously ill at the Commercial hotel. He was without means and would require careful nursing. The doctor was instructed to care for the man at the expense of the council. This brought up the old question of the hospital and Mayor Wood and Ald. Phelan were appointed a committee to see Dr. Jakes about leasing the Greenwood hospital."
Just one week later, there was news of more change. On October 22nd, the Times reported:[6]
"Dr. Foster leaves to-morrow for Cascade City, where he has received an appointment as C.P.R. physician. The departure of Dr. Foster from Greenwood will be greatly regretted by a host of friends, but most especially by the members of the Five Finger Club, of which he has been a prominent member."
In Cascade that year, Dr. Foster attended to a man going by the alias of "Sullivan", who was shot while trying to break his friend out of a temporary jail cell in Cascade City.[7] But Foster's medical practice in Cascade was extremely short-lived. Just a month later, we find this announcement in the Times:[8]
"It is reported that Dr. Foster has received instructions to remove the hospital at Cascade to Greenwood. The grading from Cascade to Grand Forks is about completed, and as work is shortly to begin in this vicinity, the necessity for a hospital is apparent."
Given that medical men were in short supply in the late 1800's here in the Boundary, it's not surprising that railroad service would command high priority.
"It is now almost certain that railway construction will commence in the vicinity of Greenwood before the end of the year. The contractors are busy grading up to the Summit or within eight miles of Greenwood. Contracts on this side of the Summit will be let in a very short time. It is reported that the C.P. R. has come to the conclusion that the best policy is to build and the question of subsidy may come up afterwards. Dr. Foster, the company's physician at Cascade has received instructions to move to Greenwood in a very short time."[9]
During the era of rail building across the province, moving railroad hospitals was sometimes as simple as packing up the surgery's equipment and finding a new room to put it in. In the case of Greenwood, however, C.P.R. was to build a new structure:[10]
"Dr. G. M. Foster was in Greenwood on Saturday. The railway hospital for this section is to be erected in the next few weeks and Dr. Foster will be in charge. The location of the hospital is across the creek near the contractors' warehouse, and the building will be 75 feet by 28 feet. W. Ferris has charge of the work."
In March of 1899, the doctor moved into offices in the Barrett building, where he presumably took care of the business side of his position as in-charge of the C.P.R. hospital. At that time there were one or two patients staying in the hospital itself.
Unfortunately, by summer of 1899, George Foster was himself a patient, having come down with an illness that affected many in the region:
"Dr. G. M. Foster is rather seriously ill with fever. He was removed on Monday to the Greenwood Hospital where he is receiving every attention from Drs. Jake and Oppenheimer and the hospital staff."[11]
After a month of convalescence, the Times reported that he and another important man of the town were back on their feet:
"Dr. G. M. Foster and F. Lewis of the Bank of B.N.A., have fully recovered from their recent illness." [12]
In late 1899, Dr. Foster entered his second professional partnership here (the first having been with Dr. Jakes). The Times reported[13] that Foster went into practice with Dr. R. B. Boucher, who had been acting as surgeon on one of the C.P.R. Pacific liners. Boucher, who had previously been a resident surgeon in the Montreal General Hospital, would reside in Phoenix.
As work on the railroad progressed, completion dates for the various lines had a direct impact on the work plans of local attending physicians.
"Owing to the delay in commencing the Phoenix branch, Dr. Foster has decided not to take up the railway medicine work but to continue practice in the City. He will be found in his old office in the Naden-Flood block."[14]
By the following year, Dr. Foster's focus had shifted from that of railrway physician to the office of Coroner.
"George May Foster, of the City of Greenwood, Esquire, M.D., CM., to be a Coroner for the Province of British Columbia during the absence of Dr. R. W. Jakes from the said city."[15]
By September of 1903, Foster had also been named District Coroner. He served in this position for two years, until the announcement that "A. S. Black of Greenwood has been appointed coroner in place of Dr. G. M. Foster, resigned." [16]
In fact, it appears that Dr. Foster may have been considering a move out of the Boundary region just before his resignation as Coroner. A September 1905 report in the Similkameen Star said, "Dr. Foster of Greenwood arrived in town today on his way to Nicola where he may locate."[17]
No longer serving as District Coroner, Dr. Foster did not resign his post as Provincial Coroner until January 1906. However, neither resignation resulted in the doctor's departure from Greenwood:
"The many friends of Dr. G. M. Foster in the district will be pleased to learn that he has decided to resume practice in Greenwood. He will be found in the old offices, Naden-Flood Block."[18]
Dr. Foster's continued support of medical service for Greenwood is also reflected in a Times announcement from January 1906[19], in which the Sisters of the Sacred Heart Hospital thanked those who had donated to the hospital, including Drs. Foster, Oppenheimer and Spankie together, who had contributed surgical instruments, appliances and furniture for the operating room.
Over more than a decade of medical service to the Greenwood community, Dr. Foster attended a great many medical emergencies, from repairing thumbs split by an axe to digging bullets out of shooting victims. He attended the injured and dead, including many miners at the Greenwood smelter, at Motherlode, and at the Phoenix mines. From suicides to accidental drownings in Jewel Lake, from 'coroner on the scene' to administering subsequent inquests, Dr. Foster presided over a great many unfortunate situations.[20]
Strangely enough, one incident took place on a C.P.R. train, long after Dr. Foster has resigned his post as railroad physician:[21]
"Brakeman Matheson of the C.P.R. met with an accident at Farron, causing the loss of a leg. Dr. Foster of Greenwood, who was a passenger on the train going east, attended to him."
In a similar turn, Dr. Foster had occasion in 1901 to come to the aid of a fellow physician. He attended to the care of his colleague, Dr. R. B. White of Camp McKinney, who had gotten Typhoid. They traveled together to Vernon hospital, where Dr. White could receive proper care.
There are many reports in historic local papers about the cooperation between the Boundary area's medical men. In February of 1903,[22] local resident A. E. Ashcroft became so ill that a surgeon from Spokane had to be called in. The specialist was assisted by local Drs. Foster, Schon, Gordon and Spankie. The surgery was a success, and the patient enjoyed a rapid recovery.
In 1905, Drs. Foster, Spankie and Gordon attended together on an appendectomy. That same year, Dr. Foster gave an address at a fundraiser, in favour of providing ambulance service for Greenwood and adjacent camps.[23]
The community of physicians in Greenwood and the Boundary not only worked tirelessly on behalf of the citizens, but also lent one another daily support. Dr. Foster took over duties at the hospital for Dr. Jakes while he was on holiday, and saw to the needs of his patients. When Dr. Foster went on a two-week holiday to the coast, Dr. Shone took his place. Foster filled-in as Coroner of Grand Forks, spotting for Dr. Kingston, and Dr. Newcombe of Midway stayed as a guest at the Imperial hotel, looking after Dr. Foster's practice in his absence, in 1907.
While many of Dr. Foster's holidays were quite short, he took one long leave of absence in 1905, apparently touring with his sister, as noted in a Times social column:[24]
"Wednesday evening last a farewell dance was given to Dr. and Miss Foster on the eve of their departure. On Thursday morning they left for the East. The doctor expects to be away three months, during which time he will visit China and Japan, and possibly Australia."
Family & Social Life
As noted in the Gosnel biography, Dr. Foster's political leanings were conservative. He was a member of Greenwood Lodge, No. 28, A. F, & A. M., and he and Dr. Spankie were brothers in the Greenwood Aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Having been raised in Pembroke, Ontario, his family connections there find mention in social columns over the years. In August 1900, Dr. Foster returned to visit his old home in the East. His father, A. Foster, visited with him in Vancouver. He mother also came from Pembroke to Greenwood, and the two of them visited Vancouver together. Mrs. Foster also had friends in the city, including Mrs. J. E. McAllister, who she stayed with on one occasion while also visiting her son.
In fact, J. E. McAllister was an old friend of Dr. Foster's. In 1904, "Dr. Edwards of Dawson was a visitor to the city last week the guest of J. E. McAllister an old friend. He was also entertained by Drs. Foster and Oppenheimer two college classmates in old McGill."[25]
Among the 1905 family visits were the doctor's sister — "Miss Foster of Pembroke, Ont., is spending the summer with her brother, Dr. Geo. M. Foster of Greenwood." — and a visit from his brother-in-law, James Findlay, of Calgary.
Among other civic activities, Dr. Foster was elected as an officer of the Greenwood Board of Trade in April 1903.
George Foster, M.D. did not confine his professional activities to the world of medicine. He was also a businessman, and an active investor in local mining interests. As the Gosnel biography noted, "Dr. Foster is interested in mining, having made judicious investment along this line."
In March 1899, a small nterest in the London Mine was transferred to George M. Foster by W. S. Keith. The following month, he acquired a 25% interest in the Hanover mine, transferred to him by C. L. Werner.
In 1900, Dr. Foster became one of a group of owners of Bolster Improvement Co., developers of the townsite at Myers Creek. He was joined in this endeavour by two of the partners of Russell-Law-Caulfield Company — William M. Law and J. J. Caulfield.
In 1901, Dr. Foster filed a notice of improvement for his Crown claim on Smith's Camp. 1906 was apparently one of his busiest years in the mining field, with numerous claims filed for Deadwood Camp and Wallace Mountain.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A History of British Columbia by R. Edward Gosnell (1906)
[7] Ghost Towns & Mining Camps of the Boundary Country by Garnet Basque, p. 137
[20] Boundary Creek Times — Feb 19, 1899; Nov 04, 1899; Feb 21, 1901, Sep 6, 1901, Nov 27, 1903
