Thomas Wilfred ("Wilf") Foster was born on september 25, 1884 near Dundalk in Grey County, Ontario, the son of John Thomas Foster and Christina Rutherfordi. This couple, their nine sons and two daughters moved to Algoma District before 1901 to take up farming.
Like many young men at the time, T. W. Foster seems to have been caught up in the fervor created by the discovery of silver riches in the Cobalt mining camp. At the age of 21, T. W. Foster moved to the area and obtained a prospector's license dated July 31, 1902ii. Although he made a canoe trip to Gowganda in 1907 in pursuit of the new silver discoveries there, Wilf soon abandoned his career as a prospector and partnered with W. H. Wilson in operating a general merchandise store in Haileybury.
On January 20, 1909 in Haileybury, T. W. Foster married Mary Greer, a native of Philadelphia, USAiii. T. W. Foster and W. H. Wilson opened a hardware store in the new bustling town of Golden City (now Porcupine). Brother T. W. Foster was elected on April 18, 1912 to become the first Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge in Porcupine. Two years after a devastating fire that swept through Porcupine in 1911, W. H. Wilson moved the store to Timmins and he later became Timmins' first mayor. At that time, the foster family moved to the new gold camp located in Kirkland Lake.
On the Teck-Hughes mine property, T. W. Foster and Reuben "Yacht" Campbell opened a general merchandise store, initially with wooden walls and a tent roof and later in a nearby two story building. Wilf applied to and was appointed as Kirkland Lake's first postmaster on February 16, 1914iv. The mail was delivered using a horse drawn wagon. On February 25, 1914, T. W. Foster was also appointed Kirkland Lake's first Police Magistratev.
Later, after Foster and Campbell dissolved their partnership, Wilf continued the store and re-located it to a more central location at the southwest corner of Government Rd. and Goodfish Rd. (now called Prospect Ave). The Korman building would be built on this site in 1936 and was the location of the United Cigar Store for many years.
T. W. Foster was an avid photographer and he captured his adventures through northern Ontario and his growing family. Sadly, T. W. Foster contracted pulmonary tuberculosis in 1917, moved briefly to Toronto and died there on June 23, 1920vi.
Thomas Wilfred Foster was one of the first merchants in Kirkland Lake's gold camp, and the camp's first magistrate and first postmaster, all before the age of 35 years. He exemplifies the grit, determination and drive found in many of the early founders of this gold camp.
His widow, Mary Foster lived for more than six decades in Toronto after the death of her husband raising five children and having a successful career in the insurance industry. She ensured that the stories of their journeys through northern Ontario were passed down to her children and grandchildren. Her grandson, John Weatherburn is the current family custodian of the T. W. Foster collection of pictures and photographic negatives. Mr. Weatherburn has kindly loaned this collection to the Museum of Northern History where digital scans have been made and added to the museum's collection.