John Wells Foster, an American geologist and archaeologist, born at Brimfield, Mass., in 1815, died in Chicago, June 29, 1873. He graduated at Wesleyan university, Middletown, Conn., in 1835, and one year later removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar. He assisted in the geological survey of the state of Ohio, begun in 1837, and made a report on the central district, with a detailed section of the carboniferous limestone near Columbus, to the uppermost bed of coal near Wheeling. This was the first section ever made through the Ohio coal field. In 1845 he visited the Lake Superior copper region in the interest of several mining companies, and two years later was an assistant in the government survey of that territory. He was associated in this work with Prof. J. D. Whitney, and after 1849 the completion of the survey was left to them. "Foster and Whitney's Report on the Lake Superior Region," published by congress, is still the highest authority on this subject. He subsequently resided in Massachusetts a few years, and in 1855 was a candidate for congress in the 10th district.

In 1858 he removed to Chicago. During his geological expeditions he collected a vast amount of matter not strictly pertinent to the task in hand, which he compiled and published under the title of "The Mississippi Valley (8vo, Chicago and London. 18G9). He also spent much time in studying the mounds and other evidences of ancient races in the Mississippi valley, and the result of his discoveries and speculations was given in his " Pre-Historic Races of the United States (Chicago, 1873). He was a frequent contributor of scientific papers to periodical literature, and published several monographs on American ethnology and antiquities.