Claud Hanscomb FOSTER[1, 2]  1872 - 1965

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• Birth	23 Dec 1872	Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Jun 1965	Bellevue, Sandusky, Ohio
  Person ID	I9	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	16 Jan 2007 12:30:15
  Father	George N. FOSTER, b. Oct 1845, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio
  Mother	Julia A. SHAFER, Wells?, b. Apr 1854
  Family ID	F8	Group Sheet
  Family 1	Emma SCHULTZ, b. Dec 1873
  Married	2 May 1894
  Children	> 1. Earl Frank FOSTER, b. 15 Apr 1895, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio
  Family ID	F11	Group Sheet
  Family 2	Lounetta May KELLY, b. 11 Sep 1886, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio
  Married	24 Jul 1905	Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio
  Children	1. Daniel K. FOSTER
  Family ID	F12	Group Sheet

• Photos		Foster, Claud Hanscomb
  		Foster, Claud Hanscomb Photo probably taken in his late teens when he played in an orchestra.
  Headstones		Foster, Claud Hanscomb (1872-1965) Status: Located. Sec 22
  Histories		Invitation to the "Old Folks Ball" in Brooklyn Village (Front side) The Ball was held at the new Memorial Hall of the Brooklyn Post 368 of the G.A.R. on Feb 21st, 1890. Note that music was provided by "Foster's Band". This is most likely the group that Ebenezer Foster's grandson, Claude Hanscomb Foster, belonged to. It would have consisted of Claude, his father, George N. Foster, one of his brothers, and maybe others.
  		Invitation to the "Old Folks Ball" in Brooklyn Village (Back) The Ball was held at the new Memorial Hall of the Brooklyn Post 368 of the G.A.R. on Feb 21st, 1890. Note that music was provided by "Foster's Band". This is most likely the group that Ebenezer Foster's grandson, Claude Hanscomb Foster, belonged to. It would have consisted of Claude, his father, George N. Foster, one of his brothers, and maybe others.
  		Invitation to the "Old Folks Ball" in Brooklyn Village (Inside - showing type of music played) The Ball was held at the new Memorial Hall of the Brooklyn Post 368 of the G.A.R. on Feb 21st, 1890. Note that music was provided by "Foster's Band". This is most likely the group that Ebenezer Foster's grandson, Claude Hanscomb Foster, belonged to. It would have consisted of Claude, his father, George N. Foster, one of his brothers, and maybe others.

• Notes

  BIOGRAPHY: FOSTER, CLAUD HANSCOMB (23 Dec. 1872-21 June 1965), automotive inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, was born in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn to George and Julia Wells Foster. In 1891, he opened a machine shop, playing the trombone for 11 years in the Euclid Ave. Opera House orchestra to support his business. In 1896, Foster became an automobile dealer, selling the Cleveland-built General, in 1900 also acquiring Peerless and Ajax automobile agencies. Foster developed the Gabriel Horn, a multitone automobile horn powered by exhaust gases, starting the successful Gabriel Co. in 1904. Foster then patented his "Snubber" automotive shock absorber in 1914, capitalizing its production at $1 million. From 1920-25, the Gabriel Co. earned annual profits of more than $1 million, selling 75% of all shock absorbers marketed in the world. Foster developed an employee profit-sharing incentive program, between 1917-25 paying his employees more than $600,000 in addition to their salaries. He sold the Gabriel Co. in 1925 to Otis & Co. for $4 million, only half the company's evaluated price, and remaining the company's chairman 1928. Known as the "Doctor of Car Riding," Foster was often consulted by manufacturers when new car models developed riding difficulties. Throughout his career, Foster made numerous large anonymous gifts to hospitals and charitable institutions. On 22 July 1952, he announced to the heads of 16 educational and charitable institutions that he was dividing the bulk of his wealth, almost $4 million, among them. Married to Emma Schultz on 2 May 1894, Foster had 2 sons, Earl and Daniel. Foster is buried in RIVERSIDE Cemetery. ----------------- Gabriel Snubbers -- This consisted of a housing that contained a belt wound into a coil. It was kept under tension by a spring. The housing was fastened to the frame and the outer end of the belt was attached to the axle to limit the degree of rebound from a jolt.l Co. started operation in 1906 making accessory auto horns. The founder, Claude H. Foster, named his firm after the horn-tooting angel Gabriel. When the pushbutton horn came along in 1914, it killed the Gabriel and all other body-mounted horns. Foster looked for a product to keep his company in business and came across the Snubber. --------------------- Claud H. Foster loved to tinker with things. He loved to put things together and take things apart. He did this well with automobiles, except for one thing: the horn. So he decided to invent a fool-proof horn using the concept of a trombone, calling it "Gabriel's Horn." He started the Gabriel Company from $1,500 he had saved up. The time came when he decided to retire. An investment firm offered him $10 million for the company. But he knew if he took their bid, a lot of stock holders in his company would lose their money. He also knew that because of some expiring patents, it wasn't worth that much money. He said this, "Over the years I have come to realize that nothing we earn, none of the things we accumulate belongs to us. While on this earth we are merely stewards or trustees for God's resources." So Mr. Foster decided to sell his company for the fairer price of $4 million. He had such joy and peace doing that, that he decided to do something else. He threw a big party with his friends who worked in an orphanage and in a hospital. Then that night he gave the $4 million dollars away. He said he has never regretted it, and has found great peace and thankfulness in his life just thinking about it. He said it was "the best party I ever had." There is a joy and peace that comes in giving to others. ---http://www.gtpres.org/Sermons%202001/011118sermon.htm --------------------- During the 1910's and 1920's, prominent Willowick landowners included J.C. Gilchrist whose property was north of Lake Shore Boulevard between East 288th and East 293rd Streets; William Flood, who played an important role in the incorporation of Willowick as a village; Claude Foster who had property north of Lake Shore and east of Willough beach Park (he invented the Gabriel car horn and Snubbers shock absorbers); and the Lindus Cody family whose property ran north and south of Lake Shore, bordered on the east by East 317th Street and on the west by the intersection of Vine and Lake Shore. --------------------- During the administration of Dr. Edward Hodnett, 1948-1951, Fenn constructed Foster Hall, an engineering building financed by a donation by Cleveland entrepreneur Claude Foster -------------------- Foster, Claude H. b. December 23, 1872 d. June 21, 1965 Known as the "Doctor of Car Riding", he was the inventor of "Snubber" shock absorbers and the "Gabriel" auto horn. A pioneer in automotives, an industrialist and a philanthropist, he gave generously to hospitals and charitable institutions. He was one of the first industrialist to develop an employee profit-sharing incentive program. (Bio by: Joyce Ellsworth ) Claud Foster Park, near Case Western Reserve University's Thwing Center in University Circle. BURIAL: Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA Plot: Section 22 RESIDENCES: 1900 - 309 Jennings Road, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio (city directory and 1900 Census) Mgr Foster Cycle Co. Living with in-laws. 1910 - 1561 E108th Street OBIT: Name: Foster, Claude H. Date: Jun 24 1965 Source: Plain Dealer; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #109. Notes: Foster. Claude H. Foster, father of Earl F., grandfather of William E. of Elyria, O., and Donald R. of Fullerton, Calif., great-grandfather of eight, June 21. Friends may call at The Fairhill Home of The Millard Son & Raper Co., Fairhill at East Blvd. Funeral service at The Old Stone Church, Public Square, Thursday, June 24, at 2 p. m. It is suggested contributions be made to The Crippled Children's Hospital of American Cancer Fund.

• Sources

  [S12] [BOOK] Claud Foster - A Biography, Thomasson, Wayman, (Privately printed: Fenn College 1949, 78 pgs.), TA140.F67 T35 1949x.. Details some of his childhood growing up on the farm of his grandfather, Ebenezer, and his father, George. [S2333] Lieut. Herman Rowlee (1746-1818) and his descendants, Willard Winfield Rowlee, (Ithaca, New York, 1907), page 70.