September 16, 2026 Submitted By Geri Duff
William L. Foster was first elected to the Board of Hingham Selectmen in 1905 and served continuously in that office until his retirement in 1945 at the age of 80.
On top of that for a time (in 1906) he served on the Board of Assessors and the Board of Public Welfare and earned a living as the second treasurer of the Hingham Co-operative Bank and was a corporate officer of the Hingham Institution for Savings.
Mrs. Charles Howard said in 1951 that “One of the most outstanding characteristics of William L. Foster was his courage in accepting the challenge of his infirmities.
Crippled by increasing arthritis when a young and vigorous man, just getting established in business, many people would have succumbed to invalidism and led a secluded life. He was crippled in his body but never disabled in his mind. His infirmities were a challenge, as he entered a life to serve his native Town he loved so well.”
In his spare time, he took it upon himself to index the records of town meetings from 1635 to 1945 which He presented to the town in two volumes that represented 310 years of records, typewritten.
He must have loved this task dearly because he typed each letter using a pencils gripped in his crippled hands. The photograph is from the Hingham Historical Society.