Our history dates back to the 1800s. Our recorded beginnings started with Thornton and Annie Foster and Joe Thomas Wiley and Louvenia Rachel Wiley. The Fosters were Baptist and the Wyleys were Methodist. Thornton Foster married Annie, and they had nine children. Joe Thomas Wiley married Rachel, and they had 13 children.
The Foster-Wiley family connection: Rachel Wiley married James Foster and Frank Wiley married Gertrude Foster. Sister and Brother marred Sister and Brother. According to history, reunions began in Hempstead, New York with the first one organized by John “Jay” Foster, Sr. 1980 was the beginning of the joint Foster-Wiley Family Reunions and were held in Philadelphia, PA. In 1981, it was decided that the combined reunions would be held every two years with family members serving as Hostess and Host in different cities and states.
The 1981 Reunion was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first joint Foster-Wiley reunion.
The 1983 Reunion was held in Moultrie, Georgia.
The 1985 Reunion was held in Los Angeles, California.
The 1987 Reunion was held in Hartford, Connecticut
The 1989 Reunion was held in Portland, Oregon
The 1991 Reunion was held in Orlando, Florida
The 1993 Reunion was held in Brooklyn, New York
The 1995 Reunion was held in New Orleans, Louisiana
The 1997 Reunion ad held in Denver, Colorado
The 1999 Reunion wad held in Plam Beach Gardens, Florida
The 2001 Reunion wad held in Moltrie, Georgia
The 2003 Reunion was held in Gainesville, Florida
The 2005 Reunion was held in Dover, Delaware
The 2007 Reunion was held in Atlanta, Georgia
The 2009 Reunion was held in Virginia Beach, Virginia
The 2011 Reunion wad held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The 2013 Reunion was held in Las Vegas, Nevada
The 2015 Reunion was held in Sarasota, Florida
The 2017 Reunion was held in Houston, Texas
The 2019 Reunion was held in Raleigh, North Carolina. 20
The 2021 Reunion was to be held in Metropolitan Washington, DC and hosted by Jerome “Duke” and Paige Haggins, Ronald and Eveline McLendon and Doris Lisa Thompson. Due to COVID-19, the reunion was postponed until July 21-24, 2022. Finally, the reunion was in fact held from July21-24, 2022.
The 2023 Runion was a cruise out of Miami, Florida to the Bahamas
The 2025 Reunion is scheduled to be held in Atlanta, Georgia
Our goals are simple:
- To promote the Foster-Wiley Family structure.
- To ensure our family legacy by creating opportunities for family gatherings such as the Bi-annual family reunions.
- Along the way, we are bound and determined to plan and execute first class family reunions with pride and dignity.