General Gideon Foster was a leader during the Revolutionary War from South Danvers, now Peabody. Leading the militia of South Danvers, he marched to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, fighting the British during their retreat to Boston at the Battle of Menotomy. He and his men also resupplied American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Foster was made a General of Militia after the War. In 1815, he purchased a house, built in 1810 on Washington Street in South Danvers, and lived there from 1818 to 1831. During this time, Foster ran the grist, bark and chocolate mills that he had inherited from his father. After his death, others owned the house, which was acquired by the Peabody Historical Society in 1916 and continues to serve as its headquarters and museum.