We know very little more about Valentine Foos than we knew about his father. Even though he lived for many years in Delaware and Marion Counties, Ohio the data concerning his life is meager.
Valentine was born Feb. 2, 1762 as calculated by his tombstone inscription. The 1850 Marion Co. census records that he was born in Pennsylvania and family members about 1910 said that it was Chester Co. PA. He was the only child surviving from the union of his father and his first wife Ilse Margarethe Elizabeth Patz who were married Nov. 28, 1758 in Philadelphia. His mother died a few years later-probably 1766 -- and it appears that he lived in or near Chester Co. until he joined the Revolution. He may have lived in the Conococheaque settlement just west of what is now Mercersburg, PA. and which was in Cumberland Co. in the 1770s. His father and uncle Nicholas were paid for military service just across the border at Romney Va. in 1775. Nicholas lived at Conococheaque and since John was in the same military unit he and his family may have been living there too but no records can be found to prove it.
A Marion Co. Foos genealogy of about 1910 states that Valentine joined the Revolution when he was 13 and that he was discharged in Dec. 1782 in Tenn. No proof has been found for this but it gives good reason as to how he came to know about the area. It also said that he was married in Tenn. and that his first child was born there in 1787. His child's place of birth and year can be documented but his marriage and year and name of wife cannot. Since his first child was born in 1787 he likely was married in 1785 or 86.
The Tennessee residence is assumed to be the settlement on the Noli Chuckey River of the Smokey Mts. of what was then Washington Co., North Carolina but was made a part of Tenn. when it became a state about 1790. John and Nicholas were here in 1787 according to a deed transfer and Valentine presumably was too.
The 1910 genealogy says that Valentine moved to Kentucky 2 years after his child was born. This appears to be true because Valentine was drafted into the State Militia in 1790 near Crab Orchard, Kentucky and was discharged at Cincinnati, Ohio a few weeks later after an Indian disturbance died down. He apparently lived near Crab Orchard for at least 10 years.Family records place him in Franklin Co., Ohio by 1795, but this seems a little early as pertains to proven records. Franklin Co. records show that Joseph moved there late in 1798 and that his father John came about 1800. Valentine must have come late in 1800 or 1801 because Jesse was born in 1800 in Ky. and Mary was born in 1802 in Ohio according to the 1850 census. Also there is no official record of Valentines presence until he bought chattels at his father's estate sale in 1803.
In 1805 Valentine bought 100 acres in a new settlement in Radnor Twp., Delaware Co., 0. and is said to have moved there in 1806. Here the family genealogy says his wife died in 1811 and here he finished raising his family. It is said he went to Cass Co., Ind. in 1822 until 1848 but he is in the 1830 Delaware Co. census and received a quitclaim for his land in Delaware Co in 1835 and gave Marion Co. as his residence when he sold it in 1836.
Valentine evidently was in Cass Co., Ind. where his daughter Mary kept house for him. It is said that he came back in 1848 and lived with his sons John, William, and Jesse. He is in Jesse's household in the 1850 census and he died at his son John's home on Jan. 8, 1856. He died in Scott Twp., Marion Co., Ohio and is buried in the Kirkpatrick Ohio cemetery.
Valentine like his father left few records to authenticate where he was and what he did. We are not sure how many children he had. Rosalie Fellows Bailey in her 1951 published genealogy on the Foos family thought Valentine might have had 6 children but she was wrong on two of them. A genealogy put together about 1910 probably by Oren Foos while his great Uncle John Aye Foos was still living lists 7 children for Valentine and who they married and on the next page is an-other listing of Valentines children with nine first names. John Aye Foos was a grandson of Valentine. John Aye was born in 1819 and lived near his grand-father in Delaware and Marion Counties for approximately 25 years and therefore should know who his aunts and uncles were which would be Valentines children.
Possibly had 9 or more children.
As for Valentines wife -- very little is known. She probably was from the Nola Chuckey area. She is said to have died in 1811 near Radnor but no grave has ever been found. It was a practice in early pioneer days to bury on the farm but it is not known where she was buried. Her name has also been forgotten which leaves quite a void in the history of Valentines family.
9. William Foos
William was born on June 25, 1792 according to his tombstone inscription as copied by another person. He probably was born in Crab Orchard, Kentucky as that is where we understand that his parents lived in 1792.
He grew as a boy in Kentucky and Franklinton, Ohio and reached adulthood near Radnor, Ohio in Delaware County. He served as a young man in his brother John's company of militia during the war of 1812. Kenneth Foos of Marion Co. in 1992 has the rifle that William carried during that war.
William married Mary Ann Boyd. They lived and farmed in Delaware and Marion Counties. He died March 8, 1869 and she August 7, 1872. They are buried at Brown-Tyler Cemetery near Prospect, Ohio
There is almost 6 years between William and the next known child, which would allow for two more children.
12. Jesse Foos
Jesse Foos was born in 1800 and in Kentucky according to the 1850 Marion Co. census. He married Rachael Blackman or Blackmore in 1825. He lived next to his brother John on the 1852 plat map of Marion Co. In the 1850 Marion Co. census he had an 11 year old boy living with him as well as his younger sister Mary and his father Valentine. Sometime before the 1860 census he must have moved out of state because no record can be found of him or his family.
13. Mary Foos
Mary Foos was born in 1802 according to censuses and is the first child born to Valentine in Ohio. Valentine and family must have moved sometime after Jesse was born in 1800 and before Mary was born in 1802. She very likely was born at Franklinton, Ohio where Valentine lived until he moved to Radnor Township sometime in 1806 or after. Mary's mother died in 1811 when Mary was only nine years old. We can only presume that older sisters took care of the younger children and then when Mary became old enough she tended house for her father the rest of his life. After Valentine died we find Mary living with her nephew James H. Foos in 1860 and with another nephew John A. Foos in 187O and 1880. She is said to have died in 1883 but no record could be found.
17. Joseph Foos
The last child that has been documented was Joseph Foos. He was born at Franklinton. His parents soon moved to Radnor Twp. and he grew up there. The 1830 census of Delaware County shows him with a wife and a small child. He is not in the Delaware or Marion Co. census for 1840 but in 1850 he is in Claridon Twp., Marion Co., Ohio as a laborer without a wife or child. In 1870 he is a laborer in the household of his niece Katherine, Mrs. Hiram Knowles and in 1880 he is at the Marion Co. home for the aged. He died there Feb. 9, 1887.
Margaret is believed to have had 4 other children.
18. William Minter
Lived with the William Foos family in Delaware and Marion Co., Ohio.