8. John Foos
John was born Nov. 17, 1787 in eastern Tenn. In 1790 his family moved to Crab Orchard in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. About 1800-1801 they moved to Franklinton (now Columbus, Ohio) where his Uncle Joseph Foos later helped establish Columbus on the opposite bank of the river. In 1806 John's parents moved to Radnor in northern Delaware Co. where young John met and married Mary Aye in 1811. She was 24 and he was 23.
Mary was born near Agnestown, Maryland in 1786. She was the daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Dutrow) Aye. In 1802 the family moved to Berkley Co., Virginia and then to Washington Co., Penn. in 1804. They were farmers. Her mother was English and her father was German but he could only speak German so that they lived mainly in German settlements. In 1806 the Aye's moved near Berkshire in Delaware Co. ,Ohio and there Mary met John Foos.
In 1831 John and Mary moved from Radnor to make a new home on the prairie in southwestern Scott Twp., Marion Co., Ohio. Here they lived at various places until Mary died in 1865 at the age of 78. Afterwards, John at the age of 80 went to Pulaski Co., Ind., bought land and married Jan.15, 1868 Mary Ann Jones.
On Aug. 10, 1876 John died and was brought back to Marion Co. and buried near his first wife in a little cemetery just south of Kirkpatrick, Ohio.
John was a farmer and served in the War of 1812 as a Captain, probably as a home guard unit. In 1822 a Delaware County paper misquoted his name as being mustered out as a Brigadier General. It was his Uncle Joseph who was the Brigadier General.
John was commissioned a Captain in the Ohio Militia Sept. 24, 1811, but it is not known that he was ever engaged in any battles during the war of 1812 or afterwards and may have been more of a home guard unit.
When he left Marion Co. in 1868 (80 years old) it is reported that he went as far as Missouri before coming back and settling in Pulaski Co., Ind.
He owned a considerable amount of acreage of land in his lifetime. It appears by deed recordings in the Marion Co. Courthouse that he only kept the first prairie land a year or two and then bought or traded for other tracts. It is recorded that he was one of the very first to move onto the prairie in Scott Twp. We of today look on prairie lands as prime farm land but in that day the settlers thought that land that would not grow trees wasn't fit for farming. In those days much of the flat lower ground especially in prairie land lay under water until the middle of the summer and therefore was only fit for grazing. Mosquito populations were often unbearable and if the summer and fall turned hot and dry then prairie fires became a constant fear. Prairie grasses and plants grow 8 and 10 feet high and are filled with a resin that burns intensely. Prairie plants have heavy deep roots and often could not be plowed except by doubling or tripling the horse power and so it was not until about 1830 that farmers began to see any value in prairie land.
Martenia is not a common Foos name and may have come from Valentines wife's side of the home. This is very likely the Christenia that is listed in the 1910 Foos Genealogy where it is said that she married a Williams and then a Fouty. Martenia did just that. She was born March 11, 1798 according to her tombstone and in Kentucky (probably Crab Orchard) according to the 1850 Marion Co. census. It appears that she married Williams in Delaware County because there was William's living near them in Radnor Twp.
It also appears that he died about 1836-39 as ascertained by census data and the ages of her children. July 4, 1841 Martenia Williams married Stephen Fouty in Marion County. Stephen had lost his first wife and apparently lived nearby in Pleasant Twp. On April 20, 1849 Stephen died and is buried next to his first wife in Mounts Cemetery in Pleasant Twp. Martenia is found in the 1850 census as the head of her house and in the 1870 census with her son, Thomas Williams. She died Feb. 5, 1872 and is buried in the Otterbein Cemetery in Prospect Twp. She had at least 6 children by Williams. There appears to have been no children by her marriage to Fouty.
11. Elizabeth Foos
Elizabeth was born April 21, 1799 according to her grave stone in the Kirkpatrick, Ohio cemetery in Marion Co. She very likely was also born at Crab Orchard, Kentucky because her parents did not come to Ohio until after 1800. Very little is known about her. Her name is missing from the first listing of 7 in the 1910 Foos genealogy but is in the second listing of 9 children. Her tombstone says she died June 25, 1837 at age 38y 2m 4d and wife of William Reeser. Buried near her is a child with this inscription Hariet daughter of William Reeser died June19, 1841 age 6y 9m 20d.
William Reeser apparently married again because a Marion Co. license was issued to him June 28, 1839 to marry Mary Royer.
There was another William Reeser who was young enough to be his son. His marriage record and tombstone inscription have been found, but there is no proof that he was a son of Elizabeth and William.