I am researching my family tree and came upon your website. I’m hoping that you can help me to clear up a mystery. I read on your rootsweb page for Reuben George: “Ann Handley, daughter of Archibald and Jean (HENDERSON) HANDLEY, married Reuben George (also called Reuben Foster) on March 2, 1797, in Greenbrier County, WV.” Can you please tell me more about why Reuben George was also called Reuben Foster?
I’m asking because I am a descendant of Joshua George Foster, of Butler County Ohio. His father, Joshua Foster, and his uncle, Archibald Handley Foster, owned land adjacent to the farm of Joshua George, the son of Reuben George, sr. according to the 1836 land platt for Morgan Township, Ohio.
If Reuben George, Sr. was also known as Reuben Foster, that would seem to confirm my suspicions that our families are related. I know that the Fosters came to Ohio from Virginia and the Handley name is already intertwined with both the Foster and the George families.
I will welcome any help clearing up this tangle.
Thanks in advance.
Mitchell Lasco
=========
Joshua and Archibald Handley Foster's mother was Griselda Handley Foster. She was a sister of Ann Handley George, so they - along with their other brother Isom or Esom Foster and sister Griselda "Jane" Foster - were first cousins of Joshua George, son of Reuben and Ann George Sr.
I don't know why, but on his marriage license to Ann Handley, Reuben George was written down as Reuben Foster. A cousin who spent years looking for any proof of Reuben George's parents (but never found it) guessed that the Foster name error may have been just a mistake by the clergyman as he wrote several names at one time onto the marriage record book in Greenbrier Co WV, or that Reuben might have been a foster child living with the Fosters. All guesses.
But yes, the Fosters were related to the Reuben George family at least through James Foster's and Reuben George's wives, Griselda Handley and Ann Handley.
What I have on-line on the Fosters is on the Foster index page
If you know of more info on the James Foster line, I would love to link to something already on-line, or add whatever you may have to add to my page.