Reuben George Sr. was born July 31 1776 in Virginia, according to family records. (The 1810 Monroe County, WV census may be in error to suggest that he was born about 1765.) At first family researchers thought that Reuben was the son of Reuben and Mildred Rogers George, but this has been disproven - without proving who his parents were. There were other George families in Greenbrier County WV who may have been related to Reuben. In 2002, a number of men with the GEORGE surname joined a DNA test group, including one participant who is trying to establish who our Reuben Sr.'s ancestors were. See Reuben Sr.'s will.
Earlier George family researchers said Reuben fought and was a veteran of the Ohio Indian Wars.
Ann (HANDLEY) and 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. According to the possibly inaccurate 1810 (Monroe Co?) census, Ann was born about 1764, and would have been about 33 when married. (Leona Andrus, on Family Search estimates her birth year about 1778, in PA, thus being about 19 when married.)
We are gradually collecting information about Ann and her siblings.
Randall J. Handly gives further details about Archibald (1730-1796):
"He owned 550 acres of land with his brother John on Indian Creek, now Monroe Co., in 1774.
He is listed with his brothers John and James, under Greenbrier Co., in the First U.S.
Census 1782 - 1785. He was a member of the grand jury of Monroe Co., in May 1781 and a road inspector
in 1782. Archibald's will was witnessed by John Handley and Michael Erskine and
settled by John
Handley and Samuel Clark -- all of Monroe Co. His will is on record at Lewisburg."
OHIO: Butler County, OHReuben (Sr) and Esther Hardin Philips George
The George family moved to the hilly, forested land in southwestern Ohio north of Cincinnati near Okeana in Butler County about 1812. Ann died in Ohio in the 1820s. Reuben was already a grandfather when he married Esther Hardin Phillips (born in the 1780s?) on February 2 1826 in Butler County, Ohio. Reuben and Esther had two children between 1827 and 1830: Isaac and Mary (Polly, or "Aunt Pops"). Reuben's thirty-five year old son Joshua George died of typhoid fever about 1835-6, and Reuben, Esther, and Isaac are believed to have died during an epidemic in the summer of 1837, all in Butler County. Reuben Sr. made his mark to approve his will dated June 10 1837, witnessed by James Jenkins, Evan Jenkins, and Wm. C. Jenkins. The will was filed September 1837, will record number 2, page 276. Squire DeArmond bought Reuben Sr.'s farm and became the guardian of Reuben's 6 year old daughter Mary. (For more family history, see the CHARTS and LINKS sections.)
NOTE: 1st sons were sometimes named after the father's father, so Reuben George Sr.'s unknown father might have been named Joshua GEORGE and unknown mother might have been named Fanny GEORGE, for the eldest sister. On the other hand, neither the second son (Reuben Jr) nor the 2nd daughter (Jane) were named after Ann Handley George's parents, Archibald and Jean (Henderson) HANDLEY.
7. Isaac died young, about the time his parents died
8. Aunt Pop married into the DeArmond family - to John Randolph DeArmond, son of James and Maria (Youmans) DeArmond - and lived from 1830-1931