Hi Trish and Larry, I guess you are brother and sister ? I don't have anything concrete on Foster, but I can give you some direction maybe. Gang, Foster C. Spence is one person we can prove that was in the Southampton Co VA area. From what Larry sent me in a letter: Foster's unknown father was born on a ship bringing his family to America. Foster's father grew up and married a Powhatan Indian maiden. Foster married a Nancy and Foster died before 1850. The widow Nancy was found in the 1850 cenus with children, Mary 22, Rebecca, 14, Joseph 12, Lucy 11, and son Benjamin who was about 13 was living in a neighbor's household. >From this I notice a 8 year gap in ages between Mary and Rebecca. Could Nancy have been a 2nd wife ? Did children die in an epidemic ? Why the gap in ages ? How old was Foster Spence ? Can you find him on a 1800 or 1810 census or tax list ? If he died as an older man before 1850 and Nancy was a 2nd wife, when was he born approx. ? If you can calculate when Foster was born, then you can estimate his father's age. With a age for Foster's father, a search of ship arrivals may turn up this Spence family. Look for families who arrived on the James River, or the Chesapeake Bay most likely. You may want to check the Rehobeth Beach area of Delaware also , as that was a favorite place to unload passengers. A large group of Spence's can be found in the middle of the penninsula. These are the ones who became known as the Somerset Maryland line, although some of them migrated to various parts of VA. Look on your trusty Rand McNally atlas in Maryland and see the community of SPENCE on the beach. The Somerset line had some runaways who settled in Northampton Co. VA, which is the southern end of the penninsula. Others still are thought to have journeyed farther on to Isle of Wight Co VA after they took the Chesapeake Bay bridge. <grin> Barbara Beall tells us that she thinks the Robert of Isle of Wight could have been an Uncle of her David Spence of the Somerset line. So there we have a vague connection. Barbara is still working on it. The state of VA lost most of its census records in the Revolution because the red coats burned down the courthouse at Williamsburg. There does survive a 1760 TAX LIST for the state of VA that most libraries have. By the process of elimination, see if you can locate any Spence families that could have been Foster's grandparents. You'll have to check several counties since you don't know when Foster moved to Brunswick County. Foster's AGE is your key to unlocking this mystery. With Foster as a first name, also look for FOSTER families in the areas. Dollar to a doughnut he was named that after his mother's maiden name ! Even if she was Powhatan, they adopted European surnames. Heck, Pocahontas was Powhatan. And another thing, it was her father that ordered the Indian attack that killed (?) Ensign William Spence in Jamestown in 1623. Find the Fosters, and you'll probably find Foster's folks. O. K. ? That's all I can do for you now. That's your homework assignment......... Have fun ! Carolyn