VALENTINE KIZER, SR. (1761-1827) Valentine Kizer, Sr. was born about 1761 in Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of 10 children born to Michael and Mary Kiser. Mary's maiden name is not known, but is believed to be either Eppert or Lingel. Michael was probably born in Rumpenheim, Hesse, Germany around 1734 and came to Philadelphia with his father Valentine Kayser (and mother Maria Magdalena Sommerland) on 13 August 1750 aboard the ship Edinburgh. The Kayser ancestry has been traced back to Valentine Kayser's great-grandfather Johann Kayser, who was born about 1575. Quite a lot of different spellings of the Kiser name have appeared in early American records, including Kizer, Kyzer, Kyser, Keiser, Keyser, Keizer, Kisor, Cisor, etc. Valentine, Sr. appears in most records with the surname spelled Kizer, but most of the descendants of Michael Kiser used the surname Kiser. In 1763, Michael and Mary Kiser moved to Cumru Township, in western Berks County. Their son Valentine was married there on 11 June 1782 to Catherine Stiehl (daughter of Melchior Stiehl, also of Cumru Township). In 1783 Michael Kiser sold his farmland (234 acres) and moved his family to Rockingham County, Virginia. Valentine and his new wife accompanied them. They settled near what is now Grove Hill in Shenandoah Irons Works District in Page County. (That part of Page County was formed from Rockingham County in about 1831.) In 1787, the Commonwealth of Virginia granted Valentine an 11-acre parcel of land in Rockingham County on Mill Creek, near present-day Cross Keys. He and Catherine attended nearby Friedens Church. They lived in Rockingham County until early 1796, when they purchased 456 acres of land in Rockbridge County, Virginia, along the "North Branch of the James River". At that time they had three daughters (Catherine, Eve, and Mary Ann) and a son Jacob. The Kizer family attended the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church in Rockbridge County. The minister Daniel Blain performed wedding ceremonies for the three daughters: Catherine to William Wallace (8 August 1805), Eve to George Linn (20 August 1807), and Mary Ann to John Himes (30 March 1809). Valentine and Catherine had two more sons, William (born about 1797) and Valentine, Jr. (born about 1805). When Catherine died in 1807, Valentine went to Rockingham County for a short time to marry Nancy Berry (on 27 December 1807 by Rev. Paul Henkel). Valentine and Nancy returned to Rockbridge County, where they lived until 1810. In September of that year, they sold their land and moved to Bedford County, Tennessee (about 500 miles to the west). It appears that all of the Kizer children (including a son Daniel, born about 1808) accompanied Valentine and Nancy to Tennessee. On 29 October 1811, Valentine purchased a 300 acre tract of land along the waters of Big Flat Creek in Bedford County (near present-day Himesville in Civil District 23). He added 683 acres to this on 22 January 1812, along with several smaller parcels in the following 10 years. Another son, Enoch, was born during their first year in Tennessee. Valentine made his living as a farmer. (At the time of the 1820 census, he had 13 slaves.) Valentine Kizer, Sr. died in Bedford County about 1827. The Kizer family belonged to the New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Many of them are buried in the church cemetery. Nothing further is known about Catherine (Kizer) Wallace. John Wallis (b. 1807, Virginia) and William S. Wallace lived nearby in Bedford County and may have been sons of Catherine and William Wallace. Eve's husband George Linn died in the 1820s, and she remarried in Bedford County in 1825 to Jacob Troxler. She remained in Bedford County until her death. She probably had three sons, two of whom died young. (Henry Lynn of Bedford County may have been one of her sons.) Jacob Kizer, the eldest son, married Dempsey Hooker around 1815. He apparently remained in Bedford County. He had two sons and a daughter. Mary Ann (Kizer) Himes, the youngest of the Kizer daughters, was widowed around 1830. She raised her family in Bedford County, and may have moved to Lewis Co., Tennessee between 1850 and 1860. She had four sons and two daughters. Most of the Hime(s) in or near Himesville were descended from her brother-in-law George Hime(s) and his wife Sophia, who moved to Bedford County from Maryland shortly after the Kizer family. William Kizer married Jane Baker in Bedford County in the early 1820s. He moved his family to Saline Co., Missouri in the mid-1830s. (His first-cousins Daniel Kiser and Jacob Spotts were already in Saline County by that time.) William, his wife, and children remained there only a few years, and moved to Texas around 1840. He had four sons and five daughters. Valentine, Jr. married Frances Davis in Bedford County around 1830, and moved to Saline Co., Missouri shortly afterwards, joining his brother and cousins. He settled in Gasconade County, Missouri (which later became part of Osage County) by 1840. Valentine, Jr. and his wife both died there in the early 1850s, leaving two sons and three daughters. The children were brought to Franklin County, Arkansas (reportedly by an uncle), where they remained. Daniel Kizer married in Bedford County in the early 1830s to Syntha E. Cheshire. He had seven sons and four daughters. Enoch Kizer married in Bedford County in the 1830s to Nancy Pratt. He had three sons and a daughter. Valentine, Sr. and his first wife Catherine may have had another daughter, Rachel, who married Jesse Bobo Gant in Bedford County in the late 1810s. (This has not yet been confirmed, but appears to be likely.) Valentine, Sr.'s widow Nancy died in Bedford County on 1 July 1844. Her two sons Daniel and Enoch then moved their families to Hunt County, Texas, joining William. These three sons of Valentine, Sr. remained in Hunt County, Texas. Over 1800 descendants of Valentine Kizer, Sr. have been identified so far (including about 750 descendants of Valentine, Jr.). 30 August 1998 Mark B. Arslan (marslan@nc.rr.com) 407 Highlands Lake Drive Cary, NC 27511 (919) 387-9794