Immigrant: Valentine Pence

Valentine Pence

Within nine years of landing in Philadelphia, Valentine and his family moved to Virginia. As we are focused on the Pennsylvania Pence’s here, the below information is intended as a very light treatment of Valentine’s life. Certainly Richard Pence’s review is far more substantial.

Based on immigration records, Valentine “Felty” Pence was born in 1690 in Germany - probably the Palatinate. This 1690 date is problematic, but we do know that this immigrant arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Friendship out of Rotterdam on 20 September 1738 at the ripe age of forty-eight.

There was one other Pence male aboard that ship: Adam Pence, aged 22. It’s unclear who this Adam was in relation to Valentine. For instance, we know that Valentine mentions a "first-born son" named Adam in his will, but that particular Adam wasn't born until 1744 – twenty-eight years younger than the Adam aboard the Friendship. The mystery of immigrant Adam needs to be sorted out.

Shortly after immigration, we find Valentine living in Lancaster County where he marries Anna Maria “Catherine” Oberlin in East Cocalico Twp on 19 Jan 1741. It’s useful to note here that in the International Genealogical Index, his name is listed here as Georg Valentine Bentz. This seems to be the only example of his full name being used. In any case, Valentine remained in Pennsylvania for the next six years before moving to Virginia with his brother Jacob in 1747.

But is the immigrant Valentine the same Valentine who moved to Virginia with Jacob? Below is an extract from Richard Pence's analysis:

"Jacob and Valentine in Lancaster County. Wayland, in his Virginia Valley Records, says that Valentine Pence came to the Valley from Lancaster County, Pa. In Lancaster County, a 1748 deed entry notes that Christopher Franciscus Sr. of Lampeter Twp. states he owns 3,000 acres in Augusta County and has contracted for the sale of part of it. This tracks the Augusta County deed to Jacob and Valentine, indicating that perhaps Valentine and Jacob came from [Lancaster County]. Gen. Pence... did find mention of a Jacob Pence and a Valentine Pence in some early church records in Lancaster. The first of these was contained in the "Church Record of the Quitopahilla Church, now Hill Church, near Annville, Lebanon County, 1745-1854" (Lebanon County was formed in 1813 and this church was in an area that was part of Lancaster County at the time Jacob and Valentine probably lived there.) This record shows that Jacob Bentz brought children to the Rev. John Casper Stover to be baptized in 1739. Unfortunately, the names of the children were not given in this source. However, Rev. Stover also reported baptizing the following children of a Jacob Bentz at Swatara: John Jacob, born Feb. 3, 1739, Maria Barbara, born Oct. 29, 1740, and John George, born Apr. 9, 1743. It seems quite likely that these are three of the children of the Jacob Pence of Augusta County - Jacob, Barbara and George. Except for the fact that Barbara was said to be 12 in 1760 when she was bound out to Jacob Persinger, these children would be a perfect fit; it is possible that the record meannt that she was at least 12. It was [also] the Rev. Stover who married Valentine Bentz to Maria Catarina Oberlin in 1741 in Cocalico Twp. As noted earlier, the first two of their children appear to have been born in Lancaster County. 

Gen. Pence also reported that Jacob Bentz and Valentine Bentz appear on a list of German settlers in Berks, Lebanon and Lancaster counties who were customers of a Mr. Potts, a merchant of Pottsgrove. The records of these transactions were kept by Christian Lauer and Conrad Weiser, members of the Reformed Church at Tulpehoeken. "Based on the foregoing," wrote Gen. Pence, "it appears that our ancestor Jacob and brother Valentine lived in the vicinity of Tulpehoeken during their stay in Pennsylvania."

Most records place brother Jacob's birth as circa 1710. This would put him some twenty years younger than Valentine. The most tempting candidate for Jacob is immigrant Gorg Jacob Bentz, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1737, one year prior to Valentine and Adam. No age is given. But if Gorg Jacob went by his middle name - as Valentine did - this could be Valentine's brother.

Valentine raised a large family, with another baby on the way, when, at seventy-one years old, he passed away. His will was dated 25 May 1761 and proved 18 August 1761.

Currently accepted data points:

Name: Georg Valentine “Felty” Pence/Benz

Y-DNA line: Currently unverified. Need a tester to prove this out.

Born: c. 1690 in Germany (probably the Palatinate)

Known relations: Jacob Pence (brother), twenty years younger

Immigration: Friendship, out of Rotterdam, arriving in Philadelphia 20 Sep 1738. Other Pence’s aboard the Friendship: Adam Pence, age 22.

Married: Anna Maria “Catherine” Oberlin in East Cocalico Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on 19 Jan 1741 by Rev. John Casper Stover. Valentine was 51 years old at this time.

Moved to Augusta County, Virginia: 1747, along with his family and the family of his brother Jacob. It is assumed he left no family behind, but at his age, anything is possible. The families settled on Cub Run by 1749.

Died: The summer of 1761 (age 71) in Virginia.

Children – Named in both his and his wife’s later will of 1803:

• Mary “Anna” Catherine Pence/Bentz (9 Nov 1741) in East Cocalico Twp, Lancaster Co, PA. Moved to NC.
• John Adam Pence, the “first born son” (15 Jan 1744). Baptized at Christ Lutheran Church, Marion Twp, in today’s Berks County, PA. Stayed in VA.
• Jacob Pence (c. 1749) in Augusta County, VA. Moved to NC.
• Henry Pence (c. 1752) in Augusta County, VA. Stayed in VA.
• John Pence (23 Nov 1755) in Augusta County, VA.Probably stayed in VA.
• Barbara Pence (Unknown date). Stayed in VA.
• Mary Pence (c. 1758) in Augusta County, VA. Stayed in VA.
• Sarah Pence (Unknown date) in Augusta County, VA.
• Unknown name (1761?). It is unclear if this child survived until birth.

Mysteries that remain: Is immigrant Valentine the same Valentine who married in Lancaster County and later moved to Augusta County, VA? There is currently more coaborative evidence to support this than to refute it.