Thank you so much for your info. I have to admit that I have given up my search for Valentine Gross as I have no reliable info to go on. I have asked his grandson, my uncle, for any info he may have and he has no info of before he immigrated. I have read the history of the area we think he may have come from for the years before and after 1876 and it sounds like he may have had to leave the country in a hurry cause of much upheaval in the area. His name may not even have been Gross. So I have admitted defeat. Thanks for responding to my search, I appreciate it.

Jo Trombley