The family of John Starr 1743-1824

 If you've been following my blog posts about our branch of the Starr family, you know that this family was in Connecticut for at least four generations, first in New London and then in Groton, but this John Starr was the first of our direct ancestors to leave the area.  And boy, did he leave.  When England won the French and Indian War, John first went to Nova Scotia where he settled, married, and intended to raise his family.  However, when the Revolutionary War broke out, John was on the side of the American patriots, which was not a popular position in Nova Scotia.  After facing military defeat there, John and Mary returned to Groton.

"Mary" was Mary Sharp, the daughter of Matthew Sharp and his wife, who was likely named Margaret and whose maiden name may have been Smith.  I say "may" because I've not yet found documentation for this.  Matthew died about 1771 in Nova Scotia, and Margaret stayed there rather than traveling with her daughter to Connecticut.  She died in 1811, but by that time John and Mary had moved again, this time to Franklin County, Ohio, where John was granted land in recompense for having his property seized in Nova Scotia.  By that time, John and Mary's children were mostly grown.

Their children were

John, who was born August 20, 1774 and who married Betsy Chester Havens.  Their children were Betsey, John Havens, Lorinda, Sophronia, Lorinda, Joseph, Lucinda, Simeon Chester, William, Emily, Calvin, and Mary Jane.  There may have been an infant son and an infant daughter also.  I will write about this family next week.

Joseph was born in August of 1776 and lived for just about a year, dying in 1777.  

There is then a seven year gap in known births, which may be when the infant son and infant daughter were born.  

Mary was born in 1783 and married first Henry Warner.  They had a son, Henry Dore Warner in 1814, who livedd to the age of 20.  Mary's second husband was James Woods.  Their sad story was that James was planning to build a new home for the two of them on Mary's land (left to her by her husband? her father? not yet researched!) but in 1833 they both were victims of the cholera epidemic, dying within an hour of each other.  Son Henry died the following year but I don't know the cause of death.  Mary and James were relative newly weds and had no children.

Daughter Hannah was born in 1785 and died in 1815, never having married.  I don't know whether there was a physical or mental challenge here, or whether she simply was not eager to take on another household.  

Rachel was born in 1787 and died in 1856.  In 1822 she married John Matthew and they had at least two children, John and Joseph.  Joseph died as an infant.  There may be more children but I have yet to find record of them.  

The last daughter, Eunice, was born in 1791 and died in 1831.  She married Joseph Hunter, the son of Joseph and Margaret McGaughey Hunter.  They had a large family.  Children were Mandelbert, Return, Orville, Lorinda, Wilson, John, Eunice and Andrew, the last two being twins.  

Some trees list two additional children for this couple, Betsey and another John Havens.  These names do not appear to be correct, as their birthdates coincide with those of John Havens, the first child of our John and Mary, and of Betsy Chester, his wife.  Mary was past child bearing age by the time these two were born.  

John and Mary's children were born in Nova Scotia and in Groton, and they all traveled west with the elder Starrs, and died there.  They must have been a close knit family, and for the ones I've been able to determine, were Presbyterians in religion.