The family of Thomas Starr 1668-1711

 We're now in the fourth generation of Starrs who immigrated to and then settled in New England.  The great grandfather of Thomas was Comfort Starr, his grandfather was Thomas Starr, his father was Samuel Starr and his mother was Hannah Brewster.  Thomas was born in New London, Connecticut and settled, along with many of his siblings and his children, in Groton.  This generation is interesting because here is where we start to see the intertwining of families again.  It looks like somehow this family is connected to many of the families in Groton, and if you trace them a few more generations down (not the focus of this post or of my research), these surnames are seen in soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War, repeatedly.  

Thomas married Mary Morgan, sometimes seen as Mercy.  She was the daughter of James and Mary Vine Morgan, and I briefly mentioned their children in my post about Samuel Starr's family.  Here I will go into a bit more detail about their eight children.

Mary was the first born, and she married Captain John Chester, who was the son of Captain Samuel and Hannah Chester.  Their children were John, Thomas, Benajah, James, Joseph, Simeon, and Katherine.  (It's a bit odd that there was not a son named Samuel, but perhaps there was an unsuccessful pregnancy or early infant death.  Or maybe they just didn't like the name Samuel.

Hannah married Joseph Buttolph (lots of fun spellings to that name!) and they had three children: William, Mary, and Jonathan.

Samuel was the first born son, born in 1665.  He was baptized along with his brother Thomas in 1701.  Thomas died that same year and perhaps Samuel also had an early death, as I can find no further mention of him.  Thomas was born in 1700.  It's possible that an epidemic of some sort was the impetus for the baptisms, and that whatever it was took both of these young children, but that is speculation on my part.  

Jerusha married William Pabodie or Peabody III, son of William and Judith Tilden Peabody.  There children were Rachel, Thomas, Hannah (who married a Chester, William, Lydia (who married a Morgan), Samuel, Lemuel, James, and Mary.   

Rachel first married Daniel Denison, the son of George and Mary Wetherell Denison.  Mary's ancestry traces back to William Brewster, so Daniel and Rachel were some kind of cousin.  Their children were Mary, Daniel, Thomas, Rachel, Samuel, Hannah, Ann, Phebe, James and Elizabeth.  After about eleven years of widowhood, Rachel married Ebenezer Avery, the father-in-law of her son Daniel.  He had twelve children of his own and between the two families, they were related to absolutely everyone, or so it seems.

James Starr is a mystery.  He married someone named Hannah, whose name appears in his probate papers, but we don't know when and we don't know whether there were any children born to them. He died in 1787.  (Note: It was a different James Starr who married Anna Kent, as nearly as I can tell.)

Finally, there was a second son named Thomas, who was born in 1711 and who never knew his father.  Thomas married Jerusha Street, the daughter of Nicholas and Jerusha Morgan Street.  Their children were Mary, Rachel, Thomas, Jerusha, John, William, Hannah, and James.  I will write more of this family in my next planned blog post.  

After Thomas Starr died in 1711, Mary Morgan Starr married in 1717 William Peabody, who may be the father in law of her daughter Jerusha, who had married William Peabody III.  She had no known children with him, and outlived him.  William's second wife was an Alden, who may trace back to John Alden of the Mayflower, so there is another distant Mayflower connection.  

It certainly looks like the Starr family contributed greatly to the growth of Groton, Connecticut as well as a few other nearby towns!