The family of John Havens Starr

 John Havens Starr is the last of our Starr family to be born in Groton, Connecticut.  He was the son of John and Betsey Havens Starr, and was about 9 years old when his family made the trip west to settle in Ohio.  Traveling west must have agreed with John, because he did more of that as an adult, settling in Tipton, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  By the time he arrived there, however, he had married Myra Falley, daughter of Russell and Pamela (or Parmelia) Chapman Falley, in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1827.  Myra was short for Anna Miranda.

John and Myra had five children together:

Havens Starr was born September 1, 1828.  He is something of a mystery.  He became a school teacher, and in the 1850 census is enumerated with his parents in Tipton, and apparently as a boarder in Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana.  In both locations, he was born in Ohio and is the same or similar age.  His family moved to Tipton in 18502, so perhaps they dropped Havens off on the way west, but still considered him part of the family.  He may, in their minds, have been "visiting" in Lagro until he decided to stay there.  I don't know how long he was there, but in 1860 he was an attorney in Clear Creek, Nemaha,  Kansas Territory, living with his brother Anson Starr and Hannah, who was most likely Anson's wife.  This was in what is now southeastern Nebraska.  Havens died in 1863, but I've not located death information for him,.  Was it an illness like consumption, or did it have something to do with the Civil War?  I hope someone knows the answer to this!  I'd also like to know whether he was ever married.

Adella was born February 1, 1830 and sadly, died July 16, 1831.

Anson was next, born just a little over three years after Havens.  The brothers apparently remained in close contact until Havens' death.  He was likely married first to Hannah, as her name is after his in the 1860 census.  He also married Martha Baker in 1878, and she was his widow.  I have not located anything that indicates that there were children born to either wife, but the research may be incomplete on that.

William Wallace was born August 2, 1834 and died December 14, 1836.

Finally, John Calvin was born February 24, 1837 in Columbus, Ohio and died there October 11, 1841.

John Havens' wife Myra died December 28, 1838.  This was 22 months after the birth of John Calvin, so it is possible that this was related to another pregnancy, but I have no records to show her cause of death.  

Less than a year after Myra's death, John married Myra's cousin, Clarissa Falley, who was the daughter of Samuel and Ruth Root Falley.  Myra and Clarissa shared the same grandparents, Richard and Margaret Hitchcock Falley, of Westfield, Massachusetts. 

John and Clarissa continued to grow the Starr family.  Their first daughter, Myra Adella, was born August 24, 1840.  She married David Foy and their were at least two children born to that marriage, Clara, and John Calvin. David served in the Civil War.  

Their next child was Harriet Clarissa, born August 27, 1842.  She married John Wilson Knott and they had at least nine children:  Herbert, Alfred, Walter, Robert, Anna, Mary, Edith, George, and Thomas.  I will write more of this family in a future post. 

John Calvin was their first son.  He was born November 24, 1843 and died in 1864 while serving as a Union soldier in Louisiana during the Civil War.  

Samuel was the next son, who lived less than five months.

Son Francis Richard Starr was born January 10, 1847 in Columbus but died April 11, 1854 in Tipton, Iowa.  

The last child born in Columbus was Eunice.  She married Samuel Foy, who was a brother to the David Foy who married Myra.  Their known children are Nellie, Charles, and Frank.

Mary was the first child born in Tipton, Iowa.  Clarissa must have had fun traveling with so many children, but Mary was apparently conceived in Iowa so at least she wasn't also newly pregnant.  She married Dr. Edmund Burson, son of Nathan and Margaret Burson.  Their children were Gay, Euguene, Verna, and Bonnie.   This family lived in Crawford County, Arkansas.

The last child was a daughter, Frances, who was born October 30, 1854 and died less than a year later, on August 3. 

Of John's children, 6 died as children, another died in the Civil War, and it appears that at least two sons had no children.  Yet, John had 18 grandchildren and died at the age of 70.  He was a successful farmer and a Presbyterian elder, and left a good heritage for his descendants. This post ends our sketch of the Starr ancestors in the Allen family.