Allen line: Comfort Starr 1589-1659, Immigrant

I found a fascinating piece of speculation while looking for information about Comfort Starr, "Chirurgeon".  He lived at the right time and the right place, with the right training, to have possibly been an associate or student under Dr. William Harvey, the man who first described the circulation of blood in the human body.  There is even a possibility, but as far as I know no proof, that he may have followed in Dr. Harvey's footsteps and received his medical training at Padua, Italy.  Even if none of this is borne out by facts and documents, the fact remains that the two men were active in medicine at the same time and place and would have at least known each other.  I think that's pretty cool.

In the first of several known connections with other Allen and Holbrook ancestors, it appears that Rev. William Eddye, who is an ancestor in both of our families, was the vicar of the church Comfort likely attended in Cranbrook, from 1591 to 1616.  

Comfort Starr, of course, does not need to hang onto the shirt tails of anyone.  He can quite well stand on his own as an honorable and respected man, one dedicated to the well being of his friends and neighbors, and one brave enough, in middle age, to bring his family to New England while the country was still young and barely hanging on, still in survival mode.

He and three children, at least, and three servants sailed in the ship Hercules, of Sandwich, in 1635.  One of the servants was his sister, Truth-Shall-Prevail.  His wife was Elizabeth Watts, whom he married on October 4, 1614, but we don't know whether she traveled with the family or whether she came later.

Comfort is first seen in Cambridge, but by 1638 he had gone to Duxbury, in Plymouth Plantation (where our Holbrook ancestor Miles Standish lived). As another connection in the Allen line, the land and "dwelling" he purchased in Duxbury or Duxburrow was owned by Jonathan Brewster, also our ancestor.  He was admitted a freeman there in 1639. In another eight years, Comfort Starr was in Boston, which by that time had grown to a larger population than Duxbury.

At Duxbury, Comfort had owned several pieces of land.  He was respected enough that he represented Duxbury at a Plymouth Colony council of war in 1642.  The next year, he was on a list of men able to bear arms, and his inventory later included a musket and sword.

We don't know much of his private life, but it is safe to assume that he was quite busy as a surgeon, and may have acted as an apothecary also as there is record of Thomas Lechford making a note to himself to write to Mr. Comfort Starr at Duxbury for a quarter of a pint of henbane and a quarter of a pound of hemlock seed.  (Henbane was a remedy for stomach ailments.  I didn't find a medical use for hemlock seed, in my extensive 30 second search of Google).  There were over 70 names on a list of those whom owed Comfort Starr money when he died, and who knows whether all the debts were even noted.  This gives us a feel for the size of his medical practice.

Although we don't know the extent of his education, he did own books valued at seven pounds when he died, which is more of a library than many had.  If he studied with or in the footsteps of Dr. Harvey, we can guess that he had more education than most of his peers.  He and Elizabeth had at least 10 children.  I'm happy to report that except for passing on the name "Comfort", the other children were given more common names than Comfort and his siblings had received.

Elizabeth died at Boston on June 25th, 1658, aged 63, so she would have been about 19 when she married.  Thomas died January 2, 1659/60 and left an estate valued at a little over 292 pounds.  In his will, he made bequests to his children and grandchildren, with more granted to the grandchildren who had lost one or both parents.

In 1909, some of Comfort's many descendants had a monument erected at the Cranbrook church which said "In Memory of Dr. Comfort Starr  Baptized in Cranbrook Church 6th July, 1589, a Warden of St Mary's, Ashford, Kent, 1631 & 1632  Sailed from Sandwich for New England 1635  One of the Earliest Benefactors of Harvard, the First College in America, 1638, of which His Son Comfort was One of 7 Incorporators, 1650, Died at Boston, New england in January 1659  A Distinguised Surgeon Eminent for Christian Character  Erected by this American Descendants 1909".

Comfort and Elizabeth are buried at King's Chapel Burial ground in Boston, and there is a memorial stone there similar to the one described above.  If we're ever in Boston, we need to pay our respects to this man.

There are two lines of descent for Comfort.  The first is:

Comfort Starr-Elizabeth Watts
Thomas Starr-Rachel Harris
Samuel Starr-Hannah Brewster
Thomas Starr Mary Morgan
Thomas Starr-Jerusha Street
John Starr-Mary Sharp
John Starr-Betsy Havens
John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants

The second line is the same down through Thomas Starr-Mary Morgan.  Then it diverges:

Mary Starr-John Chester
Thomas Chester-Sarah Eldridge
Bathsheba Chester-Jonathan Havens
 Betsy Havens-John Starr
and yes, cousin married cousin, although they were, by my calculations, third cousins.

Allen line, or not? Thomas Harris 1580-1634

I'm sticking my neck out here, because nothing I'm finding supports my tree that says that Rachel Harris, who married Thomas Starr, is the daughter of this Thomas Harris.  So we may or may not be related to this man.  Thomas Starr was from Canterbury, Kent, England and Thomas Harris is from Hatherup, Gloucester, England, so we need to find a reason and a way for the two to meet before we set this branch of the tree firmly in place.  It may well be that there will be a better candidate found for Rachel's parents, and that would be fine with me. 

However, in case this Thomas Harris is the right person, and because he came with the Winthrop Fleet and is therefore automatically interesting (to me, at least), I'll give the bare facts about him, mostly as researched by Robert Charles Anderson in The Great Migration Begins.  Thomas was the son of William amd Agnes Mason Harris, and was born at Hatherup, Gloucester, England, about 1580.  He married Elizabeth, (most sites, but not Anderson, say her name was Hills) sinetime before 1613, as children started arriving at that time.  Six children were noted in a will by Harris's nephew in 1639, but Rachel wasn't left a bequest.  There could be reasons for that, but nevertheless it is worth considering.  Known children of our couple are Anna, John, Thomas, William, Anthony and Daniel.  According to the approximate birth dates, there would have been time for a child named Rachel to have been born between Anna and John.  However, it seems that we have no definite birth dates for any of the children. or for Eliabeth, so this is almost just speculation. 

As mentioned, the Harris's came to New England in 1630, with the Winthrop fleet.  For whatever reason, whether political, familial, or religious, Thomas's name is listed as Thomas Harris alias Williams, and he continued to use that name, Harris alias Williams, for some time in the New World.  The family settled at Winnissimmet, later known as Chelsea and now part of Boston.  In 1630, shortly after arrival at Massachusetts Bay Colony, he requested freemanship which was granted as Thomas Williams alias Harris in 1631.  That same year he was granted the authority to set up a ferry to run between Winnissimmit and Charlton, and also from Winnissimmet to Boston, with fees sets by the authorities. 

We don't know how long this was actually in operation under Harris's watch, because by 1634 his widow had remarried and her new husband had control of the ferry.  (The ferry stayed in operation until 1917).  Elizabeth lived until February 16,1669/70, and was either 83 or 93 when she died.  We can guess that Thomas may have had an accident, or drowned, or succumbed to one or another of the illnesses that killed so many early pioneers.  We will likely never know that story, and we may not ever know whether Rachel was truly his daughter. 

If he is our ancestor, here is the line of descent:

Thomas Harris-Elizabeth Hills
Rachel Harris-Thomas Starr
Samuel Starr-Hannah Brewster
Thomas Starr-Mary Morgan
Thomas Starr-Jerusha Street
John Starr-Mary Sharp
John Starr-Betsy Havens
John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Their descendants

If someone knows whether or not Rachel Harris's father is Thomas, and whether or not this is the correct Thomas, I sure would like to know about it!

Allen line: Thomas Starr 1565-1640 Immigrant

How hard can it be to write about the very first ancestor I ever heard about, back when I was a pre-teen or early teen-ager?  A family genealogist, unidentified, had researched the Starr family and an aunt gave us a copy of her discoveries as a Christmas gift.  (Although, now I wonder how much of it was her work and how much was a compilation; still, it was and is precious to us). 

But when I actually sat down to write about him, there is much less information than I expected to find, and some of it is contradictory, as is often the case.  His father was Thomas, his son was Thomas, and hehad grandsons named Thomas, so it's easy to see how facts could be a little confusing, and confused. 

Thomas Starr was born about 1565 in New Romney, Kent, England.  His father was Thomas Starr who served as mayor of New Romney for a short period of time, and it appears that his mother's name was Agnes.  Our Thomas was a mercer, a dealer in textile goods, generally silks, velvets, and fine materials.  He would have supplied the well-to-do of the towns of Cranbrook and Ashford, which are the two towns where most of his children were baptized.  It is likely that Thomas and his wife Susan or Susannah made the first move, from New Romeny to Cranbrook, because of economic reasons.  They may have moved a second time because they had become Puritans, and Ashford was a center for people with these beliefs.

Thomas and Susan gave names to their children that are on trivia games and lists of "amazing" names, but they surely didn't intend to give their children a fleeting moment of fame.  They were names chosen because they meant something to the family, even if we are a bit puzzled by some of them now.  Their children were Jehosaphet, Comfort, Nostrength, Moregift, William, Mercy, Suretrust, Standwell, Judith, Truth-Shall-Prevail, Joyfulle (also seen as Joyfoole), Constant, and Beloved.  I hope someone called them "Bub" or "Sis"!  It does give us a glimpse into the mindset of Thomas, though. 

His son Comfort, a surgeon, seems to have been the first of the family to make the trip to Massachusetts, in 1637, and his parents are believed to have come in 1637, although I've seen one guesstimate as 1633.  At any rate,  it was still early in the history of the colony.  Thomas would have been somewhere between 68 and 72 years of age, so perhaps he expected more of his family to come also, or maybe the religious pressures in England were just beginning to be more than he could deal with. 

We know little of his life in Boston except that he is believed to have died in Dorchester in late 1639 or early 1640.  His estate in New England was small, about 69 pounds, but he still owned lands and buildings in England which helped his family live more comfortably than some. 

We have two lines of descent from Thomas:

Thomas Starr-Agnes
Comfort Starr-Elizabeth Watts
Thomas Starr-Rachel Harris
Samuel Starr-Hannah Brewster
Thomas Starr-Mercy Morgan
Mary Starr-John Chester
Thomas Chester-Sarah Eldridge
Bathsheba Chester-Jonathan Havens
Betsy Havens-John Starr
John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants

The second line is the same through Thomas Starr and Mary or Mercy Morgan.  Then it's
Thomas Starr-Jerusha Street
John Starr Mary Sharp
John Starr-Betsy Havens
and continues on from there.  So John and Betsy would have been distant cousins.