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.   

The family of Thomas Starr 1711-1759

 Looking again at the families of our ancestors, instead of just concentrating on the ancestor only, is quite interesting.  I started this project because I wanted to see what other families were connected in one way or another to ours, and it's been eye opening.  Thomas Starr born 1711 is the third generation of Starrs who lived in Groton, Connecticut, and by now, I am seeing many familiar families tied into the Starrs.  

As an aside, by looking at the ancestors as part of a continuing line, I am seeing things that are raising my eyebrows a bit.  For instance, in the Starr family line, the immigrant Comfort Starr lived to a comfortable old age.  But the next four generations did not fare so well, none reaching their 50th birthday.  I don't know the cause of death for Thomas, Samuel, Thomas, and Thomas, but it sure would be interesting to know whether there was a family weakness, such as heart problems, or whether some were accidental deaths, or what was going on in this family.  Fortunately, after this Thomas, the one I'm looking more closely at today, Starr men seem to have recovered from whatever might have been ailing them.

This Thomas is the son of Thomas and Mary Morgan Starr.  He was born the same year his father died, and was the baby of the family.  Mary remarried in 1717 so the only father he knew was William Pabodie or Peabody.  Nevertheless, he was a Starr.  Thomas married Jerusha Street, daughter of Nicholas and Jerusha Morgan Street, so Thomas and his wife were first cousins, with their maternal grandparents being James and Mary Vine Morgan.  Although this might make our head swim a bit, marriage of first cousins was not that unusual, especially in a town as small as Groton was at that time.

Thomas and Jerusha had 8 children together:  

Son Thomas was the first born, and he married Zipporah Street, daughter of James and Keziah Haynes Street.  There are trees online saying that James Street was the son of Nicholas and Jerusha Morgan Street, which would be another cousin marriage, but I have not found convincing evidence that this is correct.  However, the odds seem fairly strong that he was a relation to Nicholas Street, at the least.  Their children were Betsey, John, Thomas, Jerusha, Nancy, Catherine, Sally, and Mary.

Jerusha Starr died at the age of 25, but not before she had married Benajah Chester, son of John and Mary Starr Chester.  Mary Starr Chester was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Morgan Starr, so here is another cousin marriage.  They had three children, Michael, Jerusha, and Starr.  

Daughter Mary was born in 1740 and died in 1741.  

Son John was next.  He married Mary Sharp, daughter of Matthew and Margaret Sharp, in Nova Scotia, before moving back to Groton at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.  Their children were John, Joseph, Mary, Hannah, Rachel, and Eunice.  I will write more of this family in my next post.

Son William married Freelove Bailey, who was the daughter of Benjamin and Freelove Avery Bailey.  So far as I have been able to determine, these two weren't closely related.  They had Lucinda, William, Jabez (Jarez, perhaps), Frelove, Elisha, Thomas, Perez, and Dudley.  

Daughter Hannah Starr married Nicholas Starr, who was the son of Vine and Mary Street Starr.  They were cousins through Vine Starr and Mary Street also, but I think they were second cousins once removed, if I have this figured correctly.  If not, it's enough to know they were also closely related. Their children were Nicholas, Joseph, James, and Benjamin.

I haven't been able to learn much about James Starr.  His wife was possibly Hannah, but that is a maybe and I haven't found documentation. He died in 1777 at the age of 26, but I've been unable to determine whether or not he might have died in the Revolutionary War.

Finally there was Rachel, who was born in 1755 and died November 12, 1778, apparently unmarried.  

The Starr family has been thoroughly researched but there are still mysteries about them.  Many of the names in this post are those that are familiar to those who have researched the Battle of Groton Heights, as there were Avery, Chester, and Starr men in that battle, and possibly others.  

Thomas and Jerusha had at least 29 grandchildren, but Thomas would not have lived to see all of them.  This is the last generation of Starr ancestors who mostly lived and died in Groton, and they must have had a considerable impact on their community.

 

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!

 

The family of Samuel Starr 1641-1687

 Continuing with the Starr family saga...We are now in the third generation of Starrs, and Samuel was the first born in New England.  He is widely accepted as the son of Thomas and Rachel Starr, although birth records are lacking.  By December of 1664, he was in New London, Connecticut, where he married Hannah Brewster, the daughter of Jonathan and Lucretia Oldham Brewster on December 16.  Hannah is the granddaughter of Elder William and Mary Brewster

Samuel and Hannah had just four known children, although many lists include five names.  Their known children were:

Samuel, born December 11, 1665.  I've found nothing further about him, so he may have died young.  

Thomas, born September 27, 1668.  He married Mary or Mercy Morgan, daughter of Captain James and Mary Vine Morgan.  They had eight children:  Mary, Hannah, Samuel, Thomas, Jerusha, Rachel, James, and Thomas again.  We are descended from Mary and also the second Thomas.  More of Thomas's family will be profiled in an upcoming post.

Comfort Starr was born August 7, 1671, and died young.  

Captain Jonathan Starr was born February 23, 1674, and married Elizabeth Morgan, who was also the daughter of Captain James and Mary Vine Morgan.  Yes, the brothers married sisters, which must have made it confusing for the double cousins, their children.  Jonathan and Elizabeth had 10 children: Samuel, Elizabeth, Lt. Jonathan, Lucy (also seen as Lusanna), Hannah, Captain Joseph, Vine, Rachel, Mary, and Catherine.   

Just to make things more interesting regarding the Starr and Morgan families, Hannah, the widow of Samuel Starr, married James Morgan, the widower of Mary Vine, in 1690. Although they had no children together, my head spins trying to figure out the relationships.  At least it would have made for smaller family reunions.  

Several trees also place Benjamin Starr, born in 1679, as a child of Samuel and Hannah.  However, the only records I've found for a Benjamin Starr born that year are for the son of Comfort and Marah Weld Starr, and he was born in Middletown, not New London, where Samuel lived and died.  

I've written of Samuel's life and accomplishments earlier.  He and his family (although small by Starr family expectations) contributed much to their community.  

The family of Thomas Starr 1615-1658

Last week I wrote about the family of Comfort and Elizabeth (possibly Watt or Watts) Starr.  Comfort is recognized as the immigrant ancestor, head of a family that has grown even more than one would expect, over the ensuing generations.  This week I will continue following our line of Starrs.

Once again, there are some very important missing facts regarding Thomas and his family, particularly the identity of his wife and mother of his children.  Her name was Rachel, and they were supposed to have married about 1638 in Rhode Island.  Her name is often seen as Rachel Harris, but I know of no documentation to back that up.  He is not known to have lived in Rhode Island at all, with his homes at various times being in Duxbury, Scituate, Yarmouth, and finally Charlestown, Massachusetts.  He died on October 26, 1658 at Charlestown, at the early age of 42.  Thomas was a surgeon during the Pequot War and is referred to as "Dr. Starr" so he likely moved from time to time to where his services were most needed.

He did take time out of his schedule to raise a large family with Rachel, as was the custom in this family.  Their children are:

Samuel, born about 1640.  He married Hannah Brewster, granddaughter of William and Mary Brewster of the Mayflower.  Their children were Benjamin, Samuel, Thomas, Comfort, and Jonathan, and I will write more about them in my next blog post.

The next child was another son, Thomas Jr.  He married Ruth Barney and Elizabeth Gilbert.  He married Ruth about 1692 so it is likely that these children belong to Elizabeth, who was the daughter of Thomas and Jane Rossiter Gilbert.  Except, one source indicates that Thomas Gilbert did not have a daughter named Elizabeth, so this whole subject needs more research. Thomas's children were Thomas, Benjamin, Jehosophat, Sarah, and Elizabeth.  Thomas Jr. died in 1704.

Comfort, (undoubtedly named for his grandfather even those these names are not in the order one would expect), was born November 15, 1644 and died October 18, 1693 at Middletown, Connecticut.  He married Marah Weld, daughter of Joseph and Barbara Clapp Weld.  They had 9 known children-Comfort, Joseph, Mary, Hannah, Joseph (again), Benjamin, Rachel, Thomas, and Daniel.  

Their first and, as it turned out, only daughter, Elizabeth was born June 7, 1646. She married John Treadwell (Tredwell), son of Edward and Sarah Howes Treadwell.  They had at least three children-John, Thomas, and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth died March 6, 1681, at the age of 34.  

Son Benjamin was born February 6, 1647/48 and died before April 30, 1676. I have not found a cause of death for him but this was during the time of King Philip's War so it is possible that he died as a result of that conflict.  He had not yet reached the age of thirty.  His wife was Elizabeth Allerton, who was the granddaughter of Isaac Allerton and Fear Brewster.  (Fear was William Brewster's daughter, and Isaac was one of the Mayflower Pilgrims.)  They had one son, Allerton.

Jehosophat Starr was the next born, on January 12, 1649/50.  He is not known to have married, but is credited with three children-Jehoshophat, Elizabeth, and Hannah.  I have found no documentation of his marriage, his children, or his death, which is only noted as after 1671.  More research needs to be done.

Constant was the first of Thomas and Rachel's children to die as a child, but not the last.  He was born in 1652 and died October 5, 1654, in Charlestown.  

William was born next, on March 18, 1654/55, but died December 13, 1659.  The back to back deaths of Constant and William must have been particularly hard, especially since Thomas may have felt that he "should" have been able to save them.  

Josiah Starr, known as "Captain" was born September 1, 1657 and died January 4, 1714/15.  His wife was Rebekah but her maiden name isn't known at this time.  They had at least 8 children together-Benjamin, John, Thomas, Rachel, Josiah, Rebecca, Samuel, and Comfort.  

Their last son was John, born in 1658.  There is very little to be found about him, except that he was alive January 1, 1684/85.  We don't know whether he married, whether he had any children, or anything else about him, for that matter.  There are any number of reasons that someone's death would not have been noted, including being lost at sea, murdered in the back country, kidnapped and taken to Canada, or simply the loss of records wherever he died, but it is sad not to be able to bring his life to an end.

Thomas and Rachel had at least 31 grandchildren, which is not a terribly large number for the time, but it was enough to contribute to keeping the Starr family name going through New England and New York. 

The family of Comfort Starr

 Comfort Starr, referred to as Dr. by many, is our first immigrant of the Starr name.  His parents were Thomas and Susan (possibly Moore) Starr.  His parents may or may not have been immigrants.  I have seen trees claiming he died in Ashford, Kent, England and also that he died in Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Thomas's will seems to have been written in England, so for the time being and until someone convinces me otherwise, I'll leave him in England.  

Comfort was born July 6, 1589 and in Ashford, Kent, England. His father or possibly his grandfather was relatively well to do, and Comfort, as a second son, was trained to be a chirurgeon.  There seems to be some dispute about what the job of surgeon entailed in the early 17th century.  Some say a surgeon was not as educated as a doctor, because their primary job was to cut off limbs and stitch up wounds.  Others say he was a physician, and there is some evidence that he at least had some medicines at his disposal.  But would he have had access to these pain killers as a chirurgeon, also?  I am still working on this problem.  Either way, he was probably able to provide for his family above the subsistence, or even working class, label, as indicated by the three servants he brought with him to America, one of whom was his sibling, Truth Shall Prevail.

Comfort married Elizabeth Watts in Sussex, England and they had ten children together, nine of them born at Ashford.  There is some question, actually, about Elizabeth.  I have also seen her referred to as Elizabeth Mitchell, and identified as the daughter of Thomas Hayward Mitchell and his wife Margaret.  I don't know which is correct, or whether Elizabeth Mitchell may have been a widower of a man named Watts.  (For such a well-known family, there are a lot of research questions that are not yet answered properly, I think.)

Comfort and Elizabeth came to America in 1635, with their three oldest children.  It appears that some of the other children came later.  Of the ten children, two did not survive childhood.  

Thomas, named for his father and grandfather, was the first born son, baptized December 31, 1615.  He would have been 19 when he immigrated, and five years later he married Rachel, most often seen as Rachel Harris.  They had 10 children-Thomas, Samuel, Comfort, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Jehosophat, Constant, William, Josiah, and John, and I will write about them in my next post.

Judith was born before January 11, 1617/18 and buried August 25, 1622.  

Mary was baptized April 16, 1620, and married John Maynard in 1640.  They had five children-Mary, Lydia, Hannah, Mary, and Zachariah. Mary died before her father wrote his will in 1659, but he left bequests to the children.

Elizabeth was baptized June 3, 1622 and married John Fernside or Ferniside by July of 1642.  Their children were Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah, Jacob, Lydia, Ruth, Mary, Abigail, and Sarah (again).  

Comfort was baptized April 11, 1624.  He married first Grace, and later Anne Finch, who was the mother of his three known children-Josiah, John, and George.  He apparently was in Massachusetts for about 15 years and returned to England in 1650, where he lived his life as a pastor.  

John Starr was baptized October 15, 1626 and married Martha Bunker, daughter of George and Judith Major Bunker.  They had at least eight children, many of whose names are now familiar to us-Elizabeth, Judith, Eleazer, Lydia, Comfort, John, and Benjamin.   

Samuel Starr was baptized March 1, 1628/29, and was buried April 16, 1633.

Hannah Starr was baptized July 22, 1632 and married John Cutt.  He became the first president of the providence of New Hampshire, appointed by King Charles II.  They had five children together-John, Elizabeth, Hannah, Samuel, and Mary.  

Lydia was baptized March 22, 1634/5 and married Simon Eyre.  She died in 1653, aged less than 20, leaving just one child, Simon, whose last name was later spelled Ayers.  

Ruth Starr was the last child, born about 1637, in Massachusetts, although there seem to be no contemporary records of her birth.  She married Joseph Moore in 1656, and was already deceased when her father wrote his will in 1659.  The deaths of these last two children may or may not have been related to childbirth, but both women were very of child bearing age when they died.

This gives Comfort and Elizabeth 41 grandchildren, some of whom they would never have seen (son Comfort's children having been born in England).  The children seem to have all been good citizens, who made good lives for themselves and their own children.  We can be proud of the contributions that Dr Comfort and Elizabeth made to their community.

 

Holbrook: Loren Holbrook and his family

 Loren Holbrook is a hard man to write about.  I never did do a profile sketch of him, probably because he is recent enough in our family history that I know stories about him.  I also know his two daughters had somewhat different opinions of him, and I don't know which are "true".  Probably all the stories are "true" but have to be seen in their context in order to understand them, and the people who could give us that context are gone.  This post will give the facts of his life and mention his children. 

Loren Holbrook was born March 13, 1883 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the second known son of Fremont and Phoebe (Phebe) Brown Holbrook.  He had an older brother, Ray, and a younger brother, Clark.  We know from the 1940 census that the highest grade of school he completed was the third year, but I don't know whether the school he attended would have been a three year or a four year high school at that time.  At any rate, I've read some of his letters and he wrote well, both expressively and with correct grammar and punctuation.  

By 1908, he was in Washington State, where he purchased land in 1911 that was on the border of Ferry and Stevens counties.  He had gone to Washington intending to invest in mines but I don't think that worked out for him.  In later life he mostly worked in the lumber industry and sawmills, eventually owning his own operation near Kettle Falls.  His estate was large enough that it made the Spokane, Washington newspapers, so he was somewhat successful.  He employed at least some indigenous men, but it's not known how large his operation was.  He had retired by the time of his death.

Etta Stanard arrived in Stevens county in 1913, to join her parents and siblings who were already there.  She taught school, and Loren courted her and won her heart quickly.  They were married August 16, 1914.

The couple had four children together.  Ray was born November 4, 1915.  He entered the Army in 1940, became a member of the First Special Service Force (known as the Black Devils) and was killed at Anzio, Italy on March 30-31 (nighttime operation), 1944.  Ray did not marry or have children.

Their second son was Howard S Holbrook, born April 18, 1918 in Colville, Washington.  He had physical and mental challenges as well as a prison record, and never married.  He died August 27, 1992.

Their first daughter was Lois Phoebe Holbrook, born January 9, 1923.  (There was a gap of five years here and I've often wondered if there was an unsuccessful pregnancy during this time.)  She married Lloyd Melcher, who became a carpenter and contractor, and the couple had four children, two of whom are living.  

The final child was Gladys May Holbrook, born November 17, 1925.  She married Richard Allen, who became a pastor, on June 28, 1947 and the couple had four children, two of whom are living.  

Loren and Etta seem to have had a good marriage for the first few years, but after the birth of Gladys their relationship deteriorated.  One reason may have been Etta's prolonged stay in Spokane, after Gladys was born, but that may also have been because there were already difficulties.  Etta filed for divorce in 1928 but that was apparently withdrawn, because she filed again in 1933.  Etta had mental issues most of her life, possibly beginning with the last pregnancy, and it would have been hard to live with a woman as confused as she sometimes was.

Loren had a housekeeper, Hannah (keeping her last name private because I don't know if her children are living) who was apparently a widow.  She lived in Loren's household for several years and the Holbrook boys knew her children well, as Loren often mentioned them in letters to Ray.  She may or may not have been a common law wife, but in Loren's will, he referred to Etta as his one and only wife.  Hannah's name was listed as wife in Loren's obituary, but she may have been the informant so that is not entirely trustworthy.  I find no record of a marriage.

Loren died October 16 or 17, 1948, on the Deer Park Highway in Spokane County.  He had suffered a heart attack and his car was wrecked, but he may never have known about the wreck.  

 I have written a fairly general, somewhat sanitized post here because living people may not want more details publicized.  However, if you are a descendant of Loren and Etta, and wish more information, please contact me and I'll be happy to help as much as I can.

This is the end of our particular line of Holbrooks, from Thomas to Thomas to Peter to Joseph to Jesse to Amariah to Nahum to Joseph to Fremont to Loren.  We are now "daughtered out", and I will start a new family next week.