This month is winding down, but lots of progress has been made on my documentation of the family of Caspar Starr.

If you haven’t been following my deep dig into the Stoehr/Starr saga this month, here’s a quick review.

While “everyone” places the births of Caspar Starr’s children in Rowan County, North Carolina in the 1760s and 1770s, the first mention I can document of Caspar is when he purchased land there in 1785. That’s a big time gap for a county where land records, and a few tax lists, survive from the 1760s.

Next, a Maryland clue turned up on FamilySearch’s full-text search:

The estate administration of Martin Trush, who died c1762, identified Caspar Starr of Baltimore County as the biggest creditor against the estate.

While perusing online records from home, I then found that Caspar Starr’s daughter, Mary Anna (who I estimated was born c1769), who married John Brendle, appears in the Hope Moravian Church records:

Here she was noted as being born in 1768 in MARYLAND, lending credence to the theory that Caspar Starr in Martin Trush’s estate records was indeed the same Caspar Starr in Rowan County, North Carolina.

Additionally, I found a mention of John and Caspar Starr in Peter Wilson Coldham’s Settlers of Maryland:

Notice that it mentions Caspar “Star” living in Frederick County, Maryland while recording land in Baltimore County – 60 acres named Star’s Choice.

There is also an entry for John “Starr” for two pieces of real estate. It’s not known whether these are two different men named John Starr or just one man. It also isn’t known whether the odd entry below for “Star, John Angle Morning,” also in Baltimore County in 1765 refers to the same John Starr noted just above.

In any case, because of my schedule and the limited hours that my local FamilySearch center is open, I had to be patient and wait a couple of weeks before I could get there to read the (locked) Maryland land records.

I found absolutely no mention of Caspar Starr in Frederick County, not in church, land or probate records, so it appears he might not have lived there for very long. Nor did I find any other Starrs who might be related to him.

Baltimore County yielded several land records that are very helpful.

John Starr, Starr’s Meadow, 18 acres, patent dated 20 April 1758

Caspar Star, Star’s Choice, 60 acres, patent dated 19 May 1760

Caspar Starr of Baltimore County to Michael Mann, June 1771, £30 current money . . . two tracts of land called Starr’s Choice and Starr’s Meadows

John Starr, Starfields, 20 acres, patent dated 15 September 1773

Jasper Starr of Baltimore County to William Stone, 2 September 1776, for £500 current money of Pennsylvania. . . parts of Streight New Tavern and Wilmot’s Chance with what appears to be the actual signature of Caspar Starr:

Wilmot’s Chance was patented to Richard Wilmot on 21 January 1754 and originally contained 740 acres. New Tavern, originally 720 acres, was patented to John Hawkins of Anne Arundel County on 18 December 1775. How Caspar Starr acquired 63 and 102 acresof them, respectively, hasn’t been figured out yet.

John Starr, 5 Nov 1777, “of North Carolina, taylor, but now in Baltimore County. . .” to Bale Randall. . . for £12 current money . . tract of land known as Star Fields containing 20 1/4 acres

These land deeds prove several things about the Starr family.

1. John and Caspar Starr had some kind of relationship since John Starr patented Star’s Meadows in 1758 and Caspar sold the same land in 1771.
2. One man named John Starr, whether the owner of Starr’s Meadows or a second man of the same name, resided in North Carolina on 5 November 1777 and was identified with the occupation of tailor. There is one John Starr who received a North Carolina land grant on 8 November 1784 in Guilford County although the land was entered in 1778 . The Maryland and North Carolina men named John Starr could well be one person.
3. Caspar Starr lived first in Frederick County, Maryland as of 1760, but then in Baltimore County at least until 2 September 1776. Therefore, it seems likely that seven of his ten children – Elizabeth, Catherine, Margaret, Mary Anna, John Caspar and Anna – were born in Maryland. Mary Anna, proved by the Hope Moravian Church records, was definitely born in Maryland. Since Caspar Starr doesn’t surface in Rowan County until 1785, the birthplace of his three youngest children – Adam, Sarah and Rachel is uncertain. They might have been born in Maryland, but Virginia or North Carolina seems more likely since Caspar likely traveled the Great Wagon Road from Maryland to Rowan County, passing through much of Virginia. His (supposed) brother-in-law, Jacob Thrash, lived in Culpeper County, Virginia for a while. More to be discussed about this!

What of Adam Starr who settled in Guilford County, North Carolina?

Adam Starr hasn’t been found anywhere in Maryland records. However, he can’t be Caspar Starr’s son [who was born c1777] because Adam received several land grants in Guilford County, North Carolina beginning on 8 November 1784, the EXACT same day as the land patented by John Starr! Both pieces of land were on the Alamance River.

Also, there is a deed from Henry and Mary Wirtzel to Adam Starr, TAILOR, for 238 acres and a price of £115 proclamation money on 16 July 1773, recorded in May 1774.

John Starr sold 88 acres of his patented land to Christopher Suits for £50 on 27 November 1789. What became of him or the rest of his land is unknown as no further deeds are found for John Starr, nor did he leave a will.

Quite mysteriously, neither Adam nor John Starr are enumerated in Guilford County in 1790, although Adam Starr clearly owned land there from 1784 until he died in 1821.

Why do I believe Caspar and John Starr are related to Adam Starr? John and Caspar are related per Caspar selling land patented to John in 1758 in Maryland.

The Family Tree DNA Starr surname group indicates that descendants of Adam and Caspar Starr are an exact Y-DNA match, although more descendants need to test to expand the number of markers.

Because Adam doesn’t appear at all in Maryland, I have to theorize that perhaps John Starr of Guilford County might have been his father and Adam was born perhaps c1750 and came of age when the family removed to North Carolina.

However, there is still no clear pathway to determining whether Adam was a younger brother of Caspar or if there was one John Starr, father, and second John Starr, son, or if John Starr was also a brother of Caspar with Adam possibly being a nephew of Caspar.

Adam Starr wrote his will in 1819 and it was proved in February 1823. His wife wasn’t named, but children were identified as oldest daughter Mary, oldest son David, Susannah, Adam, Peter, Caty, Elisebeth, Henry and then youngest son Abner and youngest daughter Barbara.

Whether more primary records can be found concerning this part of the Starr family remains to be seen.