This deep dive into the possible origins of Caspar Stoehr/Starr is going to take some time for two reasons.
First, in terms of descendants, Caspar and Catherine were the parents of ten children, so those families will take some time to present.
Second, there are a number of clues pointing to Caspar Starr’s parentage German origins, which need to be investigated and documented well.
Before covering ten children, here are the clues which I will be following through this month and possibly even into June.
Search engines can be great friends if used carefully. A search for Caspar’s name brought up multiple hits and it seems that even the earliest records point to his surname – Stoehr or Stöhr – being anglicized as Starr, or occasionally spelled as Star with just one r at the end.
It doesn’t mean that his name will always be spelled that way, so the more common German spellings can’t be ignored.
Next, a quick look at the Starr/Stoehr Y-DNA Surname Project includes male descendants of Caspar Starr in Rowan County, North Carolina matching descendants of Adam Starr who lived next door in Guilford County, North Carolina in the same time period, at least at 37 markers. One or more male descendants of Caspar need to upgrade their tests.
Already mentioned is the Caspar Starr named in the Baltimore County, Maryland [Estate] Administrator Accounts as a person to whom Martin Trush (died 1761, Book 31, Liber DD1, Folio 1025)) owed money. “Phillip Emmice and Elizabeth his wife Executrix” settled the account. Is he “our” Caspar?? I tend to believe he is because part of the Starr FAN club in Rowan County, North Carolina is the Jarvis family, who left the same area of Maryland to settle in Rowan County in the post-Revolutionary War years.
Peter Wilson Coldham’s Settlers of Maryland identifies Caspar Star of Frederick County, Maryland, but who owned land called Star’s Choice, 60 acres, located in Baltimore County with the patent dated 19 May 1760. Several other Starrs in Coldham’s book are not thought to be related to Caspar (William, George and John).
One other HUGE clue has been found to support the theory that this Caspar Starr is my man. One of his daughters, Mary Anna, married John Brindle in North Carolina. I had estimated her birth year to be c1769. The Brindle family attended the Hope Moravian Church, which kept excellent and very detailed records. This entry popped up while I was reading through one of the volumes:
I was beyond thrilled to see that it noted her birth year in 1768 in . . . MARYLAND!
Other Maryland clues I’ve found online include names on the 1778 militia lists in Frederick County – including Mullican, Beeding and McAtee, none of which are terribly common surnames in this place and time period, but all of whom had family members marry into the Starr clan in North Carolina. FAN club, anyone???
There has been no sign of Caspar Starr, the only male in the family old enough to serve in the Revolutionary War on any militia list or even taking the Oath of Allegiance. However, this might be explained by the fact that Moravians were pacifists.
What about online trees? I love online trees, BUT only to use as a possible road map for me to document myself. The FamilySearch family tree has one “Johannes Caspar Starr” born 7 September 1700, said to be the father of Johan Adam Starr, born 1728 and Caspar, born 1731. However, conflicting information states that Johannes Starr (no middle name) sailed on the ship Elizabeth and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Rotterdam, via England, on 16 September 1738. Some claim his two sons were John (no middle name) and Caspar, but documentation about this Johannes is sparse and no one seems to know if he died in Pennsylvania or migrated to North Carolina.
Before going down another rabbit hole, which purports to identify Johannes’s wife and earlier generations in Germany, all these clues must be investigated in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to determine if there is paper proof of relationships for these people.
My lucky search engine might have provided the most helpful possibility – author Don Claypool wrote The German Starr, Stoehr, Stöhr Family back in 2006. It is a genealogy about the family of Caspar Starr and copies of the book are still apparently for sale! This could potentially be a goldmine of information.
As I work my way through the records, I’ll be sharing details about the lives of Caspar’s ten children. As I make progress – positive or negative – I’ll intersperse updates between the information gathered on Caspar’s children.
We’ll conclude the series with a summary of factual details that have been located.