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Part
3: The Third Generation; Children of Aaron Stark (Junior) & Mehitable Shaw
Page
76
Chapter
8
Aaron
Stark (3rd) and Margaret Wells;
Who
Were Their Children and Grandchildren?
Introduction
As
described in the Chapter 6 Author's introduction, Charles R.
Stark (hereafter referred to as CRS) presented a genealogical
order of the descendants of Aaron (3rd) that may erroneously
have included some of the grandchildren of Aaron (3rd) and
Margaret Wells as their children. To repeat from Chapter 6, the
children CRS listed (with questionable ones in italics)
were:[148]
†
Aaron, born about 1709 and died January 21, 1772, who
married Elizabeth Young. † John Stark, born
about 1730, died 1825, who married Mary Dilla (died in
1825). † Amos, born before 1729, died 1767, who married
first, Unknown, and married second, Mrs. Hannah (Goble)
Tompkins (born in 1729, died February 7, 1799). †
Isaac, who married Elizabeth Reed. † Mary, who
married a Soloman/Salmon. † Margaret, died
October 1, 1820, at the age of 80 years, who married Peter
Solomon/Salmon (born November 25, 1740, died February 19,
1825 at age of 84 years, 2 months, 25 days). † Hannah, who
married Abraham Fulcher.
Mary
Stark and Hannah Stark may well have been children of Aaron
Stark (3rd) but because CRS is the only source of this
information this cannot be stated with certainty. For the
purposes of this discussion they will be presented as
daughters of Aaron Stark (3rd).
The
purpose of this article will be to examine several
genealogical discrepancies in the CRS publication involving
the other children. The following section will argue that some
of these children should be regarded as questionable ones of
Aaron Stark (3rd).
Aaron
Stark (4th) and Margaret Stark
That
Aaron Stark [the fourth] was the son of Aaron Stark [the
third] is not disputed, and neither are the dates of his birth
and death.[162] Because CRS reported Margaret Stark "died
October 1, 1820 at the age of 80 years," she may have
been born in 1740.[148] If Aaron [the fourth] was the oldest
child and Margaret Stark was the youngest, then CRS is showing
that Margaret Wells gave birth to children over a span of
about 32 years. But if Margaret Wells was born in 1682, as
reported by some researchers, she would have been fifty-eight
years old in 1740 – well past the age for giving birth to
children. This year of birth for Margaret Wells may not be
correct, however; if we suppose she was sixteen years of age
in 1707, the latest year in which she could have married Aaron
[the third], then she would have been only 49 years of age in
1740 – not an impossible age to give birth to a child but
less likely than if she had been even younger. If Margaret
Wells was older than sixteen in 1707, then giving birth to a
child in 1740 becomes ever more unlikely for each year added
beyond the age of sixteen in 1707.
On
the basis of this analysis, the probability that Margaret
Wells was the mother of Margaret Stark becomes less likely.
Aaron Stark [the third] may have married a second woman, for
the last living record for Margaret Wells was in 1725, but if
there was a second marriage no record of it has been
found.[163] Based on the above rationale, one must conclude
that Margaret Wells most likely did not give birth to a
daughter in 1740, which in turn suggests that Margaret Stark
was most likely the daughter of Aaron Stark [the fourth].
__________
162)
Letter dated August 17, 1970 to T. (Thomas) G. Allen from Rev.
Clement Bloomfield, O. S. D., St. Mary’s Abbey, Morristown,
New Jersey. Rev. Bloomfield describes a visit to Flanders,
attempting to locate the Stark family burial ground. As his
guide, he refers to an earlier cemetery survey by Russell
Rankin in 1927. According to Rev. Bloomfield, this survey was
filed in the New Jersey Special Collections of the
Genealogical Society of New Jersey at Rutgers Library. Found a
stone with "A. S." and the inscription "In
memory of Cap’t Aaron Starke who died Jan. 21st 1772 in the
64th year of his age." Captain Aaron Stark was the
son of Aaron Stark [3rd] and Margaret and is referred to in
this publication as Aaron Stark [4th]. If Aaron [4th]’s age
when he died was correctly stated on his tombstone, then he
was born before January 21, 1707/08, indicating Aaron [3rd]
and Margaret were married as late as early 1706/07.
163)
Family History Library Film #4294, Book 2, pages 173 and 174.
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Amos
Stark and Hannah (Goble) Tompkins
The
day or year of birth of Amos Stark is not known with certainty.
He married Hannah (Goble) Tompkins after April 1, 1761, most
likely in Morris County, New Jersey. This was Hannah's second
marriage. She was first married to Reverend Ichabod Tompkins on
Dec. 24, 1746. Reverend Tompkins died on January 3, 1761, and on
April 1 of that same year Hannah gave birth to Ichabod Tompkins
(Junior).[164] Hannah most likely married Amos Stark after the
birth of Ichabod (Junior) and before January 1767.
Amos
Stark prepared and signed his Last Will and Testament on August
26, 1767, in Morristown, New Jersey. On September 18, 1767, the
Will was proved, suggesting Amos was deceased before that date.
The Will named the living children of Amos, but they were
probably not children of Hannah. The following is an abstract of
this Will:[165]
"1767,
Aug. 26. STARK, Enos (Amos), of Morristown, Morris Co.,
yeoman; will of: All my lands in this and Sussex Co. to be
sold, if my Executors think best. Wife, Hannah, all the
personal and real she had when I married her, and £45
beside. Remainder to my children, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
and my Executors are to consider the child that my wife is
now pregnant with. Executors - Aaron Stark and Capt. John
Brookfield. Witnesses - Job Brookfield, Uzal Tomkins, James
Gillispie. Proved Sept. 18, 1767."
Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob were children from an earlier marriage and
not children of Hannah. Hannah, reported to be the wife of
Amos, was pregnant with a child, most likely a son named Amos
Stark (Junior), who was born on October 31, 1767. Amos
(Senior) named his brother, Aaron Stark [the fourth], as one
of the executors of the Will. Were Hannah Stark and Hannah
(Goble) Tompkins the same person?
The
following from the publication entitled "Rockaway
Records of Morris County, New Jersey Families"
certainly suggests that Hannah (Goble) Tompkins married Amos
Stark:[164]
"Ichabod
TOMPKINS was the second minister of the Baptist Church at
Morristown, from Nov. 6, 1759, to Jan. 3, 1761, at which
date he died. He was succeeded by the Rev. John WALTON, June
17, 1767. He [Ichabod Tompkins] married Hannah GOBLE Dec.
24, 1746. She married (2) Amos Stark, and died Feb. 7, 1797,
aged 70 years."
Can
a time frame be determined for the birth of Amos Stark? His
son named Isaac Stark is known with certainty to have been
born between 1756 and 1760. The 1800 census reported Isaac was
in the twenty-six through forty-four age group, which suggests
that he was born after 1755. The Will reports Isaac was living
in 1767, so he was most certainly born before August of 1767.
However, the Revolutionary War pension application of Henry
Clark reports Isaac Stark was among a group of men who
enlisted for three years at Mendham in January 1776. In order
to enlist, Isaac would have to have been sixteen years of age
or older, which suggests that he was born no later than 1760.
If these reports are correct, then Isaac was born between 1755
and 1760 and was not a son of Hannah (Goble) Tompkins. Abraham
Stark was most likely older, for he was reported as forty-five
or older in the 1800 census. No further records have been
found for Jacob Stark, most likely the youngest of the
children. Suppose Abraham was born in 1755. Could the latest
year of birth of Amos be determined?
If
Amos was twenty-one when Abraham was born, he would have been
born in 1734 and could have been a son of either Aaron Stark
[the third] or Aaron Stark [the fourth]. Hannah’s year of
birth, according to the Rockaway Records, was 1727. When Amos
Stark married Hannah (Goble) Tompkins, he had three children,
perhaps all of them underage when the Will was made; Hannah
brought eight Tompkins children to the marriage.[164] Hannah
was forty years of age when she gave birth to Amos Stark
(Junior) on October 31, 1767. If Hannah was looking after the
interest of her children, I believe she most likely married a
man of means, probably one who was well established in the
community – that is, someone as old as or older than
herself. Therefore, Amos was probably born before 1727.
If
the birth of Amos (Senior) occurred between 1710 and 1727,
then his parents were most likely Aaron Stark [the third] and
Margaret Wells, as reported in the CRS text. Aaron Stark [the
fourth] most likely did have a son named Amos, listed in the
CRS text as the Colonel Amos Stark born on March 23, 1751.
Circumstances of the marriage to Hannah (Goble) Tompkins
suggest that Amos Stark (Senior) was most likely born no later
than 1727.
On
page 15 of the CRS publication, Amos Stark [ID#39] was
reported to have been the son of Aaron Stark and Margaret
Wells. CRS further states: a) Amos [ID#39] was born before
1729 and died in 1767; b)Amos [ID#39] was married first to an
unknown wife and second to Mrs. Hannah (Goble) Tompkins (born
in 1729 and died February 7, 1799); c) Children of Amos and
Hannah were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Amos; this last child
born on October 31, 1767; and d) CRS added these comments:
"He is reported to have lived at one time at the head
of Seneca Lake. He was twice married, his second wife being
the widow Tompkins whose maiden name was Goble." So
far so good, until CRS wrote Amos may have lived near Seneca
Lake, New York. From the above analysis, Amos Stark who
married Hannah Goble could not have lived at the head of
Seneca Lake.[166]
__________
164)
J. Percy Crayon, "Rockaway Records of Morris County, N.
J. Families." Rockaway, N.J., Rockaway Publishing Co.,
1902.
165)
Morris County, New Jersey, Wills and Administrations, Libra
(Book) 1, page 159.
166)
Charles R. Stark, "The Aaron Stark Family, Seven
Generations." Pages 15 and 26.
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CRS
has misstated the children of Amos [ID#39] and Hannah, for the
above analysis has demonstrated that Amos Stark (Junior) was
most likely their only child. The other three were children of
the first wife of Amos Stark (Senior).On page 15 of the CRS
publication, Aaron Stark [ID#37] was reported to have had a son
named Amos [ID#99]. On page 26, the following was said about
Amos Stark [ID#99]: a) There was no birth are death information
for Amos [ID#99]; b) Amos [ID#99] married Hannah Goble (born in
1729, and died February 7, 1799); c) Children were Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob; and d) CRS added these comments: "Amos
Stark [Amos2 Stark] was a resident of Morristown, N. J. His
will, dated Aug. 6, was probated Sept. 18, 1767, in that town."[166]
Undoubtedly,
Amos [ID#39] and Amos [ID#99] were the same person. According to
the above analysis, Amos Stark [ID#39] was genealogically
correct, but he most certainly did not live at the head of
Seneca Lake, New York. Replacing the comments on page 15 with
those on page 26 would be appropriate, for we can say with
certainty he lived and died in Morristown, New Jersey. Aaron
Stark [ID#37] did have a son named Amos, most likely the Colonel
Amos Stark [ID#284] reported on page 26.
Amos
Stark (Senior) married second, Hannah (Goble) Tompkins, and was
most likely the son of Aaron Stark [the third] and Margaret
Wells. He was probably born between the years 1710 and 1727.
From his marriage to his unknown first wife, he had sons named
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – their order of birth most likely
the same as their order in the Will. He married Hannah (Goble)
Tompkins after April 1761 and they had one son, named Amos Stark
(Junior), who was born on October 31, 1767. Hannah died on
February 7, 1797, as reported in the New Jersey Bills of
Mortality.
Isaac
Stark and Elizabeth Reed
The
Isaac Stark who married Elizabeth Reed was most likely born in
New Jersey between 1756 and 1760. He was the son of Amos Stark
(Senior) and his first wife, her name unknown. A Revolutionary
War Veteran, Isaac enlisted for three years in January 1776 in
Captain Noadiah Wade’s company, where he served with Corporal
Jonathan Stark. Before 1785, he most likely married Elizabeth
Reed in Morris County, New Jersey.
Their
first child, Alexander, was born between 1785 and 1790. After
the birth of their son, George, in New Jersey in 1795, but
before the 1800 census year, the family moved to Sempronius,
Cayuga County, New York, which had been formed from Onondaga
County on March 8, 1799. In 1809, Isaac was the first settler to
arrive at a place called Harpenden’s Corners, which later
became the village of Dundee; it was located in Seneca County,
which had been formed from part of Cayuga County in 1804.
Isaac
was reported on the 1810 census to be living in Junius, Seneca
County, New York; he owned a farm of 200 acres south of Seneca
Street. He was so little impressed with the value of his land
that he offered his entire tract to John Woodruff for one span
of gray horses, which was declined. Isaac was reported still
living in Junius, Seneca County, in 1820 and died at that place
in 1824.
Isaac
and Elizabeth had children as follows: Alexander Stark, born
between 1785 and 1790; Maria Stark, born between 1790 and 1800,
Catherine Stark, born between 1790 and 1800; George Stark, born
in New Jersey in 1795; Eliza Stark, born between 1795 and 1800;
Reed Stark, born in 1802; Isaac Stark (Junior), born in 1803;
and Amy Stark, born in 1811. This is the correct genealogy for
the Isaac Stark (Senior) who married Elizabeth Reed. However,
the CRS publication shows that this Isaac Stark was the son of
Aaron Stark [the third] and Margaret Wells.
On
page 8, CRS states that Isaac Stark [ID#40] was the son of Aaron
Stark [ID#8] and his spouse, Margaret Wells. If Isaac Stark
[ID#40] was the son of this couple, he would have most likely
been born no later than 1736, which conflicts with the
above-stated birth of Isaac between 1756 and 1760. Could Aaron
[ID#8] and Margaret have had a son named Isaac born between 1710
and 1736?
There
is no evidence of such a birth in the New London County,
Connecticut, records, and neither is there such a date of birth
in the New Jersey records. The earliest known reference to the
name Isaac Stark in Morris County, New Jersey, comes in the Will
of Amos Stark (Senior), probated on September 18, 1767, which
states that Isaac Stark was his son.[165] The Isaac Stark
mentioned in this Will was most likely Isaac Stark [ID#40] –
misplaced in the genealogical order in the CRS text. Isaac Stark
[ID#40] should have been shown as a son of Amos Stark [ID#39].
There
is more information to support this correction: CRS states on
page 15 that Amos Stark [ID#39] had a son named Isaac Stark
[ID#110]. The entries for Isaac Stark [ID#110] on page 27 state
that he was born in 1803 and had a son named Aaron Stark
[ID#301] born in February 1834. As has been demonstrated
earlier, the Will of Amos Stark [ID#39] was probated in
September 1767, and we should assume that he was deceased before
the year 1803. Therefore, the placement of Isaac Stark [ID#110]
in the genealogical order is questionable and the entries on
pages 8, 15, and 27 for the name Isaac Stark must be examined
for inaccuracies.
On
pages 15 and 16, CRS states that Isaac Stark [ID#40] married
Elizabeth Reed. They had children as follows: Alexander
[ID#113]; George [ID#114]; Reed [ID#115]; Aaron [ID#116] born
May 5, 1804; Maria [ID#117]; Catherine [ID#118]; Eliza [ID#119];
and Amy [ID#120]. On page 28, CRS has the following entries: a)
Alexander [ID#113], who had a son named Charles; b) Reed
[ID#115], who had children named Isaac [ID#308]; Horace,
[ID#309]; and George [ID#310]; c) Aaron [ID#116], was born May
5, 1804, and died in January 1864; he married Mary Hunt, and
their children were J. H. Stark [ID#311], born on February 19,
1830, and William Stark [ID#312], born on February 18, 1834 (CRS
had these additional comments for Aaron; "Aaron Stark
married Mary Hunt, who was born in Junius, N. Y., June 13, 1805.
He died in January, 1864, and is buried at Oxford, Erie County,
Ohio.")
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If
Isaac was a son of Aaron Stark [ID#8] and Margaret Wells, and
assuming he was born before 1736, he would have been quite old
to have had a son named Aaron born in 1804 – assuming he was
this Isaac [ID#40]. Was there an Aaron Stark born in 1804 who
married Mary Hunt? Research has confirmed the CRS data presented
for Aaron Stark [ID#116] is accurate and additional research has
suggested links to Isaac Stark and Elizabeth Reed.[167] After
the above two references to Isaac Stark in Morris County, New
Jersey, the name disappears from the records in that place.
Although
not conclusive and based only on the above analysis, the
argument is persuasive that Isaac Stark [ID#40] reported in the
CRS text was not a son of Aaron Stark and Margaret Wells. Isaac
Stark [ID#40] was most likely the same Isaac Stark mentioned in
the September 18, 1767, Will of Amos Stark (Senior) –
misplaced in the genealogical order in the CRS publication.
Furthermore, Isaac Stark [ID#110] was either misplaced or did
not exist.
Lieutenant
Colonel John Stark and Mary Dilla
On
page 15, CRS shows that John Stark [ID#38] was the son of Aaron
Stark [ID#8] and Margaret Wells. On page 15, CRS has the
following entries: a) John Stark [ID#38], who was born about
1730 and died in 1825; b) John Stark {ID#38], who married Mary
Dilla (who died in 1825); c) John and Mary had children as
follows: Reuben Stark [ID#102]; John Stark [ID#103]; Aaron Stark
[ID#104]; Susan Stark [ID#105], who married Matthew Luce; Mary
Stark [ID#106], who married Robert Carlisle; Sarah Stark
[ID#107], who married John Carr; and Anna Stark [ID#108], who
married Isaac LeFavre (CRS had these additional Comments for
John Stark: "John was a Revolutionary soldier and rose
to the rank of colonel. He married mary Dilla, a woman noted for
her great resolution and strength of will. He is supposed to
have lived near the head of Seneca Lake, N. Y.").
According
to the family research of Rodney Fair, the family bible of John
and Mary Stark records that John was born on April 1, 1733, and
died on May 10, 1822. Mary Dilla was born on November 27, 1740,
and died in 1825. They were married in May 1765, most likely in
Morris County, New Jersey.[168]
Lieutenant
Colonel John Stark did not live at the head of Seneca Lake as
reported in the CRS publication. He is well documented as having
been a resident of Morris County, New Jersey, from the time of
the Revolutionary War to the time of his death on May 10,
1822.[169] Therefore, CRS’s comments suggest that there is
another mistake in the publication. Assuming the day of birth
reported in the Rodney Fair Stark Family research is correct,
John Stark could have been a son of either Aaron Stark [the
third] or Aaron Stark [the fourth]. In view of the fact that
1733 would have been a borderline year for Margaret Wells to
have given birth to a child, the John Stark who married Mary
Dilla should be considered a son of Aaron Stark [the fourth].
In
Conclusion
In
this publication, Aaron Stark [the fourth] and Amos Stark
(Senior) will be presented as sons of Aaron Stark [the third]
and Margaret Wells. Mary Stark and Hannah Stark will be shown as
daughters of Aaron Stark [the third]. Margaret Stark and
Lieutenant Colonel John Stark will be presented as the daughter
and son of Aaron Stark [the fourth], although there is a
possibility John could have been a son of Aaron Stark [the
third]. Isaac Stark will be presented as a son of Amos Stark
(Senior).
__________
167)1850
Census, Groton, Erie County, Ohio; National Archives Roll
M432_676, page 371; Enumerated November 28, 1850.
168)
Rodney Fair, Stark Family Research. E-mail address: <rmfair@msn.com>.
169)
"History of Morris County, New Jersey with
Illustrations, and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens
and Pioneers, 1739-1882." New York: W.W. Munsell &
CO., 1882.
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