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Report 2: Genetic Genealogy Report;

Descendants of Archibald Stark, James Stark, & Dr. Richard Starke

Background

Genetic data of descendants of Archibald Stark, Dr. Richard Starke, and James Stark [of Stafford VA] have clearly provided proof these participants are related to each other and have a common ancestor who lived within the last 20 generations. This result further suggests Archibald, Richard, and James were related and most likely shared a common ancestor, although the genealogical evidence is insufficient to determine the identity of this common ancestor. All three arrived in America between 1700 and 1725. It is known with certainty Archibald settled in New Hampshire; Richard in York County, Virginia; and James in Stafford County, Virginia.

Earlier genealogical research suggested Archibald and James were brothers and Dr. Richard Starke was their Uncle. In her publication entitled "The Family of General John Stark of New Hampshire, Jane Elizabeth Stark Maney¹ had this to say about "Other Stark Families in America."³

 "Some genealogists have suggested that James Stark may have been a brother of Archibald, our immigrant ancestor. In 1998, the Scottish genealogist, A. R. Bigwood, failed to find this relationship, in fact, indications are that they were not brothers.

Another early Stark family settled in York County, Virginia in the early 1700's, Richard Starke, who had been a physician in Glasgow, Scotland. He was a surgeon for a Scottish regiment of soldiers. He was born in Scotland before 1668, and is related to the James Stark and Archibald Stark families in some way. Some have suggested that he may have been an uncle of Archibald Stark." 

This report will address the genealogical uncertainties presented in the Maney publication and use her direct male line of descent from William Stark of Dullutur to Archibald — which suggests William lived 12 generations before a descendant (#25347) of Archibald who has been genetically tested.  

To provide DNA support for this report, one descendant of Archibald (#25347), James (#74402), and Richard (N21529) was chosen for comparison to each other. Although all of the members of Group 2 have been proven to be genetically related, the participants chosen are those that can be compared over 37 markers (H37 Haplotype) as presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Y-DNA Results of Descendants

The cells highlighted in "yellow" represent an allele value that differs from the most common value in that column. According to FTDNA, marker numbers labeled in "RED" have a higher rate of mutation from father to son than those that are not shown in red. To simplify the following discussion, the phrase "descendant of" will be shortened to [R] (descendant of Richard); [J] (descendant of James); and [A] (descendant of Archibald). By comparing the genetic data of any two of the three listed in Table 1, the following will discuss the probability that any two compared individuals share a common ancestor within a specified number of generations.  

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Genetic Comparisons

Various genetic comparisons were made of the descendants of Richard, James and Archibald. Using TIME PREDICTOR¹ calculations, 

a Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor Chart (TMRCA) was created with specific plots produced as a result of each comparison.

The comparisons yield a chart in which generations are plotted against the probability the compared individuals could have had a common ancestor who lived within that generation. For example, the red plot below suggests there is a probability of about 95% that the compared individuals could have had an ancestor who lived within 11 generations. Only three genetic comparisons could be made of the participants presented in Table 1. Each of the plots created from the three possible comparisons have been color coded as follows:

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Were Archibald Stark and James Stark (of Stafford County, VA) Brothers?

To be brothers, Archibald and James I must be members of the same generation (Gen 8 in Table 2). If they were brothers, then John Stark who married Jean McCutcheon (Gen 9 in Table 2) would have to be the father of James. Therefore, if James and Archibald were brothers, the first common ancestor of [J] and [A] lived within the 10th generation. Table 3 illustrates the lineage as it would appear if Archibald and James had been brothers.

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Was Dr. Richard Starke an Uncle of James or Archibald?

On pages 17 through 22 of the 1920 Stark Family Association Yearbook was an article by James R. Clark of Maunie, Illinois — lacking source documentation — but providing a discussion of the relationship of Dr. Richard Starke to James Stark of Stafford County. This is presented to illustrate the theories circulated in 1920, much of which later genealogical research has found to be inaccurate — but the following passage does suggest Richard was an Uncle of James.¹

Dr. Richard Stark of Virginia had been a merchant and a physician of Glasgow, Scotland, and a Surgeon of a Scotch regiment of soldiers. He was probably a brother of John (?) Stark who was likewise a merchant of Glasgow. The Doctor with his wife, Rebecca, and their five children, William, Mary, Catharine, Richard, Jr., and James, and another boy, James Stark, all born in or near Glasgow, settled in York Co.. Virginia, about the year 1700. The Doctor died there about the year 1704. After his death, the name of the additional boy, James Stark, disappeared from the records of the Doctor's family, and of the locality. From the various happenings we conclude that the extra boy, James Stark in the Doctor's family, was a son of the Doctor's brother John (?) of Glasgow, who had bound him to the Doctor for a term of years, for his service, support and education and especially for the acquirement of a Doctor's profession under the Doctor's instruction. But the Doctor's death terminated the contract before its completion, when the boy at the age of nine or ten years was returned to his parents in Glasgow where he was educated along with his brothers in the University of that city."

While the article lacks documentation able to prove James lived in the home of Richard, can a genetic comparison of [R] to [J] provide support Richard was an Uncle of James? If Richard was the Uncle of James; then the father of Richard was the grandfather of James as presented in Table 4.

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Proposed Hypothetical Lineage Model

Table 5 is a proposed lineage model suggested from the above discussion, and, more importantly,  based on the accuracy of the lineage from William of Dullutur to Archibald presented in the Maney publication and subsequently from Archibald to #25347. Because all of the participants in Group 2 are related and Archibald is presented as a descendant of William of Dullutur, then all must have kinship to the Killermont Stark families.  One possible lineage from James to William has been selected as presented in the H & J publication — primarily because of the given name James within that lineage. Dr. Richard Starke has been presented as an Uncle of James, primarily because of the 1920 Stark Family Yearbook article by James R. Clarke and the above genetic comparisons. It is quite possible Richard could have been a cousin of James and Richard's descent different from that presented —  but the genetic evidence does suggest the common ancestor of James and Richard most likely lived in Gen 10, 11 or 12. Based on this set of hypothetical criteria, we can construct the following model with William of Dullutur as the common ancestor of Archibald, James, and Richard and therefore of [A], [R], and [J].

For supporting reference material, the following links to appendix web pages are listed:

Lineage of all members of Group 2

Descendant Tree from William of Dullutur

Lineage of William Stark of Dullutur to Archibald Stark

Discussion

Table 5 is only one possible lineage selected from several possible scenarios. The Starks of Auchenvole have been selected as a descendant lineage from William of Dullutur that was parallel to the Killermont descendant Lineage from William. John of Auchenvole who married Anna Muirhead was chosen as the hypothetical father of James while John of Auchenvole who married Elizabeth Newlands was chosen to be the hypothetical father of Richard Starke and Grandfather of James. This scenario was selected because the genetic comparisons suggest the common ancestor of [A], [J], and [R] is more likely to have lived in Gen 11, 12, or 13. The genetic data appears to favor Gen 13.

The above hypothetical genealogy suggests James was not a descendant of the Killermont Families which is also suggested by the genetic comparisons to the descendant of Archibald Stark. The snuff box belonging to James described in the H & J publication was considered an important connection to the Killermont Stark Families. The snuff box description clearly has symbols and inscriptions suggesting these were taken from the Killermont Coat-of-Arms. If James was not a descendant of the Killermont Stark families, how could he have made claim to the Killermont Coat-of-Arms? The H & J publication may have provided an answer to this question.¹

"The Starks of Killermont were the ones who registered the Coat-of-Arms in 1672. The man who made that registration must have been John Stark of Killermont the younger. James Stark of Stafford Co., VA owned the snuff box dated 1743 which contained the Stark motto Fortiorum, Fortiae, Facta and the engravings of the bull which were exactly the same as the drawing of the bull on the Stark crest and Coat-of-Arms. Only direct descendants of the family who was granted a Coat-of-Arms are eligible to use that arms..... The family who registered the arms as required by law in the late 1600's was not necessarily the only part of that family who were eligible to use those arms. For instance the Muirhead family of Lachop were surely the first of that family to use the Muirhead Coat-of-Arms. However the Lachop branch of the Muirhead family became extinct in the male line, and the Bredisholme branch of the Muirhead family registered the arms in about 1672 as required by law. Very likely the Auchenstarry and Auchenvole Stark families were also eligible to use the Stark Coat-of-Arms and probably the Glasgow Starks also since they all had a common ancestry in John Muirhead/Stark."

Anna Muirhead was a daughter of James Muirhead of Bredisholme and she married John of Auchenvole the younger. This couple was chosen to be the hypothetical Father and Mother of James for the obvious reasons. Assuming Richard Starke was an Uncle of James, then John of Auchenvole the younger would have to be the hypothetical brother of Richard.

Considering the genetic plots are only probabilities, there are other possible scenarios. For example, it would seem possible the common ancestor of the three participants could have been along the Killermont line if the common ancestor was John of Killermont who married Margaret Cunningham (Gen 11) or his father, William of Auchenstarry (Gen 12). However, it is unlikely their common ancestor could have lived in the 10th generation. Therefore, any scenario should consider the common ancestor of all three participants must have lived in the 11th generation  or in a generation further removed from the genetic participants. Table 5 suggests future genealogical research in Scotland should focus on finding the common ancestor of [J], [R], and [A] in Gen 11, 12, or 13.  It is suggested researchers begin by initially collecting documentation from the sources cited in the Maney and H & J publications. These sources may then suggest other source material. [Many of these sources are reported in the appendix document entitled "Lineage of William Stark of Dullutur to Archibald Stark." [To visit this web page, click HERE.] Several online sources of information on Scottish genealogical research that might be useful in your research are:

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/scottishroots/

 http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

Conclusions

We have proven all members of Group 2 are related to each other. If the genealogy presented in the Maney publication is accurate, then all members of Group 2 are related to the Killermont Stark families. While we cannot say with confidence how James Stark and Richard Starke are related to the Killermont Stark families, the genetic comparisons do suggest Richard and James were closer relatives to each other than either were to Archibald; and the genetic comparisons further suggest that it is more likely the common ancestor could have lived 13 generations earlier and could have been William of Dullutur.

Future genealogical research should be prioritized as follows:

Priority 1: Confirm the accuracy of the Maney publication. While well done, the connection of John Stark of Killermont (Gen 10 who married Margaret Naper) to John Stark (Gen 9 who married Jean McCutcheon) needs to be reviewed. While well documented, the evidence of this connection is somewhat circumstantial but quite probable. 

Priority 2: In Scotland, the children of John Stark the younger of Auchenvole who married Anna Muirhead need to be researched to see if they could have had a son named James born about 1695. In this hypothetical model, James would be the brother of John of Auchenvole christened in 1683. This research intended to prove or disprove the above hypothetical model. If disproved, then another possible lineage needs to be examined. [Other possible lineages can be found by clicking HERE.]

Priority 3: If the father of James can be found, then the father of Richard Starke will be in close proximity. This research should be deferred until 1 and 2 have been successfully completed. However, if the Father of Richard is located first, as already stated, the father of James will be in close proximity.

 That completes the analysis. Hope the above will be helpful to those who are researching the Scottish origins of these families.