Returning to my father's side of the family tree, my focus today is on a 6th Great Grandfather, Captain John Starnes. I include the title of Captain in anything referring to John, as there were several men who shared his name within the extended family of Sternes/ Starnes. The memorial tombstone, shown above, is located at Saint John's Lutheran Church near the current town of Mount Pleasant in Cabarrus County.
Saint John's is a fitting place for it, although he did not die here. A group of German immigrants had settled along the Dutch Buffalo Creek, in this area by the year 1737. They had built a rough-hewn church by 1745, they named the "Dutch Buffalo Creek Meeting Haus". The building served the community as both church and school. The Starnes/Sternes, and their related and intermarried families, are a portion of my German roots, which come in third among all of my ancestral locations.
Again, some of my Palatine heritage, the Staring family had their origins near the Village of Alzy in the Palatine area of Germany. John's predecessors arrived in New York in June of 1710, with many others of their ilk and situation. The name would be anglicized, due to the bearers' accents to either Sternes or Starnes, as it is seen in both forms in the early years. They lived in Herkimer, New York until around 1733, after which, they removed to Pennsylvania for a brief time, a long the Juniata River, before they gathered with a mounting group for a pilgrimage into Virginia. By 1740, the group were in Southwestern Virginia.
A highway marker explains the circumstances of the event and denotes the spot it occurred. Joseph Starnes Jr. would relocate to North Carolina, with his kinsmen and Captain John Starnes would leave 1000 acres in Kentucky unclaimed until after his death.
Most of what can be known about John Starnes is what we can glean from his service in the Revolutionary War.
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The North-Carolina Star
Raleigh, North Carolina • Page 2 The article above tells of a reenactment of the Battle of Kings Mountain, nearly 50 years afterwards. |
"Our Brigade was commanded by General Rutherford, we arrived at home in the month of May 1779 and in June the next month following we enlisted in the Militia serviced under Captain John Starns as light horsemen and joined the Regiment commanded by Colonel Davidson, afterwards, Genl Davidson.."
And another.
'General Rutherford commanded the Brigade...was also engaged in the depression of the Tories is the state he lived as a soldier in the company of Captain John Starnes for about eight months during the time the British forces were in the possession of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County N Carolina, this was in the year 1780...."
There is a story that sometime during this turbulent year, Captain John Starnes, on horseback, had confronted Crissman, a man of his neighborhood, and after chasing him down a creek, hung him, without a trial or jury. The truth of this story is yet to be divulged.
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| Depiction of the Battle of Kings Mountain |
John Starnes died intestate. There was no will. He was a young man. An accounting of his estate was taken in 1781, and his widow was apportioned her shares.
Nine years later, as his children grew, in October of 1790, another case was filed as creditors addressed the estate for monies owed.
"Know all men by these presents that we Margaret Starnes wife and Frederick Starnes and John Wence Lawful heirs & legatees of John Starnes Decst..John Lippard Executor of the Estate of the above John Starnes."
Along with many implements, equipment, livestock and furnishings, Captain John Starnes had left 150 acres in Mecklenburg (Cabarrus) County and 1000 acres in Kentucky. His estate was finally settled in April of 1802. The lands of Captain Starnes went to his eldest son, Frederick, and John, the younger son, would move west to Buncombe County to make his own fortune. Only daughter, Catherine, had married John Wence, who is mentioned in the 1790 estate records.
The following paragraph was found in another source, "Frost, Gilchrist and Related Families" by Anne Shepherd, that covered the story of John Starnes II, son of Captain John.
John [Sr.] is established as a son of Frederick Starnes, Jr. by the will of Valentine Starnes and by the subsequent deed conveying the lands in Pennsylvania left to him by his uncle. . . . Frederick Starnes is specifically mentioned in the records of the estate of John Starnes [Sr.], as well in numerous deeds in Clark County, Kentucky, as being the eldest son of John Starnes [Sr.]. Also mentioned in the records of the estate of John Starnes [Sr.] is John Wentz, husband of Catherine Starnes. The records of the Starnes family of Buncombe County state that John Starnes, Jr., was the son of John Starnes [Sr.], and that he had two siblings, Frederick and Christina. The estate of John Starnes [Sr.] was opened in 1781, but was not closed until 1802, indicating that it could not be closed until John Starnes, Jr. came of age." - Frost, Gilchrist, and Related Families
Frederick Starnes III, the oldest son, my 5th Great Grandfather is my branch off the family tree of Captain John Starnes. As the oldest, he remained in Cabarrus/Mecklenburg County and inherited the farm. According to the records of his younger brother, John Starnes II, there had only been three children, the two sons and one sister. He named his sister as Christina; other records have her as Catherine. The name may have gotten confused in time, or she had borne both.
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| John Starnes II, son of Captain John Starnes March 6, 1779 - December 20, 1855 Buried Riverside Cemetery, Ashville, Buncombe, NC |
Frederick III, son of Captain John Starnes married Magdalena (asa 'Motlina') Cline/Klein, the daughter of Michael Klein of Cabarrus County. The marriage bond is dated July 3, 1794. Bondsmen were Joseph Starnes and Herman Meyer or Myer. He and Magdalena had a large family.
