Samuel Emory Starr (1835 - 1915)

Born 6 Dec 1835 in Licking, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Anna Eliza (Williamson) Starr — married 25 Dec 1870 in Lane, Oregon, United States

Died 15 May 1915 at age 79 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Caryl Ruckert [send private message]

Biography

Sam Starr was an Ohioan.

Sam Starr was buried in Bellfountain Cemetery, Bellfountain, Oregon.

Sam Starr was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. See Trails and Wagon Trains.

Military Service in U.S. Civil War

Corporal Sam Starr served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: December 3, 1864
Mustered out: July 19, 1867
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 1st Regiment, Oregon Infantry

Samuel E. Starr enlisted as a private in the 1st Regiment of the Oregon Infantry on December 3, 1864 and mustered out as a corporal on July 19, 1867.^[1][2][3]

Wagon Train Details

"Wagon Trains", large groups of covered wagons that travelled together for safety and protection, were a common way for pioneers to travel as they migrated west. These are the known details of the wagon train this person travelled on:

For more information on wagon trains you can also check out the Trails and Wagon Trains sub-project

Birth

This profile is part of the Starr Name Study.

Sam Starr migrated from Ohio to Iowa.

Sam Starr migrated from Iowa to Oregon.

Samuel was born December 6, 1835. to John Starr and Elizabeth Lucas in Licking County, Ohio.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Sam was listed as an heir in his father's will and probate records on April 5, 1869 in Benton County, Oregon. His birth year was given as 1835 and his age was recorded to be 33 years at the time of the court record.^[9]

Early Ohio Settlers: Purchasers of Land in Southeastern Ohio lists John Starr along with his brother Samuel, Moses and Jabez as purchasers of land in Ohio.^[10]

Migration to Iowa

When Samuel was just an infant his family left Ohio for Iowa in 1838.^[11]

Indian Territory Accessions.

Many early settlers of Iowa came by way of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The main steamboat route from the Middle Atlantic states and the Southern states followed the Ohio River and the Mississippi River to Keokuk. ^[12]

His father, John, purchased forty acres of land in Van Buren county Iowa in 1846.^[13] Samuel was about five years old when his father was counted in the 1840 U.S. census with two males under the age of five.^[14]

1848 Wagon Train to Oregon

Samuel was about thirteen when his family joined the 3rd Company of an 1848 wagon train to Oregon.^[15]

Crossing the North Platte.

This train left Van Buren County, Iowa on April 10, 1848 led by Jesse Belknap and consisted of the Belknaps, Hawleys, Starrs, Prathers, Bethers, then joined company with Watts, Jacksons and others.

At the Platte River their company was formed, laws made and officers elected. George Jackson and Joseph Watts were elected as pilots due to their previous overland experience. The train arrived in Oregon the second week in September.^[15]Emigrants To Oregon In 1848.

Oregon Pioneer

The Starr family settled in Benton county, Oregon taking up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres west of Monroe.^[11]

Benton County Claim Map.

Samuel was listed as fourteen years old and living with his family in Benton County, Oregon in the 1850 U.S. Census^[16][17]

Samuel grew to manhood on the Starr farm in Benton County. Due to the numerous Starr family relatives living in the area it was named Starrs Point. His father, John was a Methodist preacher and one of the promoters and builders of Simpson Chapel, the first church in the settlement. ^[11] "It took hard work and courage to pioneer the new land. Only the energetic came; only the hardy lived...A sense of humor and a joy of life were as essential to these pioneers as the ability to accept hardship."^[18]

Beginning in 1851 all the families in the area would gather once a year to share a holiday of rest, joy, and renewal of spirit and friendship. Between the last Sunday in June and the first Sunday in July everyone gathered on Orrin Belknap's claim. He had set aside 10 acres of land that became the "Bellfountain Campground". It was an important part of community life.^[18]

Rogue River War

"Throughout the 1850s Governor Stevens of the Washington Territory clashed with the US Army over Indian policy: Stevens wanted to displace Indians and take their land, but the army opposed land grabs. White settlers in the Rogue River area began to attack Indian villages, and Captain Smith, commandant of Fort Lane, often interposed his men between the Indians and the settlers. In October 1855, he took Indian women and children into the fort for their own safety; but a mob of settlers raided their village, killing 27 Indians. The Indians killed 27 settlers expecting to settle the score, but the settlers continued to attack Indian camps through the winter. On May 27, 1856 Captain Smith arranged the surrender of the Indians to the US Army, but the Indians attacked the soldiers instead. The commander fought the Indians until reinforcements arrived the next day; the Indians retreated. A month later they surrendered and were sent to reservations."^[19][20]

Rogue River.

Samuel is listed in the pension applications for service in the 2nd Oregon Militia Volunteers in 1856.^[21][22]

Fred Lockley was an American journalist best known for his editorial column for the Oregon Journal, "Impressions and Observations of a Journal Man", which appeared throughout the Western United States on a nearly daily basis. ^[23] His column on November 6, 1936 included an interview with Silas Starr, the brother of Samuel.^[24]:

Silas STARR, brother: "My brother Samuel Emery spent some time in the Idaho mines and on his return to the valley enlisted in Company A, 1st Oregon infantry, and served in Eastern Oregon. He had a farm in Linn county. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna WILLIAMSON, was a resident of Lane county."

In February, 1856, George Ambrose directed the removal of the surviving Indians of the Rogue River Valley.

His diary, a chronicle of the journey northward via the Applegate Trail, is terse and typical of the day, revealing no emotion regarding the suffering and dislocation of those he led. Ambrose readily admitted in his account that the wagons to haul the aged and ill were inadequate for the task. His diary dryly tallied the deaths of eight people and the births of eight children during the journey.^[25] The following entry in his diary mentions the Starr family settlement:

"March 19th Wednesday Cloudy & threatening rain, quite show[ e]ry thru the day. We continued our march down Long Tom [River} & passed over some very muddy roads. We traveled today a distance of fourteen miles & encamped on the bank of Long Tom at Starrs Point [Monroe, OR.]. [Several members of the Starr family settled in this vicinity. Starrs Point post office, established in 1852, became Monroe in 1874.] "

Marriage

Sam was about thirty-five years old when he married Anna Elizabeth Williamson in 1870.^[5][8]

Children

Sam and Annie had four children born in Oregon^[8]:

1. Etta b. 1871 d. 1877
2. Chester b. 1873
3. Ernest b. 1876
4. Asa b. 1881 - 1882

Land

The population of Crook County was estimated to be about 7,500 on January 1, 1902.^[26]

Samuel purchased the following land in Hay Creek, Crook County Oregon:

• 25 Nov 1885 Crook, Oregon , USA. Meridan: Willamette; Township: 015s; Range: 015E; Aliquots: N½NE¼; Section: 32. Accession Number: ORTDAA 064482; Document Number: 698. Acres: 160. ^[27]
• 2 Apr 1890 Crook, Oregon , USA. Meridian: Willamette; Township: 020s; Range: 020E; Aliquots: N½NW¼; Section: 25; Accession Number: ORLAA 070726; Document Number: 180; Acres: 160.^[28]

Later Years in Central Oregon

The 1890 Veteran's Schedule states that Sam was living in Haystack, Crook, Oregon.^[3] By 1900 the Starrs were living in Dufur, Wasco County, Oregon where they were counted in the U.S. census.^[8]

Wasco County, Oregon.

Sam was named in the biography of his brother-in-law John H. Williamson in An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, "...one sister Anna, wife of S.E. Starr, a farmer residing near Wasco."^[26]

"Once the largest county in the nation at the time it was established in 1854, Wasco County extended from the summit of the Cascades to the Rocky mountains, including the western edge of today’s Yellowstone National Park and parts of western Montana and southern Idaho. It was the gateway to the interior of western North America. The region played a role in significant themes in American history. On the Lewis & Clark trail and the Oregon Trail, the history of Wasco County includes 10,000 years of native peoples inhabitation, followed by the missionaries, military establishment of Fort Dalles, Indian wars, the gold rush, pioneer settlement, agriculture, steamboat shipping, commerce, and the last competition of the railroad barons."^[29]

The Pacific Monthly, July, 1905

From the Pacific Monthly in July of 1905, "The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, which will be held in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., beginning June 1, 1905, and ending October 15, 1905, will commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the exploration of the Oregon Country by an expedition planned by President Jefferson and commanded by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Old Oregon comprised the present states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming."^[30]

By the end of the 19th Century, Portland had 90,000 residents and it was the largest metropolis in the Northwest. Portland had the busiest port up the coast from San Francisco. The Alaska Gold Rush and the Railroads began to make Seattle boom. Portland’s leaders took a bold step to promote growth by holding a World’s Fair in Portland in 1905. The Lewis & Clark Exposition took up residence along the Willamette River waterfront in northwest Portland.^[31]

During those four and a half months, 1,588,000 paying visitors passed through the gates to the 400-acre fairgrounds on the northwest edge of town. More than 400,000 were from outside the Pacific Northwest, a huge number of tourists for a city of perhaps 120,000 people.^[32]

The 1910 U.S. census Sam and Annie were living in Portland Ward 10, Multnomah County, Oregon.^[33]

Sam arrived in Oregon territory when he was a boy of twelve in 1848 and died in Portland in 1915 at the age of seventy-nine. In his lifetime he witnessed the early pioneer days and completion of a transcontinental railroad. Portland experienced a prolonged era of growth with the expansion of the regional railroad system from the 1880s to the 1910s.^[34]

Front Street, Portland, Oregon 1910.

Portland began to grow fairly rapidly after the Civil War, building docks for shipping lumber, fish, wheat and produce to San Francisco and the rest of the world. Farmers were demanding better roads to haul their goods to Portland for shipment. ^[31] At the turn of the 19th century, Portland was still the metropolis of the Pacific Northwest, and its buildings reflected a sense of urban grandeur rivaling the great cities of North America.^[35]

Death

Samuel Emery Starr died on May 15, 1915 in Portland, Oregon.^[36][5]

Burial

Sam was buried in the Bellfountain Cemetery next the the grave of his brother Silas Starr.^[37]

Heman Buckingham was the brother-in-law of Sam as he married Sam's sister, Matilda Jane Starr. Sam was buried along side many family members in the Bellfountain Cemetery.

"Heman Chapin Buckingham, who came to the area in 1848, took up a Donation Land Claim just south of Bellfountain. He also purchased a part of the Jonas Belknap Donation Land Claim, and in the early 1850's donated ground for the cemetery. This land was first deeded to a Board of Trustees to be held for the use of the community; later a corporation was formed. The cemetery plat was filed with Benton County in March 1900. Additional land was donated by J. P. and Vernon GRAGG."

"The cemetery now contains a total of 11 acres. The oldest marked grave (22 July 1859) is that of the infant daughter of J. and P. KELSEY. It is likely that there were burials earlier in that decade. It is not known which is the oldest part of the cemetery. There is no overall map and early records were burned. The sexton has the names of plot owners in some sections of the cemetery. The oldest extant record is a map drawn on a piece of wood. The Annex rows are in a new area to the west of the old cemetery. Annex rows are numbered from north to south."^[38]

Sources

1. ↑ "Soldier Details." National Parks Service. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=F90987D4-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A.

   Starr, Samuel E.

   Battle Unit Name: 1st Regiment, Oregon Infantry

   Side: Union

   Company: A

   Soldier's Rank In: Private

   Soldier's Rank Out: Corporal

   Film Number: M553 ROLL 1

2. ↑ Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Oregon. 1864. www.fold3.com/image/153465514?xid=1945 Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Oregon. The National Archives. Publisher Date 1864 Publisher Location Oregon. https://www.fold3.com
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War; Series Number: M123; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs; Record Group Number: 15; Census Year: 1890. Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8667/ORM123_77-0641 Name: Samuel E Starr Gender: Male Role: Veteran Residence Date: Jun 1890 Home in 1890 (Township, County, State): Haystack, Crook, Oregon Enumeration District: 58 Year enlisted: 1864 Year discharged: 1866 Rank: Corporal Company: A Regiment or vessel: 1st Regiment, Oregon Infantry Length of service: 4 years and 19 months.
4. ↑ Oregon, Wills and Probate Records, 1849-1963. Citing the will of John W. Starr; (Online database: Ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, Operations, Inc., 2015.) Probate Case Files, Benton County, Oregon, 1850-1900; Index to Estates, 1850-1929; Author: Oregon. County Court (Benton County); Probate Place: Benton, Oregon. Case File, No 162-215, Mulkey, John D-Johnson, R C,. Images 894-917. Citing Samuel Emory Starr born 6 Dec 1835
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} "Oregon Secretary of State." Oregon Secretary of State: Early Oregonians Database Index Accessed March 4, 2018. Early Oregonian Database Citing birth of Samuel Emory Starr, 6 Dec 1835
6. ↑ Mark Phinney Historical Records Survey July 7, 1939 JOHN W. STARR BIBLE RECORDS
7. ↑ WPA, Historical Records Survey, Bible Record, STARR BIBLE "The foregoing is a copy of the family records taken from my father's family Bible. S. C. STARR, Corvallis, Oregon" citing birth of Samuel Emory Starr on Dec. 6, 1835
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSDR-3DR : accessed 16 March 2019), Sam Starr, Dufur, Kingsley, and Ramsey Precincts Dufur village, Wasco, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 149, sheet 9A, family 180, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,353.
9. ↑ Oregon, Wills and Probate Records, 1849-1963. Citing the will of John W. Starr; (Online database: Ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, Operations, Inc., 2015.) Probate Case Files, Benton County, Oregon, 1850-1900; Index to Estates, 1850-1929; Author: Oregon. County Court (Benton County); Probate Place: Benton, Oregon. Case File, No 162-215, Mulkey, John D-Johnson, R C,. Images 894-917. Transcribed by Caryl Ruckert 12/7/2017. https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9078/007648118_00894/232636
10. ↑ Berry, David A. "Early Ohio Settlers: Purchasers of Land in Southeastern Ohio, 1800-1840." Google Books. Accessed March 14, 2019. https://books.google.com/books?id=6O38oMFo0NkC&dq=Early Settlers in Monroe County, Ohio Samuel Starr&source=gbs_navlinks_s. pg 28, 29 and 80
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon: containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present. Chicago, IL: Chapman Pub. Co., 1903. pgs. 974-975 archive.org
12. ↑ "Iowa Emigration and Immigration." Iowa Emigration and Immigration Genealogy - FamilySearch Wiki. Accessed March 13, 2019. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Iowa_Emigration_and_Immigration.
13. ↑ "General Land Office Records." Patent Details - BLM GLO Records. Accessed December 09, 2017. https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent. Iowa Volume 194, page 349. Patent record for John Wesley Starr 40 acres 070N - 010W NE¼ SW¼ Van Buren, IA. Patent for John Wesley Starr
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTG-4XV : 15 August 2017), John W Starr, Van Buren, Iowa Territory, United States; citing p. 275, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 102; FHL microfilm 7,790.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Emigrants To Oregon In 1848 compiled by Stephenie Flora copyright 2004
16. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHHW-DFY : 12 April 2016), John W Starr, Benton county, Benton, Oregon Territory, United States; citing family 91, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
17. ↑ Original Survey Oregon - Willamette Survey Details - BLM GLO Records. Accessed November 25, 2017. https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/survey/default.aspx?dm_id=331011&sid=nwj3lsuf.yyx#surveyDetailsTabIndex=0. citing survey of Benton County to include the claim of John Starr.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Mintonye, Edna A. They laughed, too. San Antonio: Naylor Co., 1968. pg. 33, 37.
19. ↑ Rose M. Smith and Barrett Codieck "Guide to the Cayuse, Yakima, and Rogue River Wars Papers, 1847–1858", Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, 2010.
20. ↑ "Cayuse, Yakima, and Rogue River Wars Papers, 1847-1858 PDF." Archives West: Cayuse, Yakima, and Rogue River Wars Papers, 1847-1858. Accessed March 16, 2019. http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv85849.
21. ↑ White, Virgil D. Index to Pension Applications for Indian Wars Service between 1817 and 1898. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Pub., 1997.
22. ↑ "GFO: Indian War Pensions." Genealogical Forum of Oregon. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://gfo.org/resources/indexes/military/pension-index/05.html.
23. ↑ "Fred Lockley." Wikipedia. July 19, 2018. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lockley.
24. ↑ Lockley, Fred. Impressions and Observations of The Journal Man, Oregon Journal, Portland, Oregon. November 6, 1936.
25. ↑ Beckham, Stephen Dow. Https://sohs.org/sites/default/files/magazines/1996-01.pdf. PDF. Medford: Southern Oregon Historical Society, 1996. "Trail of Tears, 1856 Diary of Indian Agent George Ambrose,"
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1} Shaver, F. A., Arthur P. Rose, R. F. Steele, and A. E. Adams. An Illustrated History of Central Oregon: Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, Crook, Lake, and Klamath Counties. Spokane, WA: Western Historical Publishing Company, 1905. https://books.google.com/books?id=0TBEAQAAMAAJ&dq=Hay+Creek,+Crook+County,+Oregon&source=gbs_navlinks_s
27. ↑ Samuel E. Starr (Crook, Oregon]), patent no. [698]; “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch : accessed March 16, 2019)
28. ↑ Samuel E. Starr (Crook, Oregon]), patent no. [180]; “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch : accessed March 16, 2019)
29. ↑ "Wasco County Past & Present." Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://www.gorgediscovery.org/discover/exhibits-programs/wasco-county-past-present/.
30. ↑ "The Pacific Monthly : Wood, Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://archive.org/details/pacificmonthly1314woodrich/page/n37.
31. ↑ ^{31.0 31.1} "Portland History." Portland History. Accessed March 16, 2019. http://www.pdxhistory.com/.
32. ↑ The Oregon Encyclopedia. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lewis_clark_exposition/#.XI1Thrgh1hE.
33. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLY1-5D2 : accessed 16 March 2019), Samuel E Starr, Portland Ward 10, Multnomah, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 242, sheet 1B, family 18, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1287; FHL microfilm 1,375,300.
34. ↑ The Oregon Encyclopedia. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/portland/#.XI1fTbgh1hE.
35. ↑ "Lost Portland." Oregon Historical Society. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://ohs.org/museum/exhibits/lost-portland.cfm.
36. ↑ "Oregon Death Index, 1903-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZC3-BLZ : 11 December 2014), Samuel E Starr, 15 May 1915; from "Oregon, Death Index, 1898-2008," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing Portland, Oregon, certificate number 859, Oregon State Archives and Records Center, Salem.
37. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 March 2019), memorial page for Samuel Emory Starr (6 Dec 1835–3 May 1915), Find A Grave Memorial no. 22965803, citing Bellfountain Cemetery, Bellfountain, Benton County, Oregon, USA ; Maintained by Indigo Falls (contributor 46887827) .
38. ↑ Burt, Dorothy. "Bellfountain Cemetery, Benton County, Oregon." Bellfountain Cemetery, Benton Co, OR. Accessed November 25, 2017. citing history of Bellfountain Cemetery which is on land donated by Heman Buckingham. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orbenton/Cemeteries/Bellfountain.html

Notes

• Veteran of the Rogue River Indian Wars of 1856 and the Civil War. Moved from Belfountain to Powell Butte, OR (near Prineville) and operated the Red Cloud Ranch.
• STARR, Samuel E[mory], 9S, Co A, 1st Ore, 6 Dec 1835~13 May 1915, (Resided Portland ~ wife Eliza), Next to Silas & Mary S. [brother], [s/o John & Eliza Lucas S.] MIL