John Starrett (1710 - 1799)

Born 1710 in Ireland

Husband of Mary J. (Webb) Starrett — married 1750 in Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 20 Jun 1799 at about age 89 in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA

DO NOT REMOVE JOHN STARRETT BELOW AS HUSBAND OF MARY WEBB, DAUGHTER OF JOHN WEBB AND MARY BOONE WEBB. This is the correct husband of Mary Webb.

• NEEDS REV WAR CATEGORY: Private in Captain Robert Elton’s Company, Chester County Militia.

Biography

John Starrett was born in 1710 in Ireland. (4) He married Mary J. Webb, daughter of John Webb and Mary (Boone) Webb. Although his wife Mary was raised a Quaker, they were married in the Presbysterian Church in Pennsylvania. (Mary Webb and John Starrett were publicly reprimanded by the Quakers in Marys hometown of Berks, PA. for their non-Quaker marriage).

John and Mary Starrett set up housekeeping on one of John's farms "about 7 miles distant from the Forks of the Brandywine River" about 1757. Here the newlyweds parted completely with Quaker traditions of the Webbs and Boones and followed the Starrett ancestral Presbyterian faith. They became members of their local Presbyterian Church. (5, 6,8,9) The Presbyterians did not always maintain birth records as part of the elements of the faith, as did the German Lutherans or Irish Catholics. Research in county history, Wills and family history has revealed that John and Mary Starrett had seven children born in Chester County:

John and Mary had the following 7 children: (11)

• James Starret 1751–1829
• John Starrett 1757–1840
• Martha Starrett (Smith) 1758–1809
• Mary Smith 1760–1832
• Moses Sterret 1763–1839
• Rachel Starrett 1765-
• Samuel Starrett 1768–1850

John and his sons James and John Jr. volunteered their service to their developing Nation by enlisting in the Chester County Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia. John was a Private in Captain Robert Elton’s Company, Chester County Militia. He was about 40 years old, James was about 20 and John Jr. was 19. Capt. Elton’s Company was assigned to the Continental Army under General George Washington to defend their new Nation at various battles during the Revolutionary War. The Starrett men survived the war and returned to their homestead in Westmoreland County, PA. He ran a tannery and with hs sons, they surveyed new land to the east that his wife's first cousin, Daniel Boone, told him would be a great area to live. They also made business contacts with the French in New Orleans. StarretIt basically conducted a late 1700’s vera marketing trip from the Ohio River Valley, Eastern Virginia, the Virginia Military District and returned on a slow flatboat trip from New Orleans to their home in Pennsylvania. (7,12)

John died on 20 June 1799 at East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and was buried at Scottdale Cemetery, Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. His wife passed away in August of 1804. They are buried next to each other in the Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA where many Starretts, and Webbs including all of his children. (10)

• (“The Ancestors, Life and Descendants of Daniel Copple Starrett 1856-1935”) and (Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823 by Dorothy Williams Potteer. The Keelboat Age on Western Waters, by Leland D. Baldwin).

Sources

• Chester County, Pennsylvania Wills, 1713-1825. Ancestry/Transcription: John Starrett Residence East Nantmeal Prove date 3 Dec 1771 Remarks John Starrett. East Nantmeal. Dec. 3, 1771. Adm. to Anne and James Starrett. [[1]]
• Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S., Estate Papers, 1714-1838. [[2]]
• England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. John Sterratt Gender Male. [[3]]
• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900. Name John Sterrett Arrival Year 1722 Arrival Place Pennsylvania Primary Immigrant Sterrett, John Family Members Relative Benjamin Source Publication Code 648.10. [[4]]
• Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779-1863. [[5]]
• Pennsylvania, U.S., Oyer and Terminer Court Papers, 1757-1787. [[6]]
• Pennsylvania, U.S., Revolutionary War Battalions and Militia Index, 1775-1783. [[7]]
• Pennsylvania, U.S., Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801. [[8]]
• U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820. Ancestry/Transcription: John Starrett Gender M (Male) State Pennsylvania County Chester County Town East Nantmea Residence Year 1770 Household Remarks Acres: 200; Horses: 2; Cattle: 3; Sheep: 0; Servants: 0. [[9]]
• U.S., Find a Grave™ Index, 1600s-Current. [[10]]
• U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935. [[11]]
• U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. [[12]]
• The Ancestors, Life and Descendants of Daniel Copple Starrett 1856-1935.
• Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823 by Dorothy Williams Potteer. The Keelboat Age on Western Waters, by Leland D. Baldwin.