USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. I > Part 120
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On November 4. 1787, at Haverhill, Massachu- setts, Major Caleb Stark married Sarah, daughter of Dr. William Mckinstry, formerly of Taunton, who in 1776 was appointed surgeon-general of the British hospitals at Boston. They had eleven children. including two pairs of twins: John William, Har- riet and Sarah, Elizabeth, Charles and Sarah (2), Henry, Mary Ann, Charlotte. Caleb, David McKin- stry. Of these children five died in infancy or early youth, three married, and three remained on the old homestead. John William was born Octo- ber 24, 1788, and died January 3, 1836. Harriet and Sarah were born October 16, 1790. Saralı died September 8, 1791, under one year of age. Miss Harriet lived to her eighty-second year, dying May 4. 1872; she and her sister, Miss Charlotte, were the last occupants of the old homestead in this generation. Elizabeth, born May 8, 1792, married Samuel Newell, whose sketch follows. Charles and Sarah (2) were born June 4, 1794: the former died Nov. 5, 1819. Henry was born Nov. 8. 1795, and married Emma B. Randolph, of Virginia. He died at Washington, D. C., leaving no children. Mary Ann was born October 15, 1797. and died May 12. ISI5, at the dawn of young womanhood. Charlotte was born July 4, 1799, and outlived all her brothers and sisters, dying June 29, 1889. She was buried on her ninetieth birthday in the beautiful old family cemetery on the estate, which has become the last resting place of most of the descendants of this branch of the family. For many years Miss Har- riet and Miss Charlotte were the presiding hostesses of the old mansion. Both were women of unusual mental powers and remarkable personal beauty, with the manner of gentlewomen of the old school. . Those who were privileged to accept their gracious hospitality cherish it as a precious memory. In her
youth Miss Charlotte was engaged to Charles G. Haines, a native of Canterbury, this state. He was a man of brilliant attainments and became a lawyer in New York City. His untimely death occurred at the beginning of a most promising career, and his betrothed remained ever faithful to his memory. Caleb (2) who, like the sisters just mentioned. passed most of his life at the old home, was born November 24, 1804. He was graduated from Har- vard College in 1823. He read law one year at the law school in Connecticut and finished his studies in the office of Charles G. Haines, of New York, in which city he was admitted to the bar. He opened an office in Cincinnati, but finding the western climate unsuited to his constitution, he returned to New Hampshire, where he passed the rest of his life in a scholarly retirement. He was an earnest Democrat, and represented Dunbarton in the state legislature from 1834 to 1837. He was a fine class- ical scholar and a writer of ability, being a frequent contributor to the political and literary journals of his day. He wrote two valuable historical works, the "History of Dunbarton." and the life of his grandfather. General John Stark. He died Febru- ary 1, 1864. in the sixtieth year of his age. David Mckinstry, the youngest of this family, was born January 24. 1807. and died October 27, IS32. Major Ca- leb Stark died August 26, 1838, near New Comerstown, Oxford township, Ohio, where he was prosecuting the family claims to lands granted to General Stark. The immediate cause of his death was the riding of a hard trotting horse twenty-three miles in three hours on a very warm day. He was returning from a session of court held at New Phiadelphia. In the quaint language of an Ohio paper of the day. "He was attacked with a disease in the head and sus- pension of the faculties, which with some inter- mission continued till his death on Sunday evening last, at the age of seventy-eight years, eight months and twenty-three days." Major Stark's remains lie in the family cemetery at Dunbarton. His wife survived her husband one year, dying September II, IS39, aged seventy-two years.
(IV) Elizabeth, third daughter and fourth child of Major Caleb and Sarah ( Mckinstry) Stark, was born May 8, 1702. She married Samuel Newell. ot Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had two sons, Samuel and Charles. Samuel. whose sketch fol- lows, was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Major Caleb Stark, who had the boy's name changed to John Stark. Mrs. Elizabeth (Stark) Newell died September 10, 1876, at the age of eighty-four years.
(V) Samuel (2), eldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Stark) Newell, was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, October. 1811. At an early age he was adopted by his maternal grandfather. Major Caleb Stark. who reared him at the home in Dun- barton and bestowed on him the name of John Stark. Hle was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1834. and chose the law for his profession. He practiced for some years in Galena, Illinois. The hardships of a new country and failing health compelled a return to New York, and finally to
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Dunbarton, where he hoped to regain strength by a summer's rest. During a business trip to Wash- ington, D. C., he died suddenly in the spring of 1849, at the early age of thirty-eight. Mr. Stark was a ready writer, an accomplished gentleman and a clever artist, with great faculty for catching the likeness in portraiture. His illustrated letters to his grandfather, in which he caricatured both friend and foe, were a source of much merriment to the home circle. In 1837 John Stark married Caroline Julia Morris, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Kane) Morris, of New York, and granddaughter of Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, the financier of the Revo- lution. (See Morris Genealogy III). They had three children : John, Mary Elizabeth. and Charles F. M., whose sketch follows. The elder son was killed by the fall from a roof in New York. The daughter accomplished much philanthropic work and died unmarried at the age of forty years. She built the pretty Episcopal church at Page's Corner, Dun- barton, and did many other things for the town. Mrs. Caroline J. (Morris) Stark outlived her hus- band forty years, and died in Winchester, Massa- chusetts, in 1889, at the age of seventy-five years.
(VI) Charles Frederick Morris. younger son and third child of John and Caroline Julia (Morris) Stark, was born February 20, 1848, in Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He spent most of his time till the age of fourteen in New York City. He was educated at Saint Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire. For some time he was employed in the Bank of the State of New York, New York City, corner William street and Exchange Place, and subsequently in the offices of the Continental and London, Liverpool and Globe insurance com- panies. Of late years Mr. Stark has lived the life of a country gentleman at the old Stark mansion in Dunbarton, with a winter residence at Winchester, Massachusetts. Mr. Stark is very fond of hunting, and is one of the best marksmen in the state. The walls of his house are hung with trophies of the chase. He is interested in all forms of out-door life. and greatly enjoys his big touring car. In politics he is a Democrat, and on that account lost by one vote the election as representative from Dunbarton. On February 26, 1878, Charles F. M. Stark married Annie McNeil, daughter of Colonel John and Cynthia (Morse) McNeil, and grand- daughter of General Solomon McNeil. (See McNeil Genealogy). This marriage united two of the most distinguished families in the state. There is one child, John McNeil Stark, born at Winchester, Massachusetts, April 7, 1882. He was educated at Belmont School for Boys at Belmont, Massachusetts, and at Holderness, New Hampshire. He studied law with Henry F. Hollis, at Concord, and was gradu- · ated from the Boston University Law School, June 8, 1906. He was admitted to the Suffolk county bar in 1905, and New Hampshire bar in 1906.
The Stark mansion at Dunbarton, nine miles from Concord, is the most interesting in Merrimack county, and its historic treasures are not surpassed by any collection in the state, even in old Ports- mouth. Fortunate indeed was the house when
Mrs. Charles F. M. Stark came to preside over it, for she keeps up the best traditions of the place. A descendant of the McNeils and Pierces, she brought many valuable heirlooms hither, and she is a fitting custodian of the priceless relics of the Starks and Morrises. Of the patrician style of beauty which we associate with famous old por- traits, Mrs. Stark possesses the charm of manner which seems the birthright of the mistresses of this famous old mansion. The same free-hearted hospi- tality is maintained as in days of yore, informal afternoon tea is served every day in summer, and guests come from far and near for long or short sojourns. The Stark mansion was built in 1785 by Major Caleb Stark, great-grandfather of the pres- ent owner. It is a spacious two-story frame house with gambrel roof and dormer windows, and a large addition to the west. A broad hall runs through the middle of the house and opens into an old-fashioned garden. The front door, nearly three inches thick, swings on large wrought hinges, two feet in length; the siding is fastened with wrought iron nails. Over the front doors are panes of bull's eye glass, which came from the first lot made in this country. In the hall hangs an oil portrait of General John Stark, executed by Samuel Finley Breese Morse, inventor of the electric telegraph, during his brief sojourn in Concord, 1818-22. There is also a beautiful portrait of Miss Charlotte Stark, done by Jane Stuart, daughter of Gilbert Stuart. The portrait of Webster was painted by Lawson, and there is a beautiful miniature of the Reverend John Mckinstry. In the parlor on the right of the hall are portraits of Governor and Mrs. Benjamin Pierce. the great-grandparents of Mrs. Stark, whose son, Franklin Pierce, became the only president that New Hampshire has thus far furnished to the country ; also portraits of Lieutenant and Mrs. John McNeil. There are also a brace of flint lock pistols carried by General Stark at the battle of Benning- ton, a gold headed cane inscribed "Robert Morris, from his friend, John Hancock," a set of Dresden china owned by M. Genet, the first French minister to America and a Baskerville Bible. The library, across the hall, contains General McNeil's desk, a fine mezzotint of the Duke of Wellington, and many magnificent pieces of carved mahogany. The Starks have always heen a reading family, and there are books of great value representing not a sudden pur- chase to gratify a collector's pride. but rather the slow accumulations of people of literary tastes. Among them are an original set of the Waverly nov- els, bound in leather, and early London editions of Shakespeare. The dining room is full of valuable old furniture, including clocks, sideboards and price- less china. The walls are hung with antlers and the heads of moose, caribou and deer, shot by Mr. Stark in the Maine woods. Among the portraits is one of Robert Morris by Gilbert Stuart. Per- haps the most interesting relic of all, from a con- noisseur's point of view, is found in this room. It is a framed letter to Mrs. Robert Morris, bearing the signature of both George and Martha Washing- ton, and inviting her to visit them at Mount Vernon.
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"There are but one or two other documents extant bearing both these signatures. One thousand dol- lars has been refused for this valuable bit of paper. The house upstairs is as interesting as below. The Lafayette chamber contains the old four-posted bedstead on which the French patriot passed two nights. This has a spread covered with embossed figures wrought in India, a century ago, whose fringe reaches to the floor. The other furniture is just the same as when the distinguished guest oc- cupied the room. Miniatures and silhouettes are found on all the walls, and the adjoining closets are erammed with interesting things. Among them is a green silk calashe, worn by Mrs. Major Stark, also a bonnet, worn hy "Molly" Stark, but whose real name was Elizabeth. Space does not permit detailed mention of the Morris letters. which in- clude autograph epistles from Benjamin Franklin, Louis Phillipe, Kosciusko, and many others equally eminent. It may be mentioned in passing that the estate was originally granted to Archibald Stark, father of the general, and that the original name of Dunbarton was Starkstown. It was so called from 1751 to 1765, when the name was changed to Dun- barton, a slight modification of Dumbarton in Sestland, from the neighborhood of which Arehi- bald Stark and many other early settlers migrated. The grounds are well shaded by trees, including black walnut, rare in this locality, sycamore, elms, locusts and mulberries. The latter trees are a rem- iniscence of the silk craze of 1835 when it was thought a fortune could be made by raising silk worms in this state. Ten acres of the Stark estate were planted with mulberry trees, and all the chil- dren for miles around were employed to gather the leaves to feed the worms. Miss Harriet and Miss Charlotte Stark were awarded a silver medal by the American Institute in New York for the best spec- imens of silk twist placed on exhibition in 1835. The industry, though interesting, did not prove a profitable one in this region, and was abandoned after a time.
(III) John (2), third of the five sons of Gen- eral John (1) and Elizabeth (Page) Stark, was born June 3. 1767, on the old family homestead in Derryfield, now Manchester. He grew up on his father's estate, and from his early youth had a great deal of the care of his father's property, a large part of which he inherited. The General gave him the land bounded by what is now Brook street on the south and Webster street on the north, and run- ning from the old Chester line to the river. This lot contained the original Archibald Stark house and John (2) Stark took up his residence therein. This has come to be hy far the most valuable part of the General's estate. Not only are there exten- sive mill privileges. but the locks at the falls are situated on this section as well as many of the most costly residences in the city. The old fair grounds form no inconsiderable part of the farm. As John Stark advanced in years and was unable to care for his property, the son John (2) moved to the Gen- eral's residence farther up the river-road, and there lived during the last forty years of the life of the
old patriot, and there spent the remainder of his own long life engaged mostly in agricultural pur- suits. His daughter Emily and her husband John D. More remained on his original homestead. In 1821 John (2) Stark sold this place. He was known in his day as "the Justice," and was a highly re- spected citizen of Derryfield. He was married in Derryfield, in 1782, to Polly Huse, daughter of Isaac Huse. She was born June 24, 1760, in Methuen, Massachusetts, and died December 7, 1838. Their children were: Emily, Gradus Bakeman, Betsy, John, Frederick G., Mary, Susan, Samuel K., Charles, Albert G., Caleb and Louisa B. The two older ones were born at the home of their grandfather Page, in Dunbarton, and all the others except the young- est were born in the old house at the end of Amos- keag Bridge. Louisa was born in the old General's house on the river road north. All lived to an ad- vaneed age and reared families of their own. (Men- tion of Frederick G. and his descendants appears in this article).
(IV) John (3), third child and second son of John (2) and Polly (Huse) Stark, was born Jan- uary 26, 1790, and died April 16, 1872. He received from his grandfather, General Stark, a part of the old homestead. This lot ran from the south of Clark's ledge to what is now the north line of Stark Park, and, as with the preceeding grants, from the Merrimack river to the old Chester' line. In 1816 he built the house on the River road at the brow of the hill, where he resided until his death. Just east of this house, about on the site of the present residence of George E. Gould, John (3) Stark started to open a ledge. By the falling of a derrick his son Thomas was killed, and the work was never carried further. On the section of land given to John (3) Stark was located the Stark burying ground, where rest the remains of the General and many of his descendants. It is situated on a bluff half way from the River road to the river, overlooking the river up and down for some dis- tance. On the anniversary of the Battle of Benning- ton, in 1899, the granite obelisk hereinbefore men- tioned was erected to the memory of General Stark, by his family. John (3) Stark married Sarah Fletcher Pollard, born April 17. 1794, died April II, 1883. Their children were: Benjamin F., Thomas, Elizabeth, David, George. George (2d) Frank, Augustus H.
(V) Augustus Hodgson. youngest child of John (3) and Sarah Fletcher (Pollard) Stark, was born in Manchester, November 6, 1834, and died August 8. 1902. He was educated in the public schools of Manchester. He was engaged in manufacturing carriages in Boston and Randolph, Massachusetts, and also carried on a painting business. He was a man of energy and business ability, and accumu- lated a goodly fortune. A little north of his father's residence, on the River road, he built a handsome residence for himself, where he lived until his death in 1902, and where his widow now resides. In 1876 Augustus H. and Elizabeth Stark. the surviving children of John (3) Stark, gave to the city of Man- chester about four acres of land, on which the Stark
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burying ground is located. Subsequently the entire section of the farm from the River road to the river was conveyed by the Stark heirs to the city of Man- chester, January 3, 1891. It contains about thirty acres, and is known as Stark Park. In political faith Mr. Stark was a Democrat, and in matters of religion he inclined to the Congregational creed, attending that church. He was a member of Lafa- yette Lodge, No. 41, Free and Accepted Masons, of Manchester.
Mr. Stark married, in Dorchester, Massachu- setts, December 17, 1881, Edith F. Furbish, born June I. 1844, in Skowhegan, Maine, daughter of Henry D. and Sarah P. Furbish of that place. Mrs. Stark was educated in the public schools of her native town. She has a natural fondness for history, which has been fostered by circumstances, and her knowledge of family and local history is excellent. She has two large rooms in her spacious residence set apart and well filled with relics and heirlooms of the Stark family, many of them of much value. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of the Order of the East- ern Star, and a director in the Ladies Aid Home. She is a member of the Franklin Street Church, of Manchester, and of various organizations-the Home Mission Society, Foreign Mission Society, City Missionary Society, the Historical Society of Man- chester, and others, and gives her support to various charitable bodies.
(IV) Frederick Gilman, third son and fifth child of John (2) and Polly (Huse) Stark, was born in the house of his grandfather, General John Stark, at Derryfield, now Manchester, August 6, 1792. At an early age he showed many of the characteristics of his ancestors, his energy, and rugged spirit of selfreliance, evincing an ability to make his way in the world by his own efforts. The years of his childhood and youth were passed at home attend- ing the greater part of his time to such duties as the situation required of him, and he was able to perform. Each winter after he attained school age, he attended the short term during which instruction was given. He showed great aptitude for learning. es- specially for mathematics. There is now in existence a manuscript book of arithmetic of the higher grade wholly in his handwriting, with all rules and exam- ples worked out in detail, embracing simple rule of three, inverse proportion, compound proportion, prac- tice, tare and tret, single fellowship, simple interest, compound interest, commission brokerage, insurance, discount, bank discount. equation of payments, barter, loss and gain, alligation medial, alligation alternate, position, double position, vulgar fractions, and decimals. This manuscript book is dated 1809, and has the appearance of being his own composition. There is no positive evidence of its originality, but it is at least evident that he thoroughly mastered the subjects of which it treats. He was then seventeen years old, and in attendance upon school in London- derry. His accomplishments as a student and his social position occasioned his call to teaching, and many school houses seem to have opened their doors to receive him as an instructor of youth. From
1810, when he was eighteen years of age, until more mature years brought higher responsibilities which absorbed all his time and energies, he taught winter terms, as the custom then was, in various districts in Manchester and the neighboring towns. During this period he mastered without a teacher the art of surveying land; and subsequently up to a later date in his life his ability as a surveyor was en- dorsed by extensive employment through the section of country in which he lived. His surveys, plans, and papers relating thereto are yet much sought after as standard references. He was an elegant penman and bookkeeper, his account books being models of neatness and accuracy. But one hundred years ago, when Frederick G. Stark was a young man, schools were for only a short time in the winter, instructors were poorly paid for their time, and teaching could not be depended upon for a regular occupation, when more regular employment would be more profitable, and when the question of something beyond a mere existence was to be obtained, some other business must be sought. A natural aptitude and inclination for trade led Mr. Stark to apply for a situation in a country store ; and in 1810 he took his first lesson with Riddle & Whittle, in their Bedford (Piscataquog) store, and remained with them about six months. He then changed into the neighboring store of Parker & Palmer, where he remained two years, leaving De- cember 26, 1812. That winter he kept school in District No. I of Manchester; and in the spring of 1813, desiring to see something of the surrounding country, he travelled through most of the towns of Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Middlesex counties, paying his way by assuming for the occasion the role of a peddler, carrying his small stock of goods in tin hand-trunks. During this time he kept a diary in which he entered an account of each day's travel and incidents, which is of much interest at this day, and illustrates how great the change is from the things of that day to the things of the present time.
The first cotton factory at the falls of Amoskeag was erected and put into operation in 1811. It stood near the head of the falls on the west side of the river, then in Goffstown, about upon the ground now occupied by the Cheney paper mills, within the. present limits of Manchester. The product was cotton yarn only, which was sold to be woven in domestic looms. Mr. Stark was appointed to the agency of this factory July 28, 1813, and filled that position until May II, 1814, when he went into trade in Goffstown as a partner to Captain Trask. From this time until 1820 he continued in trade at Goffstown and at Manchester with various partners. About 1795 Judge Blodgett, the promoter and builder of the Amoskeag canal, built what was then considered a splendid mansion next the east bank of the Merrimack river, and close to the present cotton mill, which he occupied until his death in 1807. In 1820, after occupying the place two years un- der a lease, Mr. Stark purchased it, with its attaching property, for residence and place of business, and lived and traded there on his account up to the.
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time when he removed to Bedford in 1837. Samuel P. Kidder was the first agent appointed by the Canal company "to superintend the said canals, to collect tolls," etc. He died in 1822, and Mr. Stark was appointed his successor, and held the position continuously about fifteen years, until 1837. Dur- ing this period his correspondence shows him to have been in active communication with the Bos- ton agents of the proprietors of the Middlesex canal, who also owned and controlled the river canals, and he appears to have enjoyed at all times their full confidence.
The beginning of the present manufacturing es- tablishments of Manchester dates from 1836. In that year the Amoskeag Company began to pur- chase the land adjacent to the falls with a view to constructing canals and factories, and building up a manufacturing town. Mr. Stark sold them such portions of his real estate as they desired, includ- ing the residence at the old Blodgett Mansion, and at once commenced to build him a new dwelling in the neighboring village of Piscataquog-then in Bedford, but since annexed to Manchester, where he took up his residence the next year, and from which he never moved. From this period (1837) to 1847 or later, he continued his mercantile busi- ness in the village of Piscataquog. His attention was directed to the care and management of his investments, especially his landed property, which being situated in and near the growing city of Man- chester, had become valuable. Thus passed his de- clining years. Identified with local projects of his vicinity, in good fellowship with his neighbors, he was respected and honored by all who knew him.
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