Stark
Research Resources, Notes, Questions, and Links

History of New London, Conn, Frances Manwaring Caulkins, 1895. Quite a few references to Aaron Stark and his family, including a short bio.

Barbour Collection of Vital Records for Connecticut. This is where we learn the maiden name of Anna, in the marriage record to William Read.
 

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Who is the father of Anna Stark?

Anna Stark's maiden name comes to us from her marriage record to William Read in 1699 in Norwich. We have been in touch Gene Stark, a Stark researcher, who tells us that for that place and time, she surely should be a descendant of Aaron Stark, an early settler of New London, Conn. However, he cannot fit her into any of the known "slots" for her in the established Stark tree, which has been around for awhile. So, the mystery continues. In the meantime, tidbits....

Biography of Aaron Starke and other excerpts, History of New London, Conn, Frances Manwaring Caulkins, 1895,

Pg 313: Biography: "Aaron STARKE, died in 1685. This name is found at Mystic as early as 1653. In May, 1666, Aaron Starke was among those who were to take the freeman's oath in Stonington, and in October, 1669, was accepted as freeman of New London. In the interim he had purchased the farm of William Thompson, the Pequot missionary, near the head of Mystic, which brought him within the bounds of New London. Neither his marriage nor his children are found recorded, but from the settlement of his estate, it may be gathered that he had sons, Aaron, John, and William, and that John Fish and Josiah Haynes were his sons-in-law."

Pg 96, "Aaron STARKE and John Fish were said to be of Mystic, in 1655...

Pg 142, "The swamps around New London were infested to an unusual degree with these perilous animals (** wolves **). After 1667, the bounty was sixteen shillings... In 1673, this bounty was claimed by .... Aaron STARKE, two; making nineteen howling tenants of the forest destroyed within the limits of the town that year. The havoc made by wild beasts was a great drawback on the wool-growing interest which was then of more importance to the farmers than at the present day (** 1895 **).

Thoughts... Note that the Stark Genealogy has Aaron and John with daughters Hannah, but married to someone else. A possibility is that Stark may have been a married name from a previous marriage and that she was a widow. William Read was 29 at the time of their marriage, so that can't be ruled out. Records usually showed that status, however, by labeling the person as "Mrs."

We'll just have to see what we uncover as time passes.

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The Stark Page has lots of information, histories, and bibliographies re the Stark Family. This surely looks like our Anna's family as the patriarch was an early Connecticut pioneer. He had two granddaughters, named Hannah, about the same age, but this data base has them both married to different fellows than our William Read. However, there is an "unknown" child listed for Aaron, the patriarch, or she may have been a widow of one of the boys... stay tuned.. still looking..

Return to the Stark Index at this site.

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