Elizabeth Stark

Notes:

Died:
General Stark lived to his 94th year and died 8 May 1822, reportedly the last surviving Continental general of the Revolution.

"Thus living, not for himself alone, but for his country, the veteran Stark passed into the wane of life, ever taking, as long as life lasted, a lively interest in every incident in our country's history. At length, suffering from the effects of a paralytic shock at the extreme age of 93 years, 8 months and 22 days, the old hero departed this life on Wednesday, the 8 May, 1822.

"The Friday following his death, his remains were interred with military honors, in a cemetery he had enclosed upon his own farm, a large concourse of people being in attendance, to witness the imposing ceremony, and to pay their last respects over the body of the man who had contributed so largely in filling 'the measure of his country's glory.'

"The cemetery is situated upon a commanding bluff upon the east bank of the Merrimack, and over his remains his family have placed a plain shaft of granite, indicative alike of his simplicity and hardihood, upon which in inscribed 'Maj. General Stark.'

"This simple stone points to his ashes alone, but his deeds are traced in deep-lined characters upon the pages of our country's history, while his memory is engraved upon the hearts of his countrymen.

"Such a name needs no other monument."

John married Elizabeth Page on 20 Aug 1758 in Dunbarton, New Hampshire. Elizabeth (daughter of Caleb Page and Elizabeth Merrill) was born in 1737 in Haverhill, New Hampshire; died on 29 Jun 1814. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Biography: Elizabeth Page was born in Haverhill, N.H., the daughter of Capt. Caleb and Elizabeth (Merrill) Page. Capt. Page was the first postmaster of New Hampshire. She married John Stark 20 Aug 1758 and had eleven children, one dying in infancy. Following their marriage, they settled in the Page Home. That house, located at the intersection of Routes 13 and 77 in Dunbarton, N.H. is still standing, and has N.H. Historical Marker #111. This house was also the site of the first Dunbarton Post Office (1834). http://www.newhampshire.com/historical-markers/molly-stark-house.aspx Following the American Revolution, they settled on the Stark homestead. Molly, as she was called, treated soldiers under her husband's command during the Revolutionary War for everything from injuries to smallpox. Molly (Page) Stark died of typhus in 1814, aged 78.

Notes:

Died:
Died from typhus.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Biography: ARCHIBALD STARK was born at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1697, and received his education at the University of that city. At an early age he removed, with his father and family, to Londonderry, Ireland, where he married Eleanor Nichols, the daughter of a Scottish emigrant. In 1720 he embarked with a company of adventurers for New Hampshire, whither a considerable party of his countrymen had previously proceeded, to form a settlement. After a tedious voyage, during which all his children died, the emigrants arrived at Boston late in autumn. As many of them were ill with the small-pox they were not permitted to land, and were, in consequence, compelled to depart for the wilds of Maine. At a place called Sheepscot, near the site of the present town of Wiscasset, they endured their first trial of the horrors of a northern winter in the forests of New England. In the course of the year following, after encountering and enduring many severe hardships and privations, they joined their Scottish friends, who had preceded them, at Nutfield (now Londonderry, N.H.), then a wilderness, rendered hideous by the frequent incursions of hostile savages, who, at that period, and for many succeeding years, harrassed the frontiers. His house in Londonderry having been burned in 1736, he, in consequence, removed to that portion of land on the Merrimack River, then known as Harrytown, and settled upon a lot, which had been granted to Samuel Thaxter by the government of Massachusetts, a short distance above the Falls of Amoskeag. There several of his friends soon afterward followed him, and the new location received the name of Derryfield. Several sons and daughters were born to him, after his arrival in America, to whom, at his fireside, he gave the best education his own acquirements and the circumstances of the times would permit. "His education fitted him for the walks of civil life, yet," says the Historian of Manchester, "we find him a volunteer for the protection of the frontier against the ravages of the Indians in 1745; and for the protection of the people in his immediate neighborhood, a fort was built at the outlet of Swager's, or Fort Brook, which, in compliment to his enterprise in erecting and garrisoning the same, was called Stark's Fort." His sons were William, John, Samuel, and Archibald, who all held commissions in the British service during the "Seven Years" or "French War," and were distinguished for good conduct, coolness and bravery. William, the eldest, served with reputation on the northern frontiers, and, under General Wolfe, in the expeditions to Louisburgh and Quebec, where his courage and address rendered signal services. He afterward tarnished his well earned fame by joining the British army at New York. In 1776 he obtained the rank of colonel of dragoons, but was soon afterward killed by a fall from his horse. A stone, in the old burial ground at Manchester, bears this inscription: "Here Lyes The Body of Mr. ARCHIBALD STARK. He Departed This Life June 25, 1758, Aged 61 Years."
• Emigration: 1720, New Hampshire; Arrived in New England.

Archibald married Eleanor Nichols. Eleanor was born about 1697 in Londonderry, Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Biography: "Caleb lied successively in Haverhill, Massachusetts; Atkinson, New Hampshire (1749); Derryfield, New Hampshire; and finally Dunbarton (Starktown), New Hampshire. He was one of the original grantees and settlers in Dunbarton, supervised the survey of the Salisbury-Haverhill, NH road, and became cpt in the NH Provincials. In 1775 Caleb was delegate to the NH Provincial Congress. His second wife, Sarah, weighed 315 pounds and had to have a special chair for travelling."

Caleb married Elizabeth Merrill on 24 Oct 1727 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. Elizabeth (daughter of Nataniel Merrill and Sarah Woodward) was born on 02 Nov 1704 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts; died about 1740 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jeremiah married Deborah Hendrick on 02 Jul 1696 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. Deborah (daughter of Daniel Henry Hendrick and Mary Stockbridge) was born on 25 Nov 1666 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nataniel married Sarah Woodward in 1690 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts. Sarah was born on 18 Jul 1665 in Newbury, Massachusetts; died after 1738. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]