Evidence in the Provincial Papers of the Pennsylvania Archives and other early land, tax, and
church records indicate, that the Starcher's were in and around Pennsylvania and Bucks County as early as the
1690's. However, to date, no records have been uncovered to tie our known and proven
Starcher's back to these early times. It is felt, that descendants of these first
Starcher's migrated westward along the "Great Wagon Road", which was carved out of the wilderness stretching from Philadelphia, to Fort Pitt
on the Ohio River. Upon reaching the Cumberland valley in Bedford County, they settled for a time,
acquired land and reared families. The earliest records of the Starcher's in Bedford County are the
county tax records of land holders. A Jacob Starcher paid his taxes in Colerain Township and Martin
Starcher paid taxes in Turkeyfoot Township for the years of 1773 and 1774. This Jacob is believed to
be, and is hereinafter referred to, as being one and the same as our Jacob I. He may have remained in
Bedford County, as his descendants migrated on to the south. Martin Starcher removed to Virginia,
where he died in Washington County, of wounds in 1780. A Jacob Starcher, who we assume was the
son of Jacob I of Bedford County, and who we refer to as Jacob II in this genealogy, obviously removed
southward to Hampshire County, Virginia, as his oldest son Jacob (Jacob III) was born there in 1768. In
1783, Jacob II acquired a 400 acre land grant on Hackers Creek, in what was then Monongalia County,
later Harrison County, but now is Lewis County, West Virginia. A study of United States Census, tends
to indicate that Jacob Starcher II died in Kanawha County, Virginia, sometime between the census taken
in 1810 and 1820. The last record of Jacob II in Harrison County, Virginia was a land transaction, in
which he and his wife, Barbara deeded by indenture a ninety acre tract of his
original land grant to John Starcher. Jacob II did not appear on the 1800 census, for the many counties checked, which is not
uncommon because that census was very incomplete. His grave site has not been found nor identified
and in all probability is lost forever.
Five sons are attributed to Jacob Starcher II: Jacob III, Philip, Jesse, Daniel and Abraham, however
possibly a sixth son, John, should also be counted. No definite ties could be established, even though
association existed in the same area in Harrison County. Both Jacob II and his son, Jacob III sold land to
John when they were preparing to depart Harrison County. Surely Jacob must have had daughters born
during the gaps in time between the births of his sons, but no daughters have been identified.
Jacob Starcher III and his family are well documented by existing official
records and historical accounts. In about 1803, he migrated from Harrison County, Virginia, where he had married, owned land, and
served as a soldier on the frontier at Fleshers Station, near Weston, to Mill Creek, Mason County,
Virginia (now Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia). There, he acquired a large land holding, and
become respected as a founding father and community leader. He donated land for the town square and
court house. He and his sons started what was to become one of the largest and most prosperous lumber
business in the county. Jacob III descendants were all to become quite prosperous and some very
wealthy. Jacob III died in January or February 1838 and is buried in the "Old Settlers
Cemetery" at Evans near Ripley, West Virginia. A large beautiful brick mansion was built by his son William in the1840's. It is still a most prominent land mark in Ripley today and is open for public touring. This
mansion is known as Number One Starcher Place.
Philip Starcher was credited by Hardesty in his "Calhoun County History", as having been the first
permanent settler on the West Fork River. He came to what is now Arnoldsburg, West Virginia from
Harrison County in the year 1810 and built his cabin where Arnoldsburg now stands. His cabin was used
for early day meetings of the community. Philip later moved up the West Fork and developed a farm
from the wilderness and lived out his life there, which very spot was located in Kanawha, Randolph,
Gilmer and Calhoun counties, as the counties were formed and divided over the ensuing years. One
traditional story, supposedly passed down thru his grandson Jacob Adam was that, "old Philip could
hardly speak a word of English". A record of Philip's death has never been found, but it is believed that
he died on his farm between 1860 and 1865 and that he was buried in the near by Gibson
Cemetery in an unmarked grave or with only a worn sandstone for a marker. Philips was listed in the 1860 Calhoun
County census, but he was not listed in the death register, which was started in 1865.
Jesse Starcher, so far as known, never married nor reared a family. Col. D.S. DeWees also states this in
his book, "Recollections of a Life Time". One source of traditional information related that, "Jesse when
still a young man, was hunting with some of his brothers. Jesse shot, but only wounded, a large bear
which charged him, and as he turned to run, fell over a downed log. Before his brothers could reach him
the bear mauled the flesh and muscle structure on the back of his legs. He was ever after partially
crippled, he had to walk with two canes the rest of his life. Jesse died on 9/18/1858 in Calhoun County
from "shaking palsy" and is buried in the Old Wayne Cemetery on Beech".
Daniel Starcher came from Harrison County, Virginia, to what is now Millstone, Calhoun County, West
Virginia, about 1810. He settled in the long bottom just above Millstone (once called The Jerry Field)
Only, tradition places Daniel as a brother of Jacob III, Philip, Jesse and Abraham. Daniel later married
the daughter of a settler, who had arrived on the West Fork about the same year as the
Starchers. His new bride was Nancy Brannon, together they reared a family of two sons and three daughters. One
other daughter was born to them, but she apparently died at a young age. It is not know whether Daniel
was a land owner, other than his original "Tomahawk" holdings. Most certainly, he was a hunter and
land clearer, as the others of his day. The 1850 Kanawha County census indicates that Daniel had no
land and was working as a laborer. Daniel died on 10/20/1859, and he is buried in the Old Wayne
Cemetery on Beech.
Abraham Starcher is placed as a brother of Jacob III, Philip, Jesse and Daniel, only on traditional source.
He came to the West Fork from Harrison County the same year as the other
Starcher's. He married Elizabeth Nutter in Lewis County on 7/18/1819. According to the records, they reared a family of nine
children, one being my great great grandfather, Humphrey Starcher. Abraham died sometime between
1860 and 1870, but his grave has not been located nor identified by this researcher.
It is believed, by myself and others, that our name Starcher was originally Stautzer, an old German
family name traced to the Ruhr Valley in Germany. Further, that the name has been
Americanized over the years to Statser, Statzer, and finally to Starcher, with many spelling variations in between. Other
correspondents reported that the name was pronounced Stautzer by the old folks, long after it was
spelled Starcher.
SUBMITTED BY V.W. STARCHER, RESEARCHER FROM MISSOULA, MT |
