Unfortunately, Edward Starbuck did not leave us a neat and tidy answer for this question. Since it isn’t possible to ask him, we must examine Edward’s actions and what he wrote for clues.
To begin, we need some background on Dover before and during Edward’s time there and provide evidence of how the town’s religious leanings shifted from non-allied or Church of England conformist to puritan:
Dover’s Early Years
1621-1626 Wealthy merchants set up a council in the southwest of England to establish profit-making plantations in North America.[1]A fishery was created near what later became Dover, but no church was built, and no minister was brought in.[2]The business failed financially because costs outweighed profits and many of the early residents left.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
1627-1629 Edward Hilton helped renew efforts to make Dover profitable.[3]His brother, Richard (who’d had disagreements with Plymouth Colony’s separatists), moved north to join him.[4]The Hiltons were Church of England conformist.
Although the previous post asserted Edward Starbuck was a puritan, that term is nebulous in colonial America. By the 1640s, the English Reformation (Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church) had been evolving for over 100 years.[1]The monarchs covering that span had variously supported and tried to reverse the course of religious reform. It is little wonder the average members of the Church of England espoused a variety of religious concerns. Those who wanted to see the services and ordinances of the church less ritualized and more “pure,” gained support from both commoners and gentry. However, by 1633 William Laud was the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was pushing back against those who supported reform, with the aim of imposing his Arminian forms of worship.[2]
Separatists and Puritans
Two groups in particular, the Separatists (who founded the Plymouth Colony) and Puritans (who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony) left England respectively in 1620 and 1630. They both left for religious reasons, but those reasons were not identical. The authorities fined and imprisoned Separatists to the extent than many had to leave England, fleeing first to Holland and then to what became Plymouth Plantation. They did not want any nationally established Church of England.
The first two posts in this series showed Edward Starbuck was essentially a puritan, and that he also had a belief in credobaptism, for which he got into trouble with the Massachusetts Bay authorities. (See Parts 1and 2.)
Edward’s adherence to believer’s baptism and the later association of the Starbuck surname with Quakers in both Dover and on Nantucket has led some family historians to label him a Baptist or Quaker. There was, however, no established Baptist or Quaker congregation in Dover nor on Nantucket during Edward’s lifetime, so it’s easy enough to answer this question with a simple, “no,” but this is also an opportunity to dive a little deeper into what it is about Edward’s life that caused some to connect him with those denominations.
Baptists
Edward arrived in Dover about 1638 and is connected to the establishment of the first church by Hansard Knollys.[1]Edward was one of the first Elders in the Dover church.[2]Hansard Knollys did not stay in Dover for long. Conflicts with another minister, Thomas Larkham, was a significant factor in Knollys’ return to England about 1641.[3]Knollys went on to work as a chaplain in Oliver Cromwell’s army, survived arrest during the Restoration, and then left England for a while.[4]Upon his return he preached in London, was arrested again, and later released. The doctrine he taught was most closely aligned with Baptist beliefs and he took part in efforts in the late 1600s to consolidate the Baptists. Edward’s association with Hansard Knollys coupled with his belief in credobaptism may have led some to believe he was a Baptist.
However, the first Baptist church in America was not organized until approximately 1638, when Roger Williams’s Providence congregation was labeled Baptist.[5]Although Baptist doctrine and congregations grew from there, Dover did not have a Baptist church until 1824 and Nantucket did not have one until 1841.[6]There were obviously individuals in Dover who held anabaptist beliefs before 1824, Edward being one of them, but they were not organized into a group calling themselves Baptists before 1824.[7]While Edward can be described as an anabaptist, and he was associated with the church Hansard Knollys established, it is too much of a stretch to call him a Baptist.
For any discussion of colonial taxes, it’s important to determine when and why they were levied. The New Hampshire colony started small with Piscataqua Plantation and other settlements on the Atlantic. Those took root between 1623 and 1641. A slow slide into the grip of Massachusetts Bay took place between 1641 and 1643, but the residents received an exemption from Massachusetts taxation and protection from royal patent holders in the area.[1] That did not, however, exempt them from paying taxes to support local infrastructure, churches, and schools.
Dover taxes
Local taxes were raised for community-wide benefits. They included property tax, a head tax (also called a poll tax) on adult males aged sixteen and older, an income tax, and taxes on specific items. Dover residents paid taxes based on wealth, which included personal and real property. Like other town residents, Edward paid his taxes with commodities such as wooden staves and easily stored food items because coins were in short supply in early New England. Then, as now, residents tried to have their property assessed for as little as possible, which meant paying less in taxes.
The taxes of Dover went for maintaining and making town improvements, supporting the local clergy, and eventually to schools. Edward also paid import and export duties as did other New Englanders. His sawmill was specifically assessed for the ship masts he produced.
A transcript of a letter Edward Starbuck wrote to John Winthrop (yes, Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop) has survived and was published in the New Hampshire State Papers.[1] It is not the original hand-written letter, but it appears to have been written by Edward himself. That piece of evidence plus others indicate Edward was literate.
In addition, his signature was preserved on two original documents including:
The Dover Combination (Original at PRO in London, transcribed copies indicate the signature was abbreviated Edward Starr: or that was all that could be read)[2]
A petition to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1654 (below)[3]
Edward’s signature from the 1654 petition is slightly different from his signature on a 1675 petition to Governor Andros (see below).[4] The difference may be due to Edward aging more than twenty years, or one of the two signatures may have been copied. Each petition has different handwriting/letter formation for most of the signatures, so it’s likely at least some, if not all, of the signatures are original.
More evidence
The clerks for Dover, Nantucket, and Rockingham County, New Hampshire were careful to note the differences between signatures and marks when transferring documents into their town and deed books. The records below were transferred into various books and each entry indicated Edward wrote his own name on the original document. In many cases, others who signed the same documents were noted on the transcript as using a mark. This is a partial list of items Edward signed:
An agreement for a grant of Nantucket land to William Worth in 1674[21]
As Nantucket magistrate, Edward acknowledged a 1674/75 land sale by John Savidge[22]
As signer a of petitions to Governor Andros in 1675, on which his signature was preserved[23]
And as witness or seller in several other deeds, agreements, and other legal matters.
In addition to the list of documents Edward signed, there are two other indications he was literate.
He was brought into court to affirm his signature on a 1647 document clearing Nathaniel Boulter of a debt to Darby Field.[24]
A November 1679 entry for a Salisbury, Massachusetts court session stated a letter written by Edward Starbuck, dated 2 July 1648 or 1658, was entered into the court record.[25]
Edward was Educated
A post by Celia describes possibilities for Edward’s silent years (those with no direct documentation). Becoming literate during that time is highly probable. By 1640, he was confident enough in his own literacy to write to a governor, sign petitions, and conduct his businesses as well as assisting others with theirs. Even without a documented school record, it is clear he must have been taught privately or publicly. How much he was taught is a good question, but we can with some confidence state his vocabulary and grammar indicate he was educated through primary and possibly grammar school (ages 10-14).
Edward’s son Nathaniel could at least sign his name, if not more. There are plenty of Dover and Nantucket documents he signed, his will (when he was quite elderly and possibly in poor health) is the only document with an X. Edward’s daughters, Abigail and Sarah signed documents with an X, but no document requiring Dorcas’s signature could be found.
The Letter to Governor Winthrop
Edward’s letter to John Winthrop was about an issue in Dover with a man named John Underhill. He was a town leader, and ostensibly governor of Dover, but he was not doing his job and was interfering with the upcoming merger with Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Bay eventually governed Dover and other nearby towns for most of the second half of the 1600s, though there were legal issues to negotiate first.
Here is a small portion of the transcript of that letter. It has the typical spelling variations, word choices, and capitalization that documents in that time have. Edward shows throughout the letter that he could construct complex sentences.
This letter survived because of its recipient. Most private correspondence from the 1600s between individuals has disappeared if it hasn’t been passed down through families. While archives often have correspondence written by and to notable individuals and scholars, it’s unusual to have surviving letters written by businessmen or tradesmen to others in their socio-economic class. Yet we know they wrote to friends, to family, to ecclesiastical leaders, to business associates, and to government officials. Without national and international government-run postal systems, how did seventeenth century letters reach their destinations?
Letter delivery in the 1600s
Before a general postal service was established, letter writers were tasked with finding their own methods of sending mail. If it was travelling within or between North American colonies, that task was relatively simple. Merchants, family members/friends or Native Americans traveling by foot or on horseback could be entrusted with correspondence that would very likely reach its destination.[26]
Distance transportation was more challenging, especially if it involved ocean travel or a wilderness trek. The trans-oceanic delivery problem was partially solved in 1633 when the General Court of Massachusetts designated Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in Boston as the official site of mail delivery going to or coming from overseas, a practice that had been long used by England.[27] That pattern was picked up by other port towns and spread inland. Most trans-oceanic mail came and went on merchant’s ships, but any trusted vessel could be used. Personal and merchantile networks often overlapped with business partners passing along private letters. Redundancy was employed to ensure at least one copy of a letter made it to its destination.[28]
Regular horseback postal routes were eventually established, hence the naming of the Old Boston Post Road, today’s Route 1.[29] The road was used regularly to transfer mail between New York and Boston and included branches that passed through Providence, Rhode Island, New Haven Connecticut, and Hartford, Connecticut.[30] It is unlikely a scheduled mail service existed between Dover and Boston by 1640, but letters were passing between those locations by the early 1630s as shown through a letter written by William Hilton to John Winthrop Jr. in Ipswich, Massachusetts, asking Winthrop to carry letters Hilton was forwarding to their final destination in Boston.[31]
Letters often traveled in an indirect route, passing from villages and small towns to larger ones and eventually to their ultimate destination. By the time Edward wrote to Governor John Winthrop, travelers passed regularly between Dover and Boston and would have been given mail to deliver or drop off at a local tavern or town meeting hall. In the case of Edward’s letter to Governor Winthrop, it may have been delivered personally to him as the governor was a prolific correspondent with a large correspondence postal network in place.
The broader picture
Because so few personal letters from the 1600s survive, we may unintentionally minimize their importance to early North American immigrants. Even before leaving England, puritan and dissenter networks forged links outside home parishes with others who planned to immigrate, possibly coalescing around a well-known preacher, or simply forming a community with which to travel and settle.[32] Unfortunately no pre-immigration letters from Edward nor from his correspondents have been found.
Edward’s choice of Piscataqua Plantation for his home, the name for the Dover area in the 1630s, is somewhat atypical. Most of those who came to North America that decade settled in the more “civilized” areas under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay Colony or Plymouth Colony. Piscataqua Planation began in the 1620s as a commercial enterprise tasked with sending fish and other natural resources back to England. Most of the initial residents did not plan on settling, rather coming for a year or two to earn money and then return to England.
So, how did Edward hear about the Dover area and when? What made him think it would be a suitable location for him and especially his family? How did he know it was an area where his skills would be in demand enough to earn his living there? More questions could be asked, but they all come down to the answer of someone told him about Dover. It’s possible that happened after he reached North America, but that would probably have necessitated him staying in Boston or another port town for a while. That could have happened, but there is no record of Edward being anywhere prior to his settlement in Dover. It appears that was his first residence.
Unfortunately, we cannot put a name to who told Edward about Piscataqua Plantation and its opportunities. It may have been in a letter sent to him, or to someone else since letters with news often became public knowledge no matter who the recipient was.[33] By the 1630s dissenter networks had become sophisticated enough to regularly pass news between England and New England.[34]
Edward may also have seen a notice posted in Sawley or another English parish. A recruiter passing through Derbyshire looking for men to harvest New England resources for export may have encouraged him to move or a push through a dissenter network to get more puritan-leaning settlers to North America or to Dover may have been behind his relocation. There is no remaining evidence or correspondence to answer this question.
Another thing we do know about emigrating puritans is that it was a collaborative effort.[35] Most travelers needed pre- and post- migration support and the way to get that was through building up relationships through correspondence. Even the choice of carrier could have an impact if that individual could certify acquaintance with and the sincerity of the letter writer. Letters to other godly believers rooted the writer, not in English soil, but in relationships with fellow travelers and supporters. Did Edward do this before he immigrated to Dover? We don’t know, but if he followed the typical pattern of early dissenter/puritan travelers he may have been part of a network of like-minded individuals who initiated travel plans and found the place to settle before leaving Starbucky Territory. In his papers, Governor Winthrop said Edward Starbuck’s letter was the biggest factor in his decision to oppose Underhill. Clearly, Edward had the skills needed to write a persuasive letter.
[1] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 1, (Concord, New Hampshire: George E Jenks, state printer, 1867), 126-128; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State (www.sos.nh.gov : accessed 3 March 2022).
[2] Sibyl Noyes, Charles Libby, Walter Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of New Hampshire and Maine, (Portland, Maine: The Southworth Press, 1928), 49.
[3] Massachusetts Bay Colony, Massachusetts State Archives Collection, Colonial Period, 1622-1788, volume 3:446, Edward Starbuck, 1654, FHL microfilm 2, 294,197, item 1, image 585/1626.
[4] Franklin Benjamin Hough, compiler, Papers relating to the Island of Nantucket while under the Colony of New York (Albany, New York: State of New York, 1856), 75-77, 81-82; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 January 2022). 75-77, 81-82.
[5] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava (www.ava.fidlar.com : accessed 9 June 2022), Edward Starbuck 10 April 1645.
[6] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 40 (Concord, New Hampshire: George E Jenks, state printer, 1867)124-125; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State (www.sos.nh.gov : accessed 3 March 2022).
[7] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck 20 December 1649.
[8] Dover, New Hampshire, Town Records 1647-1753; digitized images, City of Dover, NH (https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/finance/city-clerk-tax-collection/historic-dover-records/ : accessed 10 August 2023), 21.
[9] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 20 July 1653.
[10] George Wadleigh, Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire, from the First Settlement in 1623 to 1865 (Dover, NH: Tufts College Press, 1913), 37-38; digital images, Internet Archive (www.archive.org : accessed 10 August 2021).
[11] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 6 Mar 1659/60 and 9 Mar 1659/60.
[12] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2:8, Edward Starbuck, 1660, FHL film 906,232, item 2, image 132/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2023).
[13] Joshua Coffin, “Martha’s Vineyard,” New England Historical Genealogical Register 12 (1858): 33, American Ancestors (222.americanancestors.org : accessed 11 March 2022).
[14] Nathaniel Bouton, editor, New Hampshire State Papers vol 40; digital images, New Hampshire Secretary of State.
[15] Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 13-14. Original record on film 945,268, item 1 Book 1, page 75.
[16] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1:31, Edward Starbuck, 1663, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 67/621; digital images Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2023).
[17] “Rockingham County, New Hampshire deeds,” database with images, Ava, Edward Starbuck, 11 May 1664.
[18] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 28, Edward Starbuck, 1668, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 153/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 8 February 2022).
[19] Franklin B. Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 25.
[20] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 6, Edward Starbuck, 1674, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 130/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2022).
[21] [21] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1:38, Edward Starbuck, 1674, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 71/621; digital images Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2023).
[22] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 11, Edward Starbuck, 1674/1675, FHL Film 906,232, item 2, image 135/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familiysearch.org : accessed 11 February 2022).
[23] Hough, Papers Relating to the Island of Nantucket While Under the Colony of New York, 75-77, 81-82.
[24] Essex Institute, “Old Norfolk County Records,” The Essex Antiquarian 2 (1898): 181, image copy American Ancestors (www.americanancestors.org: accessed 6 April 2022).
[25] The transcription indicated the year was uncertain due to difficulty reading the original entry. It proved Edward ran sawmills in Dover in the 1640s and 1650s. Records and Files of the Quarterly Court of Essex County, Massachusetts, Volume 7, 1678-1680 (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911), 286; digital images, Internet Archive (www.archive.org : accessed 23 March 2022).
[26] Rickie Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History, US Department of Transportation (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0304.cfm#:~:text=In%20early%20colonial%20times%2C%20letter,service%20in%20the%20colonies%20appeared. : accessed 30 January 2024).
[27] Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History.
[28] Sarah Kate Hall, “Preserving Sociability: Negotiation and Mediation in Transatlantic Puritan Correspondence Networks, 1625-1649,” (Ph.D. thesis, East Anglia University, 2019), 102-103.
[29] Longfellow, Transportation in America’s Postal System, online article in General Highway History.
[30] Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), “Boston Post Road,” rev. 21:24, 12 December 2023.
[31] William Hilton to John Winthrop Jr (18 April, 1633), typescript copy printed in the Winthrop Papers, III, 119, (https://www.masshist.org/publications/winthrop/index.php/view/PWF03p119: accessed 9 February 2024).
A possible baptism was found for Sarah Starbuck in the parish of Derby St. Peter in 1631.[1]This parish borders the one in which a possible baptism was found for her father, Edward. A baptism in 1631 made 1648-1652 a reasonable time frame for Sarah’s first marriage. There is no marriage record for Sarah and Joseph Austin, but the birth of their first child, Deborah, indicated a marriage around 1649.[2]
Most of the confusion regarding Sarah comes from mistakes made in various family histories. Sometimes she was labeled Esther Starbuck and other times the fictional Esther was named as her sister. One of the most common mistakes was making “Esther” the wife of William Storer/Story. No proof of an Esther Starbuck has been found in records made on the Starbuck family in the 1600s. Each of Edward’s children had several documented records made within his or her lifetime, but no records exist for an Esther except in histories compiled by later researchers.
Sarah Starbuck did not, at any time, marry William Storer/Story. Sarah married (1) Joseph Austin about 1649.[3]Joseph Austin’s will was written 25 Jan 1662/3, and his widow was appointed executor 1 July 1663, therefore Sarah Starbuck Austin was still a widow as of July 1663.[4]
Nathaniel’s first appearance in Dover’s town records was a land grant from the town of Dover which added to the land his father had already given him, making a total of 200 acres for him in Dover. The date for the event was given only as 1656, which wasn’t recorded until 22 December 1658 in the town records.[1]Although parents could deed or bequeath land to a child at any age, according to English law at that time, that child could not do anything with the land until the age of twenty-one without parental/guardian consent.[2]Because of that, towns were unlikely to grant a patent or permission for land use to anyone under the age of twenty-one. Nathaniel also appeared in the Dover tax records on 21 July 1657, an indication he had taxable property by then and was accountable for it.[3]These records would indicate Nathaniel was born in the mid-1630s.
Nathaniel’s, and his sister Abigail’s, first appearance in the New Hampshire State Papers was as witnesses to their parents’ sale of land to Peter Coffin on 20 July 1653.[4]There was no specific age or gender requirement for being a witness, but common sense made it unlikely a very young child would perform that task. Both signed with an X, but neither the marks nor the witnessing was an indication of age.
Nathaniel was deposed in court on 27 June 1661 concerning a statement made by William Furber three or four years previously about ownership of a parcel of Furber’s land.[5]In the deposition, the Nathaniel Starbuck was described as, “ageged about twenty-five years,” placing his birth about 1636 or shortly before.
No baptism record was found for Abigail Starbuck in England or New England. Abigail first appeared in a public record with Nathaniel, her brother, in a 20 July 1653 deed.[1]She and her brother, Nathaniel, were witnesses to their parents’ sale of land to Peter Coffin. There was no specific age or gender requirement for being a witness, but common sense made it unlikely a very young child would perform that task. Both signed with an X, but that was not an indication of age.
Abigail’s marriage to Peter Coffin was not recorded in any vital record. Torrey’s book on New England marriages prior to 1700 listed the possible years of 1655 and 1657 with three possible locations: Dover, New Hampshire; Salisbury, Massachusetts; and Exeter, New Hampshire.[2]The sources used by Torrey to arrive at those conclusions included the following:
Very little was documented for the life events of Dorcas Starbuck Gayer. As a result, assumption of her birth was dependent on the events of others in her life.
Dorcas Starbuck was documented on Nantucket on 29 June 1671 by witnessing a deed with the Native Americans in which she signed her maiden name. She likely married within a year or two of that date and had three children with her husband, William Gayer, all born on Nantucket, between 1673 and 1677.[1]Their birth dates were 24 October 1673, 29 August 1675, and 3 June 1677. That placed the marriage of William Gayer and Dorcas Starbuck after June 1671 but prior to October 1673, likely at some point in 1672 or earlier. Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700 stated Dorcas married William Gayer before 1673.[2] That is as accurate as it is possible to get.
This was several years after the marriage of her closest older sibling, Abigail, which occurred about 1656.[3]Although the children of Dorcas were born close together, making it appear she had no infertility problems, with only three children it was possible her fertility was impacted by her age, as she may have married later in life than usual.
Jethro Starbuck’s only original record in New England was of his death on Nantucket on 27 May 1663.[1] The entry in the handwritten vital records of Nantucket read: “Jethro the son of Edward Starbuck died the 27th of May 1663.” This entry may have been written some time after the event because the earliest handwritten vital records of Nantucket were in the same handwriting from 1662 to 1726 and appear to be in a style more common to the early 1700s. It may be a town clerk transcribed the earliest scraps of original records into a book and then continued the record.
The 1928 official printed publication of the town death records for Nantucket was compiled from various sources including the handwritten book. It stated, “STARBUCK, Jethro, s. Edward, May 27, 1663 [s. Edward and Catherine Reynolds, PR 38. 27th 5 mo. PR 63.][2]The town vital records were created by bringing various town and private family history records together. PR 38 is the private records kept by William C. Folger (1806-1891) which are in the hands of the Nantucket Historical Society. PR 63 is the private record of Isaac Coffin (1764-1862), judge of probate, which is at the Nantucket Atheneum. The compiled death entry gave neither cause of death nor age at death.
