Place names

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — The Starr Family

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Henry Neff Starr and his longest surviving daughter, Maude Starr

Growing up in Youngstown, you might drive through Starr’s Corner on the way to the Canfield Fair. Starr’s Corner is the intersection of Route 224, Tippecanoe Road and Lockwood Boulevard. This five way intersection was at one time (and perhaps still is) considered one of the most dangerous intersections in the area.

Like many locations around the city and county, its name traces back to an early Youngstown family. I first was put onto this when I wrote a few weeks ago about the Shields family, from whom Shields Road gets its name. James Howard Shields married Lois Starr, the sister of Henry Neff Starr, pictured above. We’ll come back to Henry in a minute.

It turns out that his and Lois’s great grandfather was Ethel Starr (yes, his name was Ethel, married to Sarah). In May 1809, he moved from Newtown, Connecticut and bought land as one of the earliest settlers in Boardman Township. He was one of the founding members of St. James Episcopal Church in 1809 as a member of the Vestry and later Warden of the church, conducting services in the absence of a minister. He lived until December 3, 1861, almost 93 years of age at death.

By contrast, his son Russell, also listed as a subscriber to the newly formed St. James Parish died young, in 1817 at age 28. He had moved with his parents to the Western Reserve, served as a corporal in the War of 1812, and died of a “prevailing fever” in 1817. Before that, he married Mary Ann Fitch. His son, Russell Fitch Starr was born, January 29, 1818, a month and a half after his father’s death. His obituary states:

“Russell F. Starr died at his home in this place Monday evening of infirmities incident to old age. He was born in Boardman, but had long resided in this township. His age was 77 years. Mr. Starr was a very active man in his younger days and held many positions of honor and trust. He leaves a widow and three children – Mrs. J.H. Shields of Youngstown, H.N. Starr of Boardman and John Starr of this place. Funeral services held Wednesday afternoon from his late residence, were conducted by Rev. Wm. Dickson. The remains were laid to rest in the village cemetery.” “Russell Fitch Starr” at Find-a-Grave

H. N. Starr was Henry Neff Starr. He was born September 24, 1851 in Boardman Township. Later, he moved to Canfield Township, acquiring property at what became Starr’s Corner, and was well-known as a farmer and community leader throughout the county. He married Sara Moherman on January 1, 1879. He had a son named Clifford who moved to California and two daughters, Stella, born in 1880 and Maude, born in 1882, who never married. Later, in 1912, he moved the family to a property on the southeast corner of Boardman Center, on the site of the current Southern Park Mall.

He shared many memories of the early days including when passenger pigeons darkened the skies, when a tavern stood on the northeast corner of Boardman Center and when members of the Boardman family lived on the northwest corner. He farmed most of his life, living until March 27, 1941. Stella lived until January 1969, at 88. Her younger sister outdid her. Maude lived until August of 1984, at the age of 101. I can only imagine all the changes she witnessed.

All five generations mentioned here are buried in Canfield Village Cemetery in sections B and C

The Starr family, many of them long-lived, played important roles in the early years of both Boardman and Canfield townships, and the farm property they owned close to the border between the two townships became a busy crossroads that bears the family name.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — John Struthers

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Places names, in and around Youngstown, often bear the names of people connected with those places. Struthers is one such place that bears the name of its founder, John Struthers. That came later, however, and is part of a story of land purchased, lost, and reclaimed by the Struthers family.

The best biography I have found of John Struthers is that written by Ted Heineman in his Riverside Journal and much of what I include in this article is drawn from Ted’s fine work on those buried in Riverside Cemetery, including John Struthers. Struthers was born in Maryland in 1759 and moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1775. John fought in the Revolutionary War and in 1786 married Mary Foster, whose brother William was the father of composer and songwriter Stephen Foster. They acquired land in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where they had four of their children. John had charge of a troop of Pennsylvania Cavalry, and at one point pursued marauding Native tribal people up the Beaver and Mahoning Rivers to what is now Yellow Creek. Taken with the beauty of the area, he acquired 400 acres along Yellow Creek in Poland Township from Judge Turhand Kirtland in October of 1798. (I mention Turhand Kirtland in an article about his son, Jared Potter Kirtland). Turhan Kirtland recorded the transaction in his diary:

Tuesday, Oct. 9 – Went to Pittsburg [sic] to breakfast and from that across the Monongahela to Cannonsburg, seventeen miles, to John Struthers, to receive money due the company for two lots sold him in No. 1 for Mill place.

Wednesday, Oct. 10 – I was obliged to stay at Struthers waiting for the money to be collected.

Thursday, Oct. 11 – I set out for home.

In 1799, Struthers built a log cabin above Yellow Creek near what is now Park Way Avenue in Struthers. At the time, he called the settlement Marbletown. He improved a nearby dam on Yellow Creek and built a grist mill. In the next years John and Mary would have four more children. In 1802, James and Daniel (H)Eaton (they dropped the “H”) built the Hopewell Furnace. The Hopewell Furnace was sold in 1807 to Robert Montgomery, who owned another furnace downstream on Yellow Creek. John Struthers was a partner with Montgomery. Hopewell shut down in 1808, and the other furnace in 1812, due to the rapid depletion of wood for charcoal in the area, and the war of 1812, which drew off workers. Struthers also fought in the war, only to find his enterprises in ruins, necessitating selling his land to pay his bills.

These were hard years for John. He lost his son Alexander in the war. After purchasing land in Coitsville Township, his wife Mary died in 1814. Later, in 1827, two of his daughters, Drucilla and Emma died in a boating accident on the Mahoning River. At age 68, with most of his surviving children having moved away, John was left with his daughter Mathilda on the Coitsville farm.

It is at this point that Stephen Foster enters into the story. Mary’s brother William was in steep debt. John invited him and his family, including Stephen, to move into the largely empty farmhouse. Thus the Youngstown area, and Coitsville in particular, became part of the Stephen Foster story. Stephen spent time hunting with his uncle, being regaled with stories of life on the frontier.

Meanwhile, John’s son, Thomas Struthers thrived in legal practice, rail and oil enterprises, eventually becoming a multi-millionaire. During this time, John died and was buried alongside his wife and two daughters, originally next to the Poland Presbyterian Church, in 1845. Later, they were reinterred in a family plot in Riverside Cemetery. After the Civil War, Thomas used some of his wealth to reacquire all the land his father had lost along Yellow Creek, laying out a new town, “Struthers,” named in honor of his father. He also used his resources and ties to bring industry to the area.

In 1902, Struthers was incorporated as a village, then in 1920 with the growth of the steel industry, as a city. In a way, John Struthers not only gave the city its name and location along Yellow Creek, but also its industrial history, through his partnership with Robert Montgomery, and through his successful son.

[You might want to visit this Business Journal article for another account of the beginnings of Struthers and a great picture of Ted Heineman beside the original Struthers gravesite next to Poland Presbyterian Church.]