In the past I have written blog posts about Stark Park, and the Molly Stark House, both in Manchester. Thanks to a reminder by Dave Wilson at the "All About Manchester, NH Old and New" Facebook page, Vincent and I went over to photograph the original site of the Stark Homestead on River Road, too.
General John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire (now downtown Derry) on 28 August 1728. He was the "Hero of Bennington" and a Major General during the Revolutionary War. As a child his family removed from Londonderry to Derryfield (now Manchester, New Hampshire). He married "Molly" Elizabeth Page from Dunbarton and had eleven children. A group of veterans from the Battle of Bennington held a reunion in 1809 and invited Stark. He was elderly and could not attend, but he sent his famous letter to be read at the reunion. This letter included the famous phrase "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils". This phrase from Stark's letter is now the New Hampshire state motto.
There is a historic marker on the site of Stark's birthplace as well as a NH state historic marker up the road on Route 28 (Rockingham Road). His childhood home was removed from the actual site and is now located at 2000 Elm Street, and is known locally as "The General Stark House". His own land once included all that is now Stark Park on River Road as well as this site further down by the entrance to the Youth Detention Center.
John Stark died at home at his farm on 8 May 1822, at age 93.
THIS STONE
MARKS THE HOMESTEAD OF
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN STARK
HERO OF BENNINGTON.
HE DIED HERE MAY 8, 1822
ERECTED BY
MOLLY STARK CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1906
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL DOOR STONE
OF THE
STARK HOMESTEAD
STARK WELL
1765
Out of curiosity, Vincent peeked inside the well and saw this older monument
SITE OF THE
GEN. JOHN STARK
HOMESTEAD
For the truly curious:
John Stark: Maverick General, by Ben Z. Rose, TreeLine Press, 2007.
Gen. John Stark's home farm: a paper read before the Manchester Historic Association October 7, 1903, by Roland Rowell. A copy is in the Boston Public Library.
Stark; The Life and Wars of John Stark, French and Indian War Ranger, Revolutionary War General, by Richard Polhemus and John Polhemus, Black Dome Press, 2014.
John Stark's papers are located at the New Hampshire Historical Society, 30 Park Street, in Concord, New Hampshire.
My blog post about the Stark Park:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/today-is-general-john-stark-day-in-new.html
My blog post about the General John Stark House (Stark's childhood home):
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-general-john-stark-house-manchester.html
A blog post about nearby Dunbarton, New Hampshire, with photos of the Molly Stark House and the statue depicting Caleb Stark (the General's eldest son):
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/an-autumn-visit-to-dunbarton-new.html
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Stark Homestead Site, Manchester, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 5, 2019, (
John stark was my 6th great grand father
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