Comfort Starr (6 July 1589 – 2 January 1659) was a 17th-century English

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

who emigrated to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

. He was one of the founders of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, serving as a member of the earliest incarnation of the

President and Fellows of Harvard College The President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation, is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards. It refers to itself as the oldest corporation in the Western ...

Early life

Starr was born in

Cranbrook, Kent Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London. The smaller settlements of Sissin ...

, on 6 July 1589. He was one of the seventeen children of Thomas Starr.Comfort Starr
– Family Search

Emigration

In 1635, aged 45, Starr left the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

aboard the ''Hercules'', which launched from

Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval build ...

. He settled in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Colony of Massachusetts Bay The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

, where he was a founder of

the following year. He came with three of his children and three servants; his wife followed with most of the other children.''Ancestry of Lawrence Williams'', Cornelia Bartow Williams (1915), p. 273 One of his daughters did not emigrate until after his death.''Ancestry of Lawrence Williams'', Cornelia Bartow Williams (1915), p. 274 His sister, Suretrust, also emigrated, and lived in Charlestown, Colony of Massachusetts Bay, with her husband Faithful Rouse.

Personal life

Prior to his family's emigration, Starr was a warden at St Mary's Parish Church in Ashford, Kent, where he also had a surgery.''New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation'', Volume 3 (1913), p. 1099 Starr married Elizabeth Watts on 4 October 1614. They had nine children: Thomas (1615–1658), Judith (1617–1622), Mary (1620), Elizabeth (1621–1704), Comfort (1624–1711), John (1626–1704), Samuel (1628–1633), Hannah (1632–1662) and Lydia (1634–1653). Mary married John Maynard in 1640.

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

, the 30th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, was a descendant of John. After arriving in the Massachusetts Bay, in 1635 he purchased the homestead of William Peyntree in

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 ...

. The family moved to Boston just over a decade later. Their grandson, Comfort Starr (1666–1743), built the

Comfort Starr House The Comfort Starr House, located at 138 State St., Guilford, Connecticut, is a classic saltbox house with an added lean-to. According to a dendrochronology study, completed in 2014, the house was built in 1695. About The house derives its name ...

in Guilford,

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

, in 1695.

Death

Starr died on 2 January 1659, aged 69, just over six months after the death of his wife.''Some Colonial Families: Avery, Brewster, Mills, Morgan, Smith, Starr, Stewart, Tracey'' (1926), p. 61 They are buried in

King's Chapel Burying Ground King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1630, it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despite ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. A memorial plaque to Starr was installed in St Dunstan's Church in Cranbrook, Kent, where he was baptised.''Ancestry of Lawrence Williams'', Cornelia Bartow Williams (1915), p. 275Cranbrook Church, St Dunstan, Kent Dr Comfort Starr
– johnevigar,

flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Comfort 1589 births 1659 deaths 17th-century English medical doctors Harvard University people English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony people from Ashford, Kent Physicians from the Thirteen Colonies