Alonzo is my great great grandfather. He is the third child born to Lewis Starr and his wife Ruth Griffith Starr on 16 September 1845. Since, at that time, there were no major hospitals in Wilmington, he was more than likely born at the family home on Tatnall and West Streets.
As stated in the previous chapter, Alonzo was listed on the 1850 and 1860 censuses with his parents in Wilmington. Alonzo spent most of his young adult working years next to his father in the tanning industry.
On 9 February 1864 Alonzo enlisted with the 5th Artillery, Battery E of the Army of the Potomac. This unit was attached to the 6th Army Corps commanded by Major General Horatio Gouverneur Wright (Wright was later involved in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge after the war). At the end of the war, Alonzo was said to have been one of the guards for Jefferson Davis. After completing his service on 9 February 1867 with the rank of Private, Alonzo returned home to Wilmington and the tanning industry.
In 1870, he is listed on the census living at home with Lewis & Ruth and little brother Harry, working as a currier.
Between 1870 and 1875, Alonzo married Mary Elizabeth Newman (born 14 October 1856 in Pennsylvania). The records for Delaware marriages from February 1867 through December 1875 on Ancestry.com were reviewed, but nothing turned up regarding the marriage of Alonzo and Mary. I even thought that maybe they married after their daughter, Mary, was born – nothing. So, as of this writing, I have not found a marriage certificate on Alonzo and Mary.
Together, Alonzo and Mary had nine children: Mary Elizabeth (1876-?), Lewis (1879-1882), Alonzo, Jr. (1881-?), Harry Wallace (1884-?), Amanda Wallace (1886-1929), Edward Griffith (1889-1947), Willard (1891-1891), Ella A. (1892-?), and Francis LeRoy (1895-?). Interesting to note, I have found that Ruth’s surname of Griffith follows future generations of sons named Edward, but have no idea where “Wallace” hails from. It might come from Mary’s side of the family – for which there is little information to date.
In 1880, Alonzo and Mary were living on Buttonwood Street with daughter Mary (age 3) and son Lewis (1). Alonzo is still employed in the tanning industry as a Morocco Currier.
Again, due to the Archive fire in 1921 there is no census for Delaware for the year 1890.
The 1900 census finds Alonzo living on West 5th Street with Mary (age 44), and their children – Mary (23), Alonzo Jr (18), Harvey W (16), Amanda W (13), Edward G (11), Ella (7) and Francis L (5). Alonzo rents his home and is working as a beltmaker.
From 1899 to 1901, Alonzo spent some time on and off at the Soldier’s Home in Washington D.C. being treated for lumbago. He was there again in 1907. Interesting to note, he was only 54 when he was admitted the first time and lumbago is normally an older person’s condition. When researching the ailment, the Mayo Clinic has stated that smoke and nicotine accelerate spine deterioration, reduce blood flow to the lower spine, and cause discs to degenerate. Could be he was a smoker.
During the census for 1910, Alonzo was once again admitted to the Soldier’s Home in Washington, D.C. Mary, Edward, Ella and Frank were all listed on the 1910 census in Wilmington living in a rented home on North Harrison Street.
In 1920, Alonzo was back home in Wilmington with Mary. On this census, their daughter, Amanda, her husband, Charles Scott, and granddaughter, Mary Martha, were living with them on Pleasant Street. Alonzo is listed as 75 years of age.
On 4 July 1925, Mary Elizabeth Newman Starr died of a stroke at the age of 68. Her death certificate lists her last address as 918 Bennett Street in Wilmington. She was buried on July 7th at Silverbrook Cemetery, which is located behind the DuPont Chestnut Run site.
In April 1930, the census for that year shows Alonzo living on French Street in a building with seven other gentlemen between the ages of 45 and 83. Occupations of these men run the gamut of hotelier to construction worker and from all three marriage statuses (single, married and widowed). I’m thinking it might be a hotel he’s living in because the head of the list is the hotelier named Frank Richards.
Alonzo would die eight months later on 15 December 1930. His death certificate shows cause of death as “Death by Inanition following traumatic contusion to face”. [Inanition is a medical term for: A state of advanced lack of adequate nutrition, food or water, or a physiological inability to utilize them; starvation.] Alonzo is also buried in Silverbrook Cemetery. He was 83.
**A future post will include Alonzo’s service record and the battles he participated in during the American Civil War as noted in his Civil War Pension record.
Calico Genealogy 
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