Biographical Sketches

George Williams Starr

George Williams Starr, Erie, Pennsylvania, was born at Burlington, Vermont, April 14, 1822, and died on Easter day, March 30, 1902.  His parents were Jesse J. and Harriet (Hall) Starr, both of whom were descendants of pioneer settlers of New England.  The founder of the Starr family in the United States settled in Connecticut from Wales in 1633.  Elias Hall, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Starr, was an officer in the colonial army and was wounded at Castleton, Vermont, in the skirmish with Burgoyne's, invading troops prior to the latter's defeat at Saratoga.  Jesse J. Starr was a hardware merchant at Burlington, Vermont, where he resided for more than fifty years.  He died in 1860, surviving his wife several years.

George W. Starr attended the schools of Burlington, prepared for college at the academy of the same city, and was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1842.

He began the reading of the law under the preceptorship of Stephen G. Austin, of Buffalo, New York, and continued with the law firm of Talcott and Houghton (John L. Talcott subsequently became the judge of the supreme court of New York and George Houghton judge of the recorder's court of Buffalo, New York), and was admitted to practice by the supreme court of New York in 1845.  He entered upon the practice of his profession at Buffalo, New York, and pursued it in that city for several years, when he accepted a position as clerk with his friend, Captain Stephen Champlin, of the United States steamer Michigan.  After sailing for two years, he resumed the practice of law at Buffalo.  In 1852 he came to Erie.  He was engaged in the coal business for some years.

In 1877 he was one of the founders of the Erie Forge Company, has been one of its board of directors since its establishment, and the president of that board since 1887.  He was one of the directors of the Erie Dime Bank.  He was also president of the Erie Cemetery Association for seventeen years, was most active in the founding of the Hamot Hospital, and was one of the incorporators of that institution.  He was a member of the first board of trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane at Warren, by the appointment of Governor Hoyt in 1880, and served on the board of that institution and the Hamot Hospital until his acceptance in February, 1887, of Governor Beaver's appointment to the board of commissioners of public charities of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Starr was for six consecutive terms a member os the select council of Erie and was presiding officer of that body during the last year of that period, and subsequently served two additional years in the same capacity, being again president during the latter year.

He was married October 7, 1851, to Mary A. Hamot, daughter of the late P. S. V. Hamot.  Mr. Starr was well known throughout Pennsylvania on account of his long connection with the state board of charities.  He also served in the state legislature.

Source: Excerpt from the book, Who's Who in Pennsylvania, edited by Lewis R. Hamersly, published in 1904; located on the website, Hathitrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org), accessed 17 January 2026.

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