Starr, Jacob S.

STARR

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 17:54:55

JACOB S. STARR
born Dec 24, 1832, Illinois

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.632
STARR, JACOB S., Dr., White Breast Township, P. O. Lacona; born Dec. 24, 1832, in Edgar county, Illinois; parents moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1851, and stopped six weeks and went on to Clark county, Missouri; he was educated in common schools; studied medicine with Dr. B. B. Allen, of Clark county, Missouri, and attended the Keokuk Medical School; began practice in 1857, in Clark county, Missouri; came to Lacona in 1862, where he has been in practice ever since; he was married in March, 1855, to Catharine Owen, daughter of John Owen, of Kentucky; they have two children, Henrietta J. and John W., both living.

Jacob S. Starr, M.D., of Lacona Iowa is ranked with the pioneer physicians of Warren county where he has won an enviable position as a practitioner. A review of his life gives the following facts: Dr Jacob S. Starr was born in Edgar county, Illinois, December 24, 1832, of poor but honest parents, Elijah and Rachel (Sears) Starr, he being the second in their family of six children, four of whom are living. William is a carpenter, of Lacona, and is well known in the town. Jane is the wife of John Owen and resides in Kirkville, Missouri; and Elijah W. is a popular merchant, of Medford, Oregon. As his parents were poor Dr. Starr's early educational advantages were limited to the common schools, but he made the best of his opportunities and spent all his leisure time in study, having early determined to enter a professional career. When a young man he began the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr. Allen, of Clarke county, Missouri, and remained in his office nine months. During the winter of 1875-6 he was a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, where he made rapid progress in his studies and attained a high standing in his class. It was not, however, until some years later that he opened an office for the practice of medicine, and when he did it was at Lacona, where he soon won the confidence of the people and built up a good practice and where he has ever since remained. His first office was in a building which stood on the site now occupied by Mr. T. H. Murray's harness shop, and for a time he was in partnership with Dr. Wright. This office was destroyed by fire in 1888, and since that time he has occupied his present quarters. He has always been of a studious nature, has kept well abreast with the advancement his profession has made, and has retained the large practice which he early established here, the demands made upon his time and service often being too much for his strength. At one time while on his professional rounds his horse stumbled and threw him with great force to the ground, the result being that the Doctor received a dangerous rupture, from which he has at times suffered greatly.
Dr. Starr was married March 20, 1855, to Miss Rosena C. Owen, daughter of John Owen, and a native of Hardin county, Kentucky. She is an amiable and accomplished lady and presides in a charming manner over his pleasant home. Two children, Henrietta Jane and John W., were born to them, and both are well settled in life. The daughter was born in 1856, in Missouri, and has for some years been the wife of Dr. Robert Bartram, a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College and a prominent physician and surgeon of Albia, Iowa. The son, born in 1858, is also a physician, and he, too, is a graduate of the Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons. For five years he was in the drug business in Lacona, then opened an office for the practice of medicine at Avery, Iowa, and two years later removed to his present location at Liberty Center, Warren county. He married Miss Caroline Graham, a daughter of David Graham, one of the pioneers of Warren county. Politically the subject of our sketch harmonizes with the Democratic party on all national issues, but in local affairs he is liberal and prefers to vote for the man rather than the party. Both he and his wife are members the Christian Church. Source: A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1896, vol.1, p.493