The English Storkes in America COMPILED BY C. A. STORKE SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA 193S ··Here is our priceless heritage. Whatever else we Storks can claim. We boast the proud inheritance · Of a good name." -GRACE CRAIG STORK THE ENGLISH STORKES IN AMERICA Copyright 1936 by LomsE PARROTT PEcK Printed in the United States of America at THE NEws-PREss PuBUSHING CoMPANY SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. (From a portrait by Clarence Mattei) c. A. STORKE INDEX The Foreword............................................................................... -1, II, III SECTION I PAGE The Storke Family in Virginia ........................................... .............. I- 8 SECTION II Captain Moses Stork and His Descendants.................................... 1-11 Abigail Stork and Her Descendants................................................ 1-14 Christopher :S. M. Stork and His Descendants.............................. 1-25 Waliam Stork and His Descendants................................................ 1- 6 Da-aiel Storke and His Descendants................................................ 1-58 John Stork and His Descendants...................................................... 1-63 Calvin Stork and Lather Stork.......................................................... 1- 3 SECTION III The Stork Family in Canada............................................................ 1-18 REFERENCES Surnames and References.................................................................. 1- 9 --- ILLUSTRATIONS This volume contains thirty~two phot~engravings by The Artcraft Engravers, Santa Barbara, Calif. FOREWORD The compiler of this book had lived beyond the three score and ten years alloted to man before he paid any attention or interest to learn of those of his father's family. He knew that he had a father named Storke. and a grandfather whose spelling of his name differed from his own in the elimination of the final ,. e." There then fell under his glance an old letter, written by his fa­ ther's oldest brother, which stated that when he left New York State his father had two brothers residing in Chenango County. New York. Shortly afterward the writer, while on a visit to New York State. met Mrs. Addie L. Stork Dodge, of Oxford, Chenango County. N. Y .• a descendant of one of these brothers. Her residence in the vicinity where the early day members of the Stork family had lived and her continued and unfailing interest in the family have been invaluable. The compiler was thus started on an inquiry that resulted in two small pamphlets which dealt only with Moses Stork and his family. Largely through Donald Lines Jacobus. the publisher of the New Haven Genealogist, he gathered the matter contained in these pamph­ lets. There were many errors and omissions in these first two pamph­ lets but they served their purpose of awakening in the -Storke family a desire to know more of their kin. Of course no genealogy will ever be complete. Men keep on dying and children still are born. They grow into manhood and have children of their own. This book has broadened the field. The -Storks in Canada: have come into the record and the Storkes in Virginia have been discovered. Numerous branches of the family, hitherto unknown, have been in­ cluded and it is hoped this work mag serve as a foundation for the gathering of more information on members of the family beyond the eight generations recorded here. The compiler has at this time ar­ ranged for research among the old records of The Yorkshire Parish Register Society and in the document files of Somerset House, Lon­ don, England, with the hope that discoveries mag be made which will reveal the history of the first of the Storke name in England and from whence they came. The English Storkes came largely from Scarborough and Flam­ borough Head, and from Hull and York in Yorkshire, England. The fight between John Paul Jones and the English occurred on September 23. 1779. Jones came to grips with the English boats with­ in sight of Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. The writer has in his possession several early day references on Yorkshire which furnish many details of interest. During the Seventeenth Century the inhabitants of Scarborough. Yorkshire~ were protected by ordinance. In those days laws were made and enforced for the giving of just weight and honest work- II FOREWORD manship. A baker selling loaves of bread below the standard weight had one of the offending loaves hung around his neck for public ex­ hibition. They had their ale taster who sampled and reported cases of unjust measure or .inferior quality. There were also leather search­ ers who examined boots and shoes to see if there were any of inferior quality. On one occasion in the old town market fifty pairs were con­ demned. nineteen of which were offered for sale from Scarborough. In the period between 1644 and 1669 there are to be found in the records of Bridlington. Yorkshire. the following entries: .. Given to a power woman which was destracted 6d "Paid for caring a sick shoulder in a carte, ]/- ..Paid to 2 men and women spent by fire, 1 /- "Paid for whipping 2 women I/- .. Paid to Dorothy Milner for 2 fatt piges 2/4 "For a Ducking Chare, wood. iron and workmanship. 19 /8." These were the times when Bunyan was writing the Pilgrim's Progress, Samuel Pepys was writing his Diary. John Milton was writ­ ing Paradise Lost. and Newton was discovering the Law of Gravita­ tion and London was afflicted with the Great Fire. In April, 1667. the Dutch fl,eet raided the English coast from Flamborough Head to Scar­ borough. It was in such times and scenes that the forebears of the Starkes lived in Yorkshire. England. and from which in 1667 William Storke sailed for the Colony of Virginia taking with him twelve persons for whose transportation he received a grant of land from Governor Wil­ liam Berkeley. It was in such times and scenes that the father and grandfather of Captain Moses Stork lived and from which he sailed his vessel to Connecticut in the New England Colonies in 1745. there to marry and found the family now in its eighth generation in the United States. It was in these same times and scenes that the descendants of John Stork remained in Yorkshire until about 1850 when two of his descendants came to make their homes in Canada. The designs for the cover and title pages of this volume are the work of Miss Margaret Ely Webb of Santa Barbara, California. whose work in other fields has been much commended and to her the compiler wishes to express his appreciation of her interest in this work. In preparing the Starke Book as it is now printed. the compiler has had excellent assistance from a multitude of its friends. too numerous to be given at length. But it will not be invidious to mention Mrs. Jennie Stork Hill of Edmonton, Alberta. Canada. whose assistance in preparing the portion/ of this book which has especial reference to Canada has been of great value. In truth that portion of this book could not have been completed without her willing assistance. Miss Gertrude Stork of Bridlington. Yorkshire, England. must also receive especial praise. She was a willing worker and obtained much of the FOREWORD III data which this book contains of those who are now resident in the old home in Yorkshire, England. Her search of old Parish and Town records in Yorkshire has added much to the material contained in this book. The illustrations included here are in many cases old family pictures, treasured by their owners, who permitted their reproduction for the interest of other members of the family. The compiler desires to thank all who so generously loaned photographs and also is deeply indebted to those who have searched town and cemetery records and who have added much material on persons other than members of their own families. This book is sent out as a contribution to the various members o! the Storke family wherever located throughout the world. It is to be hoped that other members of the family will take up the~ work where the compiler lays it down, carry it forward to later gen-­ erations and delve into past history as far as it is. possible to do so. C. A. STORKE. Santa Barbara. California June 1, 1935. SECTION I THE STORKE FAMILY IN VIRGINIA The Storke Family in Virginia The name Storke first appears in the historic annals of America :in the State of Virginia in the Land Book 5, page 56 at Richmond, Va., as follows: "24 Sept., 1667, Gov. Wm. Berkeley to William Storke, 600 acres adjoining Jno. Washington, Capt. Ashton, Jno. Abe., etc., for trans.. portation of 12 persons." William Storke, born 1621, died 1677, received from Gov. Wm. Berkeley on Sept. 24, 1667, this said grant of 600 acres of land for transportation of 12 persons from England to the Colony of Virginia. In 1677 he. according to Westmoreland County records, died by "sum casualty." He married a wife Elizabeth and to them two chil­ dren were born as named in his will: I. Nehemiah Storke. 2. Elizabeth Storke. Nehemiah Storke, son of William and Elizabeth Storke, died in 1693. In 1685 he married Behethland Gilson, daughter of Major Andrew Gilson and Behethland Bernard Dade, a descendant of Capt. Robert Behethland of Jamestown. She was born in 1666, died 1693. They had at least three children: 1. Elizabeth Storke. 2. Catherine Storke. 3. William Storke. Elizabeth Storke. daughter of Nehemiah and Behethland ( Gil-­ son) Storke, horn in 1687 died 1759. She married twice: ( 1) in 1702 Capt. Thomas Newton ( 1678.. 1728) and ( 2) in 1730 Coi. Samuel Oldham. The children of her first marriage were: 1. Willoughby Newton ( 1703 .. 1766) m. Sarah Eskridge ( 1707.. 1753). 2. Catherine Newton m............................... Brent. 3. Elizabeth Newton m. ( 1 ) William Keene ( 1695-1 726). m. ( 2) .......................... W aughope. 4. Behethland Newton m. Rev. Walter Jones. Catherine Storke, daughter of Nehemiah and Behethland ( Gil .