Our Global Family's Journey Through Time
We begin our family exploration with Anna Wilhelmina Starck and Jesse Daniel Benjamin who lived most of their lives in Center, North Dakota USA. We have information about our family from the 1600-1700s and it goes well beyond names and dates. There are stories of incredible courage, resilience, love and creativity. Did you know some of our ancestors emigrated from England and Prussia? Some lived in Canada and others in Australia? Click on the histories link to learn more!
Our ancestors contributed to the history presented on this site. Sometime in the late 1700s, Christian Starck, or maybe his wife Christina Redmann, or their son Michael Starck or his wife Justina Zabatken began recording family names, births and deaths. They wrote them by hand on a page in a book of Blessed Meditations published in 1788. That book made its way across the Atlantic to America and was passed on through then generations. Anna "Starck" Benjamin received if from her parents, William and Adeline, who no doubt received it from their parents. At first look the page looks very messy and it is in 18th century German script. However, the style, ink and translations have revealed a family records to the late 1700s.
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Michael & Henriette
In 1871, Michael Starck and his wife Henriette "Henre" Britten Starck (Anna Benjamin's great grandparents) came to the United States from West Prussia. They traveled aboard the ship Allemannia, departing from Hamburg and entering the United States through the port of New York City. The Starck family emigration was similar to that of millions of other Europeans during the 1800s.
Michael Starck's siblings
Many emigrants were just tired of the "endless wars." One of Michael Starck's sisters, Justina Wilhelmina Starck, born 1824 emigrated to Australia with her husband Christoph Pischke and there son Frederick in October 1854. Starck family decendents in Australia say that Christoph had served in the Prussian army and had received many military medals. However he did not want young Frederick, who 9 years old, sent off to another "Prussian" war.
Gustav & Ida and family
Gustav F. and Ida Birkholtz Starck were Anna Starck Benjamin's grandparents, Adeline Starck's parents. Gustav age 7, emigrated from Prussia in 1871 along with his father Michael Starck and is listed on the ship Allemannia passenger list along with his sisters Carolina 22 and Marie 15 and mother Henre. Gustav lived with his sister Marie and her husband Herman Hasse for a time and later moved to Nebraska probably with his father Michael. In 1883, Gustav age 19 married Ida Birkholtz age 17 they eventually came to North Dakota and homesteaded near Sweetbriar, North Dakota.
The Benjamin Family has an incredible history, deeply woven into the formation of the English colonial America, the United States, Loyalist Canada and the pioneer migration west. If you click on Benjamin at the top right of the page, you can view the Benjamin Family Pedigree going back to the 1700s. The photo is likely from 1910 taken at the 50th Anniversary gathering for Thomas and Mary Jane Perrine Clipperton, Jesse Benjamin's great grand parents. (marked with yellow could be Jesse Benjamin at 1 yrs.; blue Jesse's parents Alfred and Gena Anderson; orange Alfreds brother Wes and wife Alma; green Thomas and Mary Jane; and purple Mittie Clipperton Benjamin, Jesse's grandmother. Thomas Clipperton served in the Civil War and the Dakota Indian Wars.
John and Richard Benjamin arrived in America in the early 1600s see the link below to learn more.
Now you know Anna Benjamin's grandparents, now lets meet her parents, William G Starck and Adeline P Starck. You may have noticed that William And Adeline's grandfather was Michael Starck...the same Michael Starck. If you follow, that means that William G. Starck and Adeline Starck were first cousins...kissing cousins...sorry I couldn't resist. William's younger brother Theodore and Adeline's sister Ernistine "Ida" also first cousins, were also married. Their son was Willard Starck and their daughter was Lucille Starck. First cousins could not legally marry in North Dakota, so they traveled to Owatana Minnesota for their weddings.
We make every effort to document our research. If you have something you would like to add, please contact us.
