John William Starnes

In 1860 he was an 18 year old living with his parents and 8 siblings on their farm near Romney in Hampshire County, VA. He enlisted there on 12 March 1861 and mustered as a Private in Company I, 7th Virginia Cavalry. They reorganized as Company D of the 17th Virginia Cavalry Battalion on 21 June 1862.

He was sent to a hospital in Frederick, MD by 12 September, left behind, and captured there.

He was in US Army General Hospital #1 in Frederick, MD to 19 September and afterward a prisoner at Fort McHenry in Baltimore to 14 October, when he was sent to Aikens' Landing, VA for exchange. He was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital #4 in Richmond, VA on 24 October with typhoid fever and sent to the parole camp at Camp Lee on 1 December 1862.

The Battalion combined with 2 companies of the 5th Virginia Cavalry and became the 11th Virginia Cavalry in February 1863, which is about when he rejoined his company. He was surrendered and paroled at Charles Town, WV on 21 April 1865.

In 1870 he was a farm worker at Springfield in Hampshire County, by then West Virginia. By 1880 he was a shoemaker and in 1900 was a day laborer there. By 1910 he was again making shoes, in his own shop in Springfield. In 1920 he was a justice of the peace there, then 76 years old.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3. He's also on the Confederates In Frederick List.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1920. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Matilda Jane Cheshire (1847-1893) in October 1867 and they had 5 children. He married again, Chloe Lee Moreland (1868-1941) in November 1897.

08/25/1844; Romney, VA

05/23/1922; Hampshire County, WV