Inscription:
East side:
Frederick Starn (Staring, ca. 1700 - 1774) immigrated to NY from the German Palatinate. With his wife, Mary (Goldman), and six children, he left the Mohawk Valley in NY to settle on the New River, about 2½ miles east of here, by 1744. A 1746, 500a survey designated the “Starn Place in the bend of the river”. 200a were entered “on ye mouth of Crab Creek” in 1747. During the French and Indian War, Frederick Starn was wounded and captured by the Indians in July of 1775 but escaped. He is the ancestor of this large old Southern family who are of German descent.
(Starnes/Starns /Stearns)
West side:
In 1746 “Frederick Stering (Staring) and two sons” were workers on a road “ordered” from the N. Fork of the Roanoke to the New River. Second son, Frederick Starn, Jr., “entered” 200a “below the Little Horseshoe” in March 1747. Other sons, Sgt. Joseph, Pvts. Leonard and Adam, served in the 700 frontier VA Militia under Lt. Col. George Washington, 1756-58. They were sent to the Carolinas for the 1759-60 Cherokee Expedition under Capt. Chas. Hart. Youngest son, Thomas, settled on the Holston but was driven back here by the Indians.
Located on grounds of Radford Public Library. No parking available long Hwy US-11 so have to enter at traffic light to swing around to library parking lot.