I have been attempting to trace - when time and budget permits - my Starr ancestry.

Researching my great-grandparents; know very little, but here is what I have . . .

GREAT-GRANDFATHER:
William Ellsworth Starr (Based off what I grew up hearing and what was listed on both my grandmother’s and uncle’s social security application)
b. about 1888, Pennsylvania
d. Unknown

GREAT-GRANDMOTHER:
Eva Elizabeth Ramer (Based off what I grew up hearing and what was listed on my grandmother’s social security application)
b. 24 January 1889, Hopendauqua, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (information based on what is recorded on her death certificate)
d. 5 January 1959, Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (information from her death certificate)

CHILDREN
William Ellsworth Starr (William’s [Sr’s] son from 1st marriage)

Robert Charles Starr (William’s son from 1st marriage)
b. 15 May 1910, Pottsville, Schuykill County, Pennsylvania
d. 3 June 1992, Sellersville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Catherine Louise Starr
b. 1 December 1912, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
d. 11 November 1975, Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Catherine was the daughter of William E. [Sr] and Eva’s [nee Ramer] Starr (parentage information taken from Catherine’s (my grandmother’s) social security application and what my mother (Catherine’s daughter) knew, having grown up with her grandparents.


Recently however, the information I have about my Great-Grandmother Eva has become quite murky. While I believe that the information I have on her maiden name is correct, I am no longer 100% sure. Recently, I located an obituary for my Uncle (Robert Charles Starr) indicating that he was the son of the late William E. and Eva E. (Milheim) Starr. The obit was written by his daughter (my cousin).

Now, I have always known that my grandmother’s 2 brothers were half-brothers (I never heard, nor were we ever told, the name of their mother); however, while it is possible that my great-grandfather married two women with the same first name and middle initial, I tend to question it. When I spoke to my cousin, she didn’t seem able to provide where her information came from. So, am I dealing with 2 Eva E.’s with different last names? Did my cousin mistakenly list Eva E. (my great-grandmother) in the obit, but provide the correct maiden name of William [Sr’s] first wife and my Uncle’s mother? Not sure. So I requested a copy of my uncle’s social security application hoping that, that would clear up the confusion; not so much. Instead, what I found was another (completely different entirely) name listed as his mother – Ethel Lynda Kline.

So what I have is 2 different names listed as my uncle’s mother and a 3rd name listed for my grandmother. I have now request a copy of my Uncle William E. [Jr’s] social security application and my Uncle Robert’s birth certificate. Hopefully that will address and clear up the confusion.

NOTE: I have requested a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate on 2 separate occasions; when filling out the application to request a copy from vital records, I provided her social security number as well as her parents names (what I believed to be correct at the time) and BOTH times a birth certificate was mailed and both parent’s names were wrong. The birth certificate(s) that I was sent listed my grandmother’s father as William P. (vice E.) Starr and her mother’s maiden name as Eva Paff (vice Ramer).

Any suggestions on what else I can do; where else to research, to try to definitively determine my great-grandmother’s maiden name? As I said, I am inclined to go with what is on my great-grandmother’s death certificate and what my grandmother provided as her mother’s name on her social security application. I have attempted to search for something on my great-grandmother in the social security index but didn’t find anything on Eva or William [Sr].

IF Eva E. Ramer is the ‘correct’ maiden name of my great-grandmother, I may have ‘found’ her parents, Oscar Ramer and Louisa H. (maiden name currently unknown), BUT, I am not willing to take that leap until I have determined my great-grandmother’s correct maiden name. Ugh! I am so confused at this point, and no other family member is able to shed any light on this.

Any help, suggestions, advice would be greatly appreciated.