Valentine Stearns (also spelled Starns and Starnes) was the first born child of Frederick Starnes (c. 1700-1774/5) and his wife Mary Goldman. His family lived in New York, removed to Pennsylvania around 1741, and when the family went on to Virginia in a couple of years, Valentine remained in Pennsylvania. He married Jean Cunningham. I do not believe they had any children. He lived on the Juniata River, close to the present town of Mexico, PA. He died sometime between 15 February and 25 March 1761, age about 38 or 39.
The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
Valentine Stearns (also spelled Starns and Starnes) was the first born child of Frederick Starnes (c. 1700-1774/5) and his wife Mary Goldman. His family lived in New York, removed to Pennsylvania around 1741, and when the family went on to Virginia in a couple of years, Valentine remained in Pennsylvania. He married Jean Cunningham. I do not believe they had any children. He lived on the Juniata River, close to the present town of Mexico, PA. He died sometime between 15 February and 25 March 1761, age about 38 or 39.
The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
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