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There is a book written about these folks, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Herman and Gerald Starnes. Unfortunately, Herman just passed away, but as far as I know, Gerry is still alive and well.
From what I've been able to learn from the book, and other sources, Frederick Staring was born near the village of Alzey in the Palatine region of what is now Germany in c. 1700. He came with his father, Adam, and uncles Nicholas and Valentine, and other unnamed members of their families, via Rotterdam and London, to New York in 1710. The name was variously spelled Staring, Starns, Starnes, Stearns, etc. Frederick married Mary Goldman, daughter of Conrad Goldman, another Palatine immigrant, about 1721. They had seven children, Valentine (c.1722-1761, m. Jean, died in Pa.), Frederick, Jr. (c.1724-1779, m. Mary, killed in what is now Kentucky in 1779), Leonard (c. 1726-1782), Joseph (c.1730-1779, m. Katherine, killed in Kentucky), Adam (c. 1732-1816, m. Caroline, went to Tennessee), Thomas (c. 1734-1818) and Sarah (c. 1738-1820).
Frederick and Mary were still in NY (what is now Herkimer, NY) in 1733, when he was listed as an ensign in the NY militia. They moved briefly to Pennsylvania, and were in southwest Virginia by about 1740. The eldest son, Valentine, remained in Pa., died childless, and it is from his will that some of the family relationships are known.
I've seen some sources which suggest that Mary, the wife of Frederick, Jr., Katherine, the wife of Joseph, and Caroline, the wife of Adam, were sisters named Carlock/Guerlach, but I've never seen much evidence to back it up. I think it is possible....likely, even.
Some of the sons took up lands in Mecklenburg Co., NC in the 1760s. I don't know if they actually lived there, or just bought land there. They also claimed large tracts of land on the Virginia frontier in what is now Kentucky. It was on a scouting expedition in Kentucky in April of 1779, that Frederick, Jr., Joseph, and Michael Moyer (who was probably married to a Starnes daughter), were killed in an ambush by the Shawnee Indians. Also in the party was Joseph's son, Joseph, Jr., who wrote an account of the incident. (You call him Jacob in your post, but the transcript shows his name as Joseph.)
The children of Frederick and Mary were: Capt. John Starns (1745-1780, killed at the Battle of King's Mountain), Jacob (c. 1750-1812), Valentine (c. 1752-1782), Conrad (c. 1755-1800), Charles (c. 1756-1807), David (c. 1758-1833), Frederick III (c. 1765-1816). John had a distinguished role in the American Revolution. Jacob was a close friend of Daniel Boone and was a famous Indian fighter and an early American settler in Louisiana. Valentine was killed at the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782. There is much information on these men’s military careers in the book “Of Them That Left A Name Behind.”
The children of Joseph and Katherine were: Katherine (born c. 1754, m. William Crabtree), Joseph Jr. (born April 3, 1755-1844, who wrote the pension application you referenced), a daughter (?) who married Michael Moyer, Mary (c. 1758-1820, m. Leonard Hise), Barbara (c. 1760, may have married David Starns), Nicholas (c.1760-1820), Jacob (c. 1775-1848). The listing of these children is somewhat problematic. For example, the idea that Joseph Starns had a daughter who married Michael Moyer is based on the statement that Joseph Starns, Jr. was Michael Moyer’s brother in law. Joseph could have been married to a sister of Michael Moyer. (His only known marriage is to Rachel Rice in 1796, when he was 41 years old.) It is not certain that the David Starnes and Barbara Starns who married in Cabarrus Co. in 1784 were Joseph's daughter Barbara, and Frederick, Jr.'s son David, but likely. (Marriages between first cousins were not at all uncommon in those days. There just weren't that many people to marry!)
I am actually descended from both Joseph & Frederick, Jr. Jacob Starns (1775-1848), a son of Joseph and Katherine, married Esther Wentz (c.1778-1853, daughter of Johan Andreas (John Andrew) Wentz, and his wife Catherine, more Palatine immigrants) in 1798. They had a son, Valentine A. Starns/Stearns (c.1800-1875) who married Olivia "Livy" Ritch (c.1802-1869, a daughter of John Ritch/Ritchie and Susannah Helms), in 1824. They had a son, Dulin Stearns (c.1836-1863) who married Rusha Elizabeth King (1837-1894). They had a son, Dulin Benson Stearns (1863-1962), who was my great grandfather. (I have letters they wrote during the War between the States in which both Dulin Sr. and his brother John L. sign their name "Stearns.")
Going back in a different direction, Rusha Elizabeth King, Mrs. Dulin Stearns, Sr., was a daughter of Rev. Harmon Daniel King (1805-1906) and Mary V. Starnes (1814-1865). I am not certain who the parents of Mary V. Starnes were, but have two likely possibilities: Nathaniel Starnes (c.1785-after 1860) and his wife Susannah Bost; or Valentine Starnes (1792-1880) and his wife Elizabeth Richardson.....yes, yet another Valentine! Nathaniel and this Valentine were probably sons of David Starnes (1758-1833) and his wife Barbara Starns (c.1760-c.1822). I think Valentine and Elizabeth Richardson Starnes were the likeliest parents of Mary V. Starnes King.
Dulin Benson Stearns (1863-1962) married Mary Jane Beachum (1867-1910, a daughter of Jeremiah Washington Beachum and Mary Jane Taylor of Anson Co., NC) in 1884. After her death, he married twice more, but all ten of his children were born of the first marriage. They were: Junius Stitt Stearns (1885-1965, m. Ethel Ellis), Ada Eugenia Stearns (1887-1980, m. John Henry Bennett), Carrold Adam Stearns (1892-1950, m. Elma Watson), Clyde Casey Stearns (1895-1969, m. Susie Schell), Jesse Free Stearns (1898-1914), Mary Elizabeth Stearns (1900-1985, m. Raymond S. Deck), John Lee Stearns (1904-1904), Eunice Virginia Stearns (1906-1983, m. John L. Field, my grandparents) and Ophelia Jane Stearns (1909-1910).
I'd be most pleased to compare notes with you.
Best Regards,
John Field Pankow
Asheville, NC
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