Daniel S. E. Starr came to Montgomery at some point before the War Between the States from
Connecticut. He and his wife, Sophronia, had two boys, Daniel and Ebeneezer. Starr supported them as a stonemason. Unlike the vast majority of Montgomerians, he opposed secession and then the war.
"A number of northern-born individuals shared his feelings, but Starr was the only Montgomerian to lose his life because of his convictions. The circumstances date to early March 1863.
On Tuesday March 10, 1863, authorities arrested Starr at his house. There seems to have been some pistol shots but nobody was hurt. The Officials had reason to believe Starr was writing what the" Montgomery Mail" described as "Abolition manuscript ". The exact contents are not known, but that the material reflected unfavorably on the Confederacy can be assumed. Within several days Starr appeared before the local Vigilanty Committee. (That organization had formed when the war began to investigate those suspected of disloyalty). Mob justice prevented a verdict
from ever being reached. Late Saturday night, March 14, a group of citizens removed Starr from jail. His body was found hanging from a tree the next morning on the edge of town. Why Starr was lynched is not hard to figure out. Who was responsible remains a total mystery. As the "Mail" speculated about the corpse, " How it got there will probably never be made public. "
Daniel S. E. Starr is buried in section 2 1/2 Scott's Free Burial."
SOURCE: HERE.
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