10221 Highway 1: The John Starratt House

Architecture Style: Modified Greek Revival

Built: c. 1824

In 1776 John and George Starratt, sons of  Peter and Eleanor [Armstrong, bought 100 acres of a land grant “further known by the name of Paradise”, which Rev. Asareleh Morse had sold to Dr. Jonathan Woodbury. The clergy, military officers, and doctors who had first dibs on “Wilmot” gave up on the project. “Old Massachusetts settlers”,  the Starratts, knew how to manage large holdings. In 1796, John and George divided their grant: George to the west of the brook and John to the east. The hill which became the burial ground also served as a boundary in some deeds. By the time John’s son Peter sold 300 acres of land to Enoch Steadman in 1843, “Starratt land” meant the western part of  Paradise, from the Balcom Road to the church. Yet not all was gain. John and his wife Hannah [Bancroft] suffered a long-remembered tragedy: two sons, William and George were drowned during the 1807 April floods as they repaired a dam for their mill. They left young widows. William’s first wife, Susan [Leonard] had died at 20 in 1801, and his new wife, Susannah [Betts] was now left with little William, her stepson, and five-month-old baby George.

A later owner, Caleb Phinney, was a mathematician, teacher, and prominent member of the Baptist Church.  He sold the house in 1874 to the church trustees to use as a parsonage. Nine different ministers lived here, including the unhappy Atwood Cohoon, who built up the Sunday School to 180 students and 22 teachers, led the congregation into the construction of a beautiful new church, and yet left the ministry after four years. He was deeply troubled by the congregation’s division concerning the previous pastor, Nathaniel Vidito. The next minister, much-loved  Rev. J.T. Eaton, reconciled the factions and showed great concern for those in need. His wife, the famous Minnie B. DeWolfe,  began the pioneer  Baptist Women’s Missionary Society, which allowed single women missionaries to go overseas.

Other owners of this house have given Paradise special gifts: Carrie [“Grammie”] Covert,  wife of Jerauld, was a teacher and spiritual mentor to hundreds of Paradise Sunday School children. When John and Julie Johnson moved here they were typical of “new” villagers. John, from Sussex England, and Julie, from Saint John NB, were so touched by the warm welcome they received that they gave it back many times over. They modelled true community hospitality with their annual Open House for the whole village!