Richard Mycock ¹

   Another name for Richard was Richard Starrh.

  General Notes:

Source: Ancestry.com/RootsWeb.com Database: Carter & Damewood; Author: Judy Damewood; http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdamewood

Richard was listed as a bachelor of "full age" residing at 7 Lever Street (presumably in Manchester, England) at the time of his marriage in 1840. His occupation was listed as bleacher, as was his father's occupation. Richard signed his name on the marriage record. By the time of daughter Jane's birth in February 1847 the family was living at Car Green, Stock port. They moved from Car Green to 26 Swain Street between February 1851 when daughter Emma was born and October 1852 when son John was born.

At the time of the 1851 English census, Richard, wife Sarah and five children were living at Car Green, Saint Marys Ecclesiastical District, Stockport, Cheshire, England. One other person was listed: Sarah Fernley (?), age 24, born in Bolton, Lancashire. Her relationship to Richard and occupation are unreadable.

Richard was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on June 8, 1851, according to an entry from early church records in the International Genealogical Index.

The following comes from "Your Father's Great Grandfather and Family", received from Dorothy Damewood Rands in August 1998. This was apparently written by Agnes May Miller Rands. "Richard [the name Thomas is crossed out and Richard written in] Starrh and his family came from Lankenshire [probably Lancashire], England. They owned a silver and china shop. They were quite well to do. Richard Starrh's family was Thomas, George, Jenny, Emma and Samuel. They arrived in Salt Lake City February 1855. After Brigham Young's second trip to England as a missionary, Thomas [Richard?] and his family were converted to Mormonism. All were baptized by Brigham in England. Brig told them how beautiful Utah was. A land flowing with milk and honey. What he neglected to tell them was that his church members were all living in polygamy. When he convinced them to leave England and come to the "New Garden of Eden", they asked him what they should take with them. He said, only your things of value. He told them, pack everything in trunks and ship them to me. They will be safe until you are here and have a place for them. They packed three trunks. When they arrived in Salt Lake and saw how they were all living in polygamy and the dishonesty with the church, they were disillusioned and heartsick. After a year they couldn't live there any longer. They had to leave. Knowing how very dangerous it was to leave, they ask[ed] Brig for written permission. It was several months before he gave it to them. They told him they wanted their trunks. He said, you will find them at a certain place along the road as they were leaving. The trunks were there, all were empty. They left Salt Lake with very little. They settled at Nebraska City, Nebraska. A short time after they came to Nebraska, great grandmother died. Her death was due to her great disappointment in Salt Lake, and her homesickness for the England she loved. Great grandfather studied the Bible and became a Methodist Minister. He served as a Minister until his death."

In May 2003 we learned there was more to the story by Eileen Mycock in Eng land, who contacted me after I placed our information on RootsWeb. Eileen had noted definite similarities between our Starrh family notes and those she had from descendants of Thomas Abel Starrh. Eileen lives in Stockport, Cheshire; the river Mersey runs through the middle of Stockport with one side being Cheshire and the other side Lancashire. Eileen provided the following information on Richard.

Richard Mycock of Stockport, Cheshire, England joined the Mormon religion and in 1855 decided to take his wife and six children, the youngest child being only 12 months old, to 'gather at Zion' (the promised land of Utah). They set sail from Liverpool on the ship Siddons for America. The ship was captained by John S. Taylor on February 27, 1855 bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. D. Richards was president of the company of 430 Mormons aboard, 97 of whom were financed by the Perpetual Emigration fund established by the church to provide for needy emigrants. The ocean voyage went well at first, but about the first of April a storm arose that drove the Siddons onto the banks of Newfoundland, where the passengers nearly froze. The ship ran low on it's extra four weeks worth of provisions, and the passengers had to share extra food they had brought. On April 19th a tugboat finally arrived and pulled the Siddons free, and on April 22nd, they dropped anchor in Philadelphia.

The Mycocks had little money with which to make their way to Utah. They arrived in Iowa in July, and placing all their belongings on a hand cart, proceeded to walk to Utah, arriving there in October. According to the notes: "It is not known why or when they changed their name to Starrh. The suggestion was that they didn't agree with the church when polygamy was imposed on them, and when Thomas Abel, their eldest son, married in 1874 he was married by a Presbyterian minister with his name of Starrh."

We had no idea that a name change had occurred, but it is now clear that the Starrhs began as Mycocks. The Mormon Immigration Index CD shows that Richard, Sarah, Thomas A., George, Jane, Emma, John and Samuel Mycock were on the ship Siddons that departed Liverpool February 27 1855 and arrived in Philadelphia April 20, 1855. Voyage records and personal accounts in the Mormon Immigration Index indicate the voyage was a safe one, although the sea was frequently rough. Jane Charters Robinson Hindley referred to the ship being driven onto the banks of Newfoundland, the tug pulling it back out to sea, and the Siddons arriving in Philadelphia. The immigrants traveled by rail to Pittsburgh, where arrangements were made to transport them by steamboat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Saint Louis. The cost for this part of the journey was three dollars for each adult, children half-price. Extra luggage cost an additional thirty-five cents per hundred pounds. The immigrants arrived in Saint Louis on May 7th, with some proceeding on a steamer to Atchison, Kansas the following day, while some departed later. We do not know exactly when the Mycocks left for Atchison, but FHL MF 1259742, Journal History (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), Milo Andrus' Journal, states that on October 24 1855 the third division of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company arrived in the evening in G.S.L. (Great Salt Lake) City under Capt. Milo Andrus, who was returning from a mission. The immigrants formed their (upwards of 50) wagons into a ring upon the arrival of a welcoming delegation and "sang a piece of poetry composed for the occasion." The list of emigrants that left Mormon Grove near Atchison, Kansas on August 4, 1855 included Richard Mycock, wife and six children. (Immigrants did not begin using handcarts until 1856.)

We could not locate the Mycocks in the 1856 Utah statehood census although they must have been there at that time.

The 1860 census shows Richard living in Nebraska City, Nebraska with no family members in the household (see notes for wife Sarah). He did not own any real estate, and nothing is recorded for the value of his personal estate.

We located R. Mycock, 51, born in England, in the 1870 Nebraska City, Otoe, Nebraska census, and are fairly sure that this is Richard. He was listed as a laborer with personal property worth $1000. A male, S. Mycock, age 15, would be son Samuel. Also in the household are A. Mycock, female, 31, born in England, who appeared to be the mother of three young children, all born in Nebraska: C, female, 3; R, female, 2; and C. A., male, 4/1 2. At this point, I do not know if "A" is a second wife of Richard or some one else.

By 1880, Richard Starrh, age 60, farmer, was in his son Thomas's household in Albion, Cassia, Idaho. None of the Mycocks (except for Richard) from the 1870 census were present, and a search of the 1880 census has not resulted in any of them being found (with the exception of son Samuel). It is unclear if Richard officially changed his name; it is possible he was listed as Starrh in this census because he is Thomas Starrh's father (there is a record of a name change for Thomas, Samuel and John; see notes for them).

The story took another turn when we found in the Otoe County, Nebraska Marriage Index a listing for a marriage between Richard Mycock and Elmyra Hawley in 1862. The marriage record itself was not filmed; we will try to locate it the next time we go to Nebraska.
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Census: 30 MAR 1851 Car Green, Stockport, Cheshire, England
Note: "Age 32, b. Cheshire, Stockport, bleacher
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Census: 20 JUN 1860 2nd Ward, Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska ; "Age 38, b. England, laborer
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Census: 01 JUN 1870 1st Ward, Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska
Note: "Age 51, b. England, laborer
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Census: 24 JUN 1880 Albion, Cassia, ID
Note: "Age 60, b. England, farmer
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He resided in Stockport, Cheshire, ENGLAND on 30 March 1851.

• He immigrated on 20 April 1855 to Philadelphia, PA.
¹

Richard married Sarah Storrs on 25 October 1840 in Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, Lancaster, ENGLAND.¹ (Sarah Storrs was born on 23 February 1821 in Stockport, Cheshire, ENGLAND ¹ and died about 1857 in Nebraska City, NE.)

  Marriage Notes:

Source: RootsWeb Family Database: Carter & Damewood; Author: Judy Damewood; http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdamewood

The marriage was recorded in the civil register, which stated the marriage was performed in the parish church of Manchester according to the rites and ceremonies of the established church after Banns. Witnesses were John and Margaret Storrs, presumably relatives of the bride.
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