Darius Henry Starbuck (September 15, 1818 – May 26, 1887) was a North Carolina lawyer and political figure who served as United States Attorney for the entire state, and then for the Western District of North Carolina after the state was divided into two districts.
Early life
D. H. Starbuck was born Darius Henry Starbuck in Guilford County, North Carolina, on September 15, 1818."U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935". Ancestry.com. He was the son of Reuben and Mary Beeson Starbuck. Reuben was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 4, 1787, the son of Gayer and Rachel Folger Starbuck. His mother was born in Guilford County on September 28, 1789, the daughter of Benjamin and Rachel Green Beeson. Both of his parents' were born into Quaker families. His parents married on February 12, 1812, in Guilford. Darius was one of eight siblings:
Melinda Starbuck (1812–1846) Uriel Starbuck (1814–1844) Elihu Starbuck (1816–1889) Darius Henry Starbuck (1818–1887) Lewis Starbuck (1822–1877) Benjamin Beeson Starbuck (1827–1876) Thomas Clarkson Starbuck (1832–1906) Matilda Starbuck (1834–1844)
Darius's father, Reuben, worked as a farmer in Guilford County. Darius and his brothers worked on the family farm while growing up there."Sixth Census of the United States, 1840"; database with images, FamilySearch, Ruben Starbuck, Guilford County, North Carolina; digital file number 005154837-00600, page 295, line 24, Family History film 0018094, National Archives film number M704-361. Retrieved on March 20, 2017. In 1820 and 1830 an elderly woman, aged between 80 and 89 in 1830, is living in the Starbuck household."Fifth Census of the United States, 1830"; database with images, FamilySearch, Ruben Starbuck, Guilford County, North Carolina; digital file number 005155943-00375, page 191, line 12, Family History film 0018087, National Archives film number M19-121. Retrieved on March 20, 2017. This is likely to be Darius's paternal grandmother, Rachel Folger Starbuck, as she was widowed in 1814. A young man aged between 19 and 25 was also living in the family household in 1820, he was also working on the family farm at that time."Fourth Census of the United States, 1820"; database with images, FamilySearch, Reubin Starbuck, Guilford County, North Carolina; digital file number 005156907-00106, page 121, line 11, Family History film 0162801, National Archives film number M33-85. Retrieved on March 20, 2017. The Starbucks were early members of the Dover Monthly Meeting, having appeared in the church's records within the first few months of services.
Professional life
Starbuck graduated from New Garden College, before studying law under John Adams Gilmer. In 1840 he was admitted to the bar. After settling in Salem around 1849, he soon took to his law practice in Forsyth."Seventh Census of the United States, 1850"; database with images, FamilySearch, Dorias H. Starbuck, Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina; digital file number 004181077-00042, page 7, line 42, Family History film 444643, National Archives film number M432-630. Retrieved on October 3, 2015.
Following the secession of South Carolina from the Union on December 20, 1860, citizens of Forsyth County were reported in local newspapers as having sparred over the subject of the possibility of the future secession of North Carolina. The county's Whig newspaper, The People's Press, is cited as having advised its readers to "watch their tongues" in response to the recent outbreak of quarreling. A public meeting was arranged to be held at the Winston courthouse on December 29 to discuss this issue. In 1860, Forsyth had a population of 12,692, of that population an estimated 800 citizens attended the meeting that day, roughly 16% of the total population. R. L. Patterson, who was asked to serve as chairman of the meeting, said that the event was held for members of the community to "counsel together" — "and to see if there was not some common ground on which all [local] parties could unite in the present crisis." D. H. Starbuck was one of five men who addressed the meeting. It was Starbuck's motion that the chairman appoint a committee of fifteen gentlemen to draft resolutions on how the meeting should act. Starbuck was among the men appointed to the committee. Rufus Watson WhartonRufus Watson Wharton with whom Starbuck had previously shared a residence in 1850, was also among them. Other notable members included lawyer and editor of The Western Sentinel Col. John Wesley Alspaugh,Col. John Wesley Alspaugh Dr. Beverly Jones, Dr. T. F. Keehln, Col. Joseph Masten, lawyer John Watson, and Judge Thomas J. Wilson. After two hours the committee returned with eleven resolutions. These resolutions consisted largely of rhetoric that was being argued throughout the country already. Notably, one of these resolutions proposed levying high tariffs on states which did not cooperate with the return of fugitive slaves. The fourth resolution stated "that waiving the Constitutional question of the power of a State to secede from the Union, such act of secession, if effected peaceably, is not an appropriate and adequate remedy for the injuries under which the Southern States are now laboring. To depart from the Union, leaving behind in the hands of her supposed enemies, all her accumulations of eighty years, in which she had proportional rights, would be a sacrifice on the part of a State, except under pressure of overruling necessity, as incompatible with her dignity as her interests.” The eleventh resolution called for the publication of these resolutions in all local newspapers, and that copies of these resolutions should be sent to the General Assembly and Congress.
It was reported that all fifteen committee members voted unanimously in favor of the resolutions. The choice to vote unanimously was likely an influence of the Quaker teaching of Consensus decision-making, due to the community's religious heritage. To attest to the political attitudes shared among members of both political parties in Forsyth after the court house meeting, both The People's Press and the county's Democratic newspaper, The Western Sentinel, agreed that North Carolina should not secede from the Union. The People's Press ran a headline on the meeting stating, "Secession has no abiding place in Forsyth." The Western Sentinel concluded its report of the events more cautiously with the statement "Union if we can, otherwise its alternative." The third resolution was to select members of the community to be sent to the state constitutional convention of 1861. Starbuck, as well as Rufus Watson Wharton, were among the men selected to serve as delegates from Forsyth County to the conventions. Starbuck was also a representative of the 1865 state convention which brought North Carolina back into the union.
U.S. Attorney Starbuck was first appointed to the U.S. Attorney's post for the state of North Carolina on December 20, 1865, by President Andrew Johnson. In the general election of 1868, he was elected State Superior Court Judge of North Carolina's Eight Judicial District,Headquarters Second Military District, Charleston, S.C., May 12, 1868; General Orders, No. 88, p. 5; Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M843, roll 20, frame 375); Target 3, General Orders Received, March 1865 - July 1868, National Archives Building, Washington DC. but declined the office in hopes of continuing as U.S. Attorney under the new administration of Ulysses S. Grant. His choice to decline the position was likely made due to his religious beliefs as a Quaker. American Quakers believe, “Liberty of conscience being ... essential to the well‐being of religious societies, we ... therefore advise and exhort all in profession with us, to decline the acceptance of any office or station in civil government, the duties of which are inconsistent with our religious principles.” In January 1869, president Grant received letters of recommendation for Starbuck's reappointment. Governor William W. Holden wrote in his letter of recommendation, which was co-signed by 8 other people, "Mr. Starbuck — by his learning, diligence and devotion to the interests of the government, has given general satisfaction. We believe the interests of the government and the welfare of society would be subserved by his continuance in the office, while his re-appointment would be a just recognition of the services of an officer who has performed his duties with more than ordinary ability and fidelity." U.S. District Judge George W. Brooks, at the time judge of the same court where Starbuck served as District Attorney, wrote in his letter of recommendation, "Mr. Starbuck was one of the very small number of citizens of prominence in that part of North Carolina, that remained under the control of the rebels after the first year of the rebellion — who adhered to the Union. Before the rebellion his efforts were against that movement — during the existence of the rebellion his efforts were — directed toward the restoration of the authority of the federal government — And since that authority has been restored — he has been an earnest advocate of the reconstruction measures of Congress." Judge Thomas Settle, who at the time was serving as the newly elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, wrote, "Allow me to recommend D. H. Starbuck, as District Attorney for North Carolina. He was appointed to this position, upon the reorganization of the Courts in this state; and has discharged its duties to the satisfaction of the good people of the State. He rendered zealous and efficient aid in reconstructing the State upon its present basis. In the general election of April 1868, he was chosen as one of our Superior Court Judges, but declined that position for the place he now occupies. The [Grant] administration has no warmer friend than Judge Starbuck, and his reappointment would give general satisfaction to our people." Grant eventually did reappoint Starbuck in 1870. When it was decided that the North Carolina District Court should be divided into eastern and western districts, President Grant received a letter of recommendation from David L. Bringle, recommending Starbuck to be replaced on the newley created court by lawyer William H. Bailey. This recommendation, however, fell on deaf ears, as in 1872 Grant appointed Starbuck as the first U.S. attorney for the western district, while his old post in Raleigh, now the eastern district, went to Richard C. Badger. In 1876 Starbuck was replaced in the western district by Virgil S. Lusk.
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