Starr, Western (1854-ca. 1930s)

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WESTERN STARR Land and Freedom Vol 3.png

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Western Starr to Jane Addams, October 15, 1903

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Birth Date

1854-09-14

Death Date

1930s

Birthplace

Rock Island, IL

Biographical Text

Western Starr was a lawyer trained at Cornell and Columbia Law School who also operated a real estate business. Starr was a member of the National Anti-Imperialist League, and gave lectures around the country on this and other topics. He was a fervent supporter of the single-tax. Starr was the legal counsel for the Civic Service League of Chicago, gaining a reputation as a fighter against political corruption. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Illinois State Senate and for the House of Representatives. In 1909, Starr decided to abandon the law and moved to Maryland to become a farmer. He became involved in the Farmer-Labor Party there, arguing against land monopoly. By 1919 he moved to Washington, D.C. where he wrote for the Searchlight, a political journal. Starr likely died after 1940.

He married Edith Hammond in 1897 and had two children, James Hammond Starr and Martha Starr Lawson. He died in the 1930s.