06/01/2026
Rev. William Jacob Starks was born on March 14, 1877 at Chabersburg, Pennsylvania. His mother, Rachel Cato Starks were born as a slave in Berryville, Virginia and moved to Pennsylvania as an adult where she met and married Joseph Starks. Joseph was born in Pennsylvania as a free man. The family moved to Rhode Island in about 1889, but moved back to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania a few years later after the death of Joseph in Providence, Rhode Island. William was the second of at least five children. The Starks family was active in the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church of Chambersburg.
William attended a special mission school at Falling Spring where black and white children were both welcomed to attend. His teacher took special interest in him, noting his capabilities to memorize information after reading it, just once. Through the dealings of the mission school superintendent, J.M. McDowell, it was arranged so that William could attended Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was enrolled in the school in 1897 and graduated in 1901, but furthered his education, attending theological classes for the next three years.
Upon finishing his education, William did one year of missionary service at the Mecersburg, Pennsylvania where he worked as a teacher and associate minister. After this year was completed, he took a mission assignment at Frogville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.
Frogville resides in what is now neighboring Choctaw County, Oklahoma. When William arrived there in 1905, it was within the bounds of Kiamichi County, Pushmataha District, Choctaw Nation. A small African American Presbyterian Church existed in the area, established in theearly 1870s by Choctaw Freedmen. The term, "Choctaw Freedmen" referes to former African American slaves and their descendants who had been owned by citizens of the Choctaw Nation.
The name of this church was New Hope and William was the eighth minister to serve the church since its establishment. A discription of the church at the time of William's arrival described it as, " located in the Oak forest, along Red River southeast of Hugo, and still fifteen miles from railway." At this church, William also taught a day school of African American children in the church chapel, providing yearly six month school terms. Enrollment fluctuated between 10-22 children over the years. William's pay was provided by the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen for five years. Later, the New Hope School became a public school and William became a teacher through public education, aside from his charge as a Presbyterian minister at New Hope.
As Mr. McDowell had done for William, Rev. Stark also helped advance some of his students on to higher education. Many of his students went on to attend Elliot Academy at Valliant through his sponsorship. William also became involved in the running of Elliot Academy, a school for Choctaw Freedmen west of Valliant which had begun as the Oak Hill Industrial School near the Clear Creek community in the 1880s. William also campaigned to raise money for the academy, conducting charity fundraising events in Paris and Clarksville, Texas.
William married Hettie Bailey on March 22, 1906 at Frogville. Hettie was also a native of Pennsylvania, having grown up in Cumberland County. She was in the area working at a Freedman day school and mission called Sandy Branch. William sometimes taught classes at the school, as well.
The 1910 census shows the two had two daughters, Rachel and Hellie. At the time of the census, Rachel was three years old and Hellie was just one. As the years went on, they welcomed at least six more children into the world; Grace, Joseph, James, Fredrick, Joyce and Whilhelmina.
William taught and pastored at New Hope until 1912. He then took charge as the minister of the African American Presbyterian Church at Garvin. At the time, Garvin had a thriving African American community. This segregated community was located southwest of the town center and featured an elementary school, Presbyterian and Baptist Church. At one time, Garvin was even home to the only African American owned newspaper in McCurtain County.
While at Garvin, William was still active with supporting the Elliot Academy. He continued to be an educator and became more active in the Kiamichi Presbytery.
William later left Garvin and took a job as a history professor and the Chaplain of Langston University. His World War One draft card, filled out in 1918 shows William as living in Logan County, Oklahoma and that he was employed by Langston University. However, it also notates something that if true, has escaped history undocumented by any other document. The card states that Rev. Starks had "lost Right Arm", though it does not tell us how or when this happened.
On October 8, 1925, Hettie Starks passed away. By the age of just 29, she had given William six children. William buried her in the Beulahland Cemetery at Langston, Oklahoma.
For a time, William took a job teaching school at Okmulgee, before moving he and his family back to Langston and continuing to teach at the Langston University. He joined the African American version of the Woodmen of the World fraternity which was called American Woodmen. He was a dedicated member and served as the local fraternity's Commander. He was also an active member of the NAACP.
The 1950 census shows William livingat 1216 Euclid in Oklahoma City. His two daughters, Wilhelmina and Joyce were living with him, along with their husbands. At the time, Wilhelmina was working as a high school social studies teacher in a segregated African American school in Oklahoma City.
William J. Starks passed away on March 8, 1966 at the age of 89, less than a week from his 90th birthday. He was buried in Beulahland Cemetery at Langston, near the grave of Hettie.
Photo from The Choctaw Freedmen and The Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, Valliant, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, Now Called the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial by Robert E. Flickenger, courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division.
