Great Lakes Skipper

The story of Capt. Ebenezer Fletcher Stark begins in 1814 when he emigrated with his family as a 16-year-old from Colchester, Connecticut, to the sparsely settled territory on the shores of Lake Erie, known as the Connecticut Western reserve. The village later took its name from the leader of the first surveying team, Gen. Moses Cleaveland, to one day become the major US city, Cleveland, Ohio. Stark's arrival coincided with a height of fighting of the War of 1812. One of the legendary battles, Perry s victory on Lake Erie, was fought within earshot of the Western Reserve settlement. Stark and his future brother-in-law, Lewis Dibble, rubbed shoulders with many of the early Cleveland founders as they struggled with the inhospitable environment, dire economic conditions, the ravages of war, packs of wolves, renegade Indians, a cholera epidemic, and the stormy Great Lakes. These were just a few of the challenges faced by the early settlers. Great Lakes Skipper was the product of research conducted over a 15-year period by the author after he discovered a 1907 obituary of Ebenezer s son Henry Stark. Capt. Ebenezer Stark was the author s great-great-great, grandfather.

Jim Stark, a former naval aviator, is author of the memoir, Two Turning, Two Burning; a screenplay, Return to Sender; a number of magazine articles, and award winning short stories. He is retired, living part of the year in Indiana and part in Florida.