The subject of this sketch was born in Flint district, Cherokee Nation, October 1870, the son of James Starr, born in Georgia, and Emma Rider, daughter of John Rider, a prominent Cherokee during the Tom Starr war. John Caleb or Cale, as he is usually named, was sent to school at the Olympus and Saga public institutions, and graduated at the Male Seminary, Tahlequah, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Science December 12, 1890. After this he entered the commercial college at Fort Smith, and there graduated May 28, 1891. On leaving Fort Smith Caleb became a bookkeeper for a short time, and afterward taught in the Saga public school, leaving that position to fill a clerkship on the senatorial committee, to which office he was elected by a unanimous vote in November 1891. The subject of our sketch is a young man of great promise, who by steadiness and perseverance will no doubt attain to eminence among his people. He is connected with the late illustrious Tom Starr, of whom so much falsehood has been written, and is a first cousin to the present senator, Charles W. Starr. His father is an extensive farmer, having 1,200 acres of land in cultivation on Grand River, near the Missouri line.
