From the Coldwater Pictorial City Directory, 1927.
The son of German immigrants, Starr Wenzel Gruner was born in Coldwater on August 30, 1878, being one of seven children born to Wenzel and Emily Randall Gruner. Young Starr is noted as having grown up on a farm in Coldwater and attended the local high school between 1891 and 1896 and earned his high school diploma. Following his graduation he took an extended visit to Germany, remaining here for about a year. With the dawn of the Spanish-American War in 1898 Gruner did his patriotic duty and signed on for service in the Thirty-Third Michigan Infantry. He was deployed to Cuba and participated in the Battle of Acquadores and the Battle of Santiago.
After being mustered out of service at Owosso, Michigan, Gruner returned to his home in Coldwater and on June 1, 1899, married there to Lena Teachout, with the couple remaining childless through the entirety of their marriage. For a good majority of his life, Starr Gruner worked at farming in Coldwater, being the proprietor of an eighty-acre farm on land that had been "cleared by his father."Gruner was also a partner in the Coldwater-based haberdashery of Sloman and Gruner beginning in 1912. In addition to business and farming, he was a Captain General in Jacob's Commandery, No. 10 of the Knights Templar.
In April 1918 Starr W. Gruner won election as the Mayor of Coldwater, defeating Democratic nominee Rev. S.W.L. Scott. He would be returned to the Mayor's office in the election of 1920 and served until the expiration of his term in 1921. A few years later he left the clothier business and moved to Santa Barbara, California in 1925, the basis for his removal being the result of a "messy divorce".
Once settled, Gruner began to establish his name in the Santa Barbara business community. He would start up another clothing business in this city and also took an active role in the local American Legion chapter, serving as its treasurer. He would also make a return to politics in 1927, being elected as a member of the Santa Barbara City Council. Gruner was also noted as a keen genealogist, even going as far as to trace his family lineage back over four hundred years.
Starr Gruner died of a stroke at the Los Angeles Veteran's Hospital on August 17, 1951, two weeks short of his 73rd birthday. He had been preceded in death by his second wife Miriam in April 1935 and both were interred at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. In an interesting twist, this cemetery also happens to be the resting place of former Santa Barbara mayor Clio Lowell Lloyd, who was profiled here back on March 4th of this year.
From the Henry Republican, July 30, 1908.
One of those "gray-area" political figures, Starr Holmes Beatty was a minor political office holder in his state, serving as U.S. Postmaster at Delavan before his election to two consecutive terms on the Illinois State Board of Equalization. Beatty would gain additional prominence in the field of newspaper work, being the editor and publisher of the Delavan Times Press. Born in Delavan, Tazewell County, Illinois on April 11, 1872, Starr Holmes Beatty was the son of Rowland John and Eleanor Frances (Holmes) Beatty.
A graduate of the Delavan High School, class of 1890, Beatty married to Mary Ella Jennings (1873-1947) in the 1890s and would have the following children: Eileen, Eleanor, Mary Charlotte (1899-1985), and Rowland J. (1903-1971). Early in his life, Beatty entered the publishing field, joining his older brother Guy in purchasing the Tazewell County Press. This paper was later combined with the Delavan Times to form the Delavan Times-Press, and in 1893 Starr Beatty became its sole owner, changing the name to the Tri-County Times.
Beatty's stewardship of the Times saw it become the "outstanding Republican organ of the county" and he continued with its publishing well into the 20th century, eventually seeing it consolidated with the Delavan Advertiser in 1918. In January 1898 Beatty gained his first taste of public office when he was appointed by President McKinley as U.S. Postmaster at Delavan, and in 1904 was elected as a member of the State Board of Equalization from the 16th district.
A body that existed from 1867-1919, the Illinois Board of Equalization oversaw, reviewed, and "adjusted county assessed property values to correspond with assessed values in other Illinois counties". These properties included railroad and telegraph companies, among other incorporated businesses and companies in the state. Beatty's first term on the board extended from 1904-08, and in the last-named year was successful in his bid for reelection, having promised to "carefully and intelligently look after the interests of the taxpayers of this district."
From the Illinois Blue Book of 1906.
Beatty's second four-year term on the board saw him named to its committees on the Equalization of Lands and General Equalization, and he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912. After leaving office Beatty continued with his earlier newspaper interests and in 1915 attended the meeting of the Peoria District Publisher's Association in Peoria. He would continue prominence in his native Delavan, being a trustee of the Ayer Public Library and during the 1937 Delavan city centennial proceedings was chairman of the publicity committee. Starr Holmes Beatty died in Delavan on April 10, 1946, one day shy of his 74th birthday. His wife Mary Ella survived him by one year, and following her death in 1947 was interred alongside him at the Prairie Rest Cemetery in Delavan.
Caywood during his legislative service.
In a December 28, 2019 update to this article, another political "Star" has been discovered, Star Berton Caywood of Colorado. A three-term member of the Colorado House of Representatives from Huerfano County, Caywood died in office in 1968 due to a drowning accident, five months before the completion of his term. While no source mentioning Caywood gives note as to why he was bestowed "Star" as a first name, it is worth noting that his name was located via the 1967-68 edition of Who's Who In American Politics, a work that has fielded several oddly named figures profiled here.
The son of John H. and Edna Isabelle (Noble) Caywood, Star Berton Caywood was born in Salida, Colorado on October 6, 1915. He would attend local schools and for one year studied at Denver University. Caywood married in November 1940 to Virla Ruth (Jones) Smallwood (1906-1976). The couple were wed until Caywood's death and had one son (from Smallwood's previous marriage), Darwin Harold (1929-1998).
A veteran of WWII, Caywood entered the Army as a private and from 1944-45 served with the 185th Replacement Company, being stationed in the South Pacific and Philippines. He would attain the rank of Staff Sargent by the time of his discharge in 1945, and following his return stateside entered into the abstract, insurance, and realty business. Beginning his political career at the local level, Caywood would serve as deputy county treasurer for Huerfano County from 1941-43 and later was elected to the Walsenburg, Colorado city council in 1950. In 1958 he was named to the board of directors for the Colorado Department of Veterans Affairs, where he continued to serve until at least 1965.
Caywood during his legislative service.
In November 1962 Caywood was elected as Huerfano County's representative in the Colorado legislature and during his first term (1963-65) held seats on the committees on Appropriations, Health and Welfare, and Local Government. Following his successful bid for reelection in 1964, he would chair the appropriations committee during the 1965-67 session and was also named to the committees on Game, Fish and Parks; Natural Resources; and State Affairs.
Elected to a third term in November 1966, Caywood continued service on the above-mentioned committees and in July 1968 undertook an outing with his wife and friends that ended in tragedy. While fishing on Martin Lake in Huerfano County on July 19th their boat was upturned by a strong gust of wind, after which Caywood proceeded to swim to shore for help. After swimming several yards, Caywood began swimming back towards the craft but drowned before reaching it. The loss of the popular legislator was statewide news throughout Colorado and in a curious twist, Caywood was one of three legislators from the 1965 house session to meet an unexpected death.
Virla Caywood was later appointed to fill her husband's vacant seat in the legislature. She would serve out the final months of her husband's term and wasn't a candidate for reelection in 1968. Following her death in 1976, she was interred alongside her husband at the Masonic Cemetery in Walsenburg.
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