Who was Molly Stark?

Molly Stark, nee Elizabeth Page, (February 16, 1737 - 1814) was the wife of American Revolutionary War general John Stark.

She was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, moved with her family to Dunbarton, New Hampshire around 1755 and was the daughter of the first postmaster of New Hampshire, Caleb Page and his wife Ruth. She married General Stark on August 20, 1758 together they had eleven children including their eldest son Caleb Stark. The Molly Stark house still stands in Dunbarton, NH at Page's Corner.

Stark gained historical notoriety due to her husband's battle call of "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" before engaging with the British and Hessian armies. Stark is also known for her success as a nurse to her husband's troops during a smallpox epidemic and for opening their home as a hospital during the war.

Stark is honored through Vermont and New Hampshire with many businesses, streets and schools that bear her name as well as the Molly Stark State Park in Wilmington, Vermont. Also named for her is the "Molly Stark Trail", a byway otherwise known as Route 9, which bisects southern Vermont and is thought to be the route used by General Stark on his victory march home from the Battle of Bennington.

There is also a Molly Stark Hospital in Northeastern Ohio. Although now closed (in 1995) it served as a tuberculosis sanitarium in the 1930s, later becoming a state hospital for the mentally ill and the aged. The architect, Charles E. Firestone, used numerous roof top porches and loggia (arched galleries) in this structure originally designed as a tuberculosis sanitarium. As such it included many spaces where patients could sit outside, covered in blankets, to take in the fresh air.

Although the Molly Stark Hospital is closed, and it is private property, many people still visit this site because of paranormal activity. Glowing lights can always be seen from inside, and it is said that there is no power supply to the hospital. Orbs also show up in pictures when they are taken of the hospital.

The Molly Stark cannon, or "Old Molly," bears her name, and is kept by the New Boston Artillery Company in New Boston, New Hampshire.