THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Burgess & Donna Starr

Burgess Starr

Burgess Starr, thirty-two in 1903, was Sarah Hurt's sister and was married to Donna (neé Mitchell), twenty-three. Burgess, loved Donna very much, saying she was a “model wife and mother” to him and their children: Gertrude, two, and Rachel, a newborn. Burgess also believed in the tenets of Creffield’s church, but he mainly went to Smith Island that summer to fulfill a wood-cutting contract. That was as close as many in Corvallis came to having a vacation--camping while cutting wood or picking hops. Burgess thought he could cut wood while his wife was off begging for forgiveness for her sins. What those sins could be, he couldn’t imagine since, in his mind, she was “a good girl.”

Burgess and Sarah’s brother, Clarence Starr, had no interest in Creffield’s church, but was on Smith Island that summer helping Burgess fulfill the wood-cutting contract. Clarence’s wife, Hattie Starr (née Baldwin), accompanied him, as did Una Baldwin, Hattie’s niece.

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Photos on the right are stills from How the Fire Fell, Edward P. Davee’s movie based on the Holy Rollers.


Most were taken by Destiny Lane.
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Donna Starr

Holy Rollers
Rachael Perrell as Donna Starr

Donna Starr
Donna StarrBen Decampo, Rachael Perreli & Jeffree Newman
as Burgess & Donna Starr & Sheriff Burnett
Burgess & Donna Starr's House
Donna Starr
Rachael Perreli & Jeffree Newman as Donna Starr & Sheriff Burnett
Una BaldwinClarence & Hattie Starr
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