Editing Starke County, Indiana (section)

==Name==
Despite being named for General John Stark and originally being known and appearing on maps as ''Stark'' County<ref>{{cite web|url=http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/main/index.php?q=node/19540|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709114000/http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/main/index.php?q=node/19540|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2012|title=Stark County, Indiana, 1857|work=dickinson.edu}}</ref> when initially created and organized, an ''e'' was added to the county's name fairly early in its history. No solid evidence has been found to clearly explain this alteration. Three possible explanations have been advanced - an early scribe had "fancy lettering", including a ''k'' with a long tail or flourish that appeared to others as ''ke'', with the new spelling sticking;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starkehistory.com/index_files/Page1027.htm|title=Starke or Stark|website=www.starkehistory.com|access-date=April 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517124420/http://www.starkehistory.com/index_files/Page1027.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> General Stark himself may have used a similar flourish at the end of his signature;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.countyhistory.com/starke/start.html|title=Starke County Indiana History and Pioneer Genealogy|access-date=January 16, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515193727/http://www.countyhistory.com/starke/start.html|archive-date=May 15, 2008}}</ref> which became a point of confusion to Indiana officials (unlikely, since Stark County, Ohio (1808) and Illinois (1839) both preceded Starke County, Indiana, not to mention numerous other smaller midwestern toponyms spelled "Stark"); or an [[Indianapolis]] official's clerical error around 1860.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starkehistory.com/index_files/timeline.pdf|title=Archived copy|access-date=January 16, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325014748/http://www.starkehistory.com/index_files/timeline.pdf|archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>