John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire (at a site that is now in Derry) in 1728. His father, Archibald Stark (1693-1758) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to parents who were from Wiltshire, England; Stark's father met his future wife when he moved to Londonderry in Ireland. When Stark was eight years old, his family moved to Derryfield (now Manchester, New Hampshire), where he lived for the rest of his life. Stark married Elizabeth "Molly" Page, with whom he had 11 children including his eldest son Caleb Stark.