Person Page 190

Born in the Cherokee Nation, Tennessee; died in the Cherokee Nation, West, 1841. Married in Tennessee, date unknown, Caleb Starr, farmer Friend

Nannie Harlan's grandmother was Nancy Ward or Ghigau (the Cherokee Rose). Nannie was 1/4 Cherokee.

7. Nancy HARLAN, born on c1777 at Cherokee Nation (now TN); died on 1841 at Going Snake District, Cherokee Nation, IT (now Adair county, OK).

She married to Caleb STARR, born on c1758 at Chester county, PA; died on 1843 at Going Snake District, Cherokee Nation, IT (now Adair county, OK); son of Alexander STARR and Deborah BRYANT.

Children of Caleb STARR and Nancy HARLAN were as follows:

i. Mary Jane STARR, born on 15 September 1795 at McMinn county, TN; died on 1869.

She married, first, to Austin RIDER, born on about 1785 at (prob. VA); died on about 1835 at (prob. IT [OK]); son of John RIDER and Elizabeth BRADLEY; and married, second, to James WOODS.

ii. James STARR, born on 1796 at McMinn county, TN; died on 9 November 1845 at Oak Grove, Flint District, Cherokee Nation, IT (now Adair county, OK); buried at Oak Grove cemetery, Oak Grove, Adair, OK.

He married, first, to Nellie MAUGH, born at Cherokee Nation East; died on 1847; daughter of Willioki MAUGH and Qua-tee (Eliza); and married, second, to Sukie MAUGH; daughter of Willioki MAUGH and Eliza; and married, third, Sallie ACORN; daughter of Ansey.

iii. Thomas STARR, born on c1798 at McMinn county, TN; died on c1834 at IT (OK).

He married, first, to Nancy WOLF; died on 1832?; daughter of Youngwolf CONRAD and Jennie TAYLOR; and married, second, on unmarried to Nancy FOREMAN, born at TN; died on 31 December 1866; daughter of Thomas FOREMAN.

iv. Ruth STARR, born on 25 December 1799 at McMinn county, TN; died on 1 May 1895 at Flint District, Cherokee Nation, IT (now Adair county, OK) at 95 years of age; buried at Oak Grove cemetery, Oak Grove, Adair, OK.

She married on Feb 1815 to John BEAN, born on 1 May 1790 at TN; died on 28 June 1857 at 67 years of age; buried at Evansville cemetery, Evansville, Washington, AR.

v. Ezekiel STARR, born on 1801 at McMinn county, TN; died on 6 April 1846 at Washington, DC; buried at Congressional cemetery, DC.

He married on 29 February 1820 at Blount county, TN to Mary UPSHAW, born on 1798? at GA; died on 21 November 1876 at Flint District, Cherokee Nation, IT (now Adair county, OK); buried at Honey Hill cemetery, Adair, OK.

vi. Sarah Walker STARR, born on 4 July 1804 at TN; died on 2 July 1892 at 87 years of age; buried at Cherokee National cemetery, Ft. Gibson, Muskogee, OK.

She married to Jesse MAYFIELD, born on 18 May 1793 at SC; died on 14 December 1857 at TX at 64 years of age; buried at Rusk county, TX.

vii. George Harlan STARR, born on 4 May 1806 at TN; died on 28 September 1879 at 73 years of age; buried at Starr Spring cemetery, Stilwell, Adair, OK.

He married, first, on 1829 to Nellie CARR; died on c1832; and married, second, on 1834 to Nancy BELL, born on 14 July 1814 at GA; died on 14 September 1864 at 50 years of age; buried at Mt. Taber cemetery, Rusk, TX; daughter of John BELL and Charlotte ADAIR; and married, third, on 22 May 1877 to Mary A. BLACKBURN, born on 1818; died on 21 September 1878; buried at Starr Spring cemetery, Stilwell, Adair, OK; daughter of Lewis BLACKBURN and Mary DANIEL.

viii. Joseph McMinn STARR, born on 1 January 1808 at TN; died on 10 August 1864 at 56 years of age.

He married on 20 July 1831 to Delilah ADAIR, born on 26 July 1814; died on 16 November 1862 at 48 years of age; daughter of Edward ADAIR and Nannie SHIELDS.

ix. Rachel STARR, born on c1810 at TN; died on 10 June 1825.

She married to Samuel LATTAMORE, born on 12 June 1802; died on 15 October 1860 at 58 years of age; son of John LATTIMORE.

x. Nancy STARR, born on 25 March 1811 at TN; died on 8 July 1834 at 23 years of age.

She married on 29 December 1829 at McMinn county, TN to Samuel LATTAMORE, born on 12 June 1802; died on 15 October 1860 at 58 years of age; son of John LATTIMORE.

xi. John STARR; died young.

xii. Alexander STARR; died young.

xiii. Deborah STARR, born c1817 at TN; died c1855.

She married, first, to Richard NEWLAND; and married, second, to William Harvey SLOAN, born on 1813? at KY; died 1862.

xiv. Ellis STARR, born c1820 at TN; died on c1860.

He married to Delilah JOHNSON, born on c1823; died on 1879; daughter of Benjamin JOHNSON and Annie SANDERS.

Referred to as John Starr II

Purchased "The Manor of Beere" in the year 1550.

Christened Myra MayBelle Shirley - she later changed her name to Bella (not Belle) on a whim. Her father was John Shirley and her mother was believed to be Elizabeth Hatfield, related to the feuding Hatfields of West Virginia-Kentucky. She was born Februrary 5, 1848 and was educated at the Carthage Female Academy where she was liked and considered a very pretty girl.

From Wikipedia:

After a Union attack on Carthage in 1864, the Shirleys moved to Scyene, Dallas County, Texas. According to legend, it was at Scyene that the Shirleys became associated with a number of Missouri-born criminals, including Jesse James and the Youngers. In fact, she knew the Younger brothers and the James boys because she had grown up with them in Missouri. Her brother, John A. M. "Bud" Shirley, was called Captain Shirley by local Confederate sympathizers. He does not appear on any list of Quantrill's Raiders, but rode with a group who were called partisans by some and bushwackers by Union sympathizers. Bud Shirley was killed in 1864 in Sarcoxie, Missouri, while he and another scout were eating at the home of a Confederate sympathizer. Union troops surrounded the house and when Bud attempted to escape, he was shot and killed.

Bella Shirley married first Jim Reed (said to have taken place on horseback). Years later she said she married Jim Reed because he killed the soldier who had killed her brother Bud. It was as Reed's wife that Bella's life of crime really began. A little girl was born in 1869 she was named Rosa Lee Reed and was apparently given to Reed's mother to raise. She was later known to history as Pearl Younger.

Following the war, the Reed family also moved to Scyene and May Shirley married Jim Reed in 1866, after having had an earlier crush on him as a teen. Two years later, she gave birth to her first child, Rosie Lee (nicknamed Pearl). Belle always harbored a strong sense of style, which would feed into her later legend. A crack shot, she used to ride sidesaddle while dressed in a black velvet riding habit and a plumed hat, carrying two pistols, with cartridge belts across her hips. Jim turned to crime and was wanted for murder in Arkansas, which caused the family to move to California, where their second child, James Edwin (Eddie), was born in 1871.

Later returning to Texas, Jim Reed was involved with several criminal gangs. While Jim initially tried his hand at farming, he would grow restless and fell in with bad company—the Starr clan, a Cherokee Indian family notorious for whiskey, cattle, and horse thievery in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), as well as his wife's old friends the James and Younger gangs. In April 1874, despite a lack of any evidence, a warrant was issued for her arrest for a stagecoach robbery by her husband and others. Jim Reed was killed in August of that year in Paris, Texas, where he had settled down with his family.

One night while Reed was eating at a diner a John Morris entered the room and demanded Reed surrender himself. Reed didn't and John shot Reed through the heart. Morris collected the $1700 reward but it did little good because he was killed a short time later. Bella's father died during this time and she moved back to Missouri and acted as a "fence" for stolen animals. The James brothers and Youngers stopped off at Bella's during this time. On June 5, 1880 she married Sam Starr and settled on a 1000 acre claim near the Canadian River near Eufaula Oklahoma and moved into a log cabin. This became a popular meeting place for some of the most notorious outlaws of the day. While here Sam & Bella were arrested on a horse theft and possesion of liquor charge. The Starr's said they were framed and "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker apparently believed them. They were given light sentences of one year each in the Detroit, Michigan House of Correction. On release, the Starr's returned to Younger's Bend with Pearl and an orphan, Mabel Harrison. Shortly after this Sam was killed. On Sunday Februrary 3, 1889 Bella rode to the King Ranch Store to eat dinner with the proprieter. Bella left the store about 1 pm, stopped by Mrs. Barnes' for some corn and passed the time until 3 pm. At 4 pm Mike Hoyt spotted Bella's running horse. Hoyt rode back up the road and found Bella's body with two shots from a shotgun in the back. It will probably remain a mystery but many believe a neighbor (Edgar Watson) had done the killing.

Children:

Belle's son, Eddie Reed, was convicted of horse theft and receiving stolen property in July 1889. Judge Parker sent him to prison in Columbus, Ohio. Belle's daughter, Rosie Reed, also known as Pearl Starr, became a prostitute to raise funds for Eddie's release. She did eventually obtain a presidential pardon in 1893. Ironically, Eddie became a deputy in Fort Smith and killed two outlaw brothers named Crittenden in 1895, and was himself killed in a saloon in Claremore, Oklahoma on December 14, 1896

Pearl operated several bordellos in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Arkansas, from the 1890s to World War I.

See the following resources:

Belle Starr and Her Times

by Glen Shirley

Starr Tracks: Belle and Pearl Starr by Phillip W. Steele

Belle Starr and her Pearl

by Edwin P. Hicks

More:

BY RICHARD D. ARNOTT

THE LIFE OF Myra Maybelle Shirley, better known as Belle Starr, has been romanticized by many writers and, of course, by Hollywood. The appeal of a "lovely lady" leading thieves and rustlers has been powerful through the years, often too powerful to allow facts to spoil the stories. Many tales were published by the National Police Gazette in the 19th century, and other publications picked up on the intriguing copy. Fraudulent biographies, spiced by bogus letters and entries from Belle's diaries, sold for 25 cents. The fascinating, often fantastic, stories led to the myth and legend of Belle Starr. Belle Starr, according to the legend, was the "Bandit Queen"--a lovely lady who ruled outlaw gangs with her guns, her will and her personal favors.