A BELLE OF A WOMAN

Oral family history can sometimes be repeated often enough that you find yourself passing on family lore without fact-checking, especially if it's a juicy story. My mother's middle name is Belle. Mother was told that she was named after Belle Starr, a friend of her aunt's. While writing this story, I asked Mother why her middle name was Belle one more time. Again, she repeated the story about Belle and her great aunt's friendship. I always loved her name, although she has always disliked it because of Belle's outlaw reputation. Belle Starr embodied a strong, pistol-packing mama who marched to her own drum.  

Research reveals a person who was only slightly out of the ordinary. Belle was born Myra Maybelle Shirley in Missouri in 1848 and was called May by her family. Her parents were prosperous and sent May to the finest schools. When Union soldiers at the beginning of the Civil War destroyed their business in the town of Carthage, the family fled to Texas. Before long, the Shirley clan started associating with Missouri-born criminals, mainly the James brothers, and the Younger brothers. The Shirley's were Confederate sympathizers, the norm in Texas but not Missouri. People in Missouri were divided in their loyalty to the Union or the Confederacy. While Missouri never seceded from the Union, over 40% of the Civil War battles were fought in the state.

May married Jim Reed at a young age. Reed was a member of the Younger group of outlaws. Although May birthed two children while married to Reed, she always claimed the father of her first child, Pearl, was Cole Younger. Younger spent many years in prison and later denied he was the father.  Reed was killed after joining the Starr gang. The Starr's were a group of Cherokees who engaged in horse thievery, sold illegal whiskey, and rustled cattle in the Oklahoma territory. My great-grandfather's foray into making moonshine was most likely connected to the Cherokees. In a complicated way, his association with the Indians eventually resulted in my mother's birth, a Cherokee father.  

After Reed's demise, May married Sam Starr and thought Belle had more flair than the name May. Belle seemed to enjoy her notoriety. She was known to ride sidesaddle in a black velvet dress, a plumed hat, two pistols, and a cartridge belt draped across her hips. Belle and Starr served time in prison for stealing horses. After his release, Sam Starr, returning to horse thievery, was killed by a lawman. Belle later married one of the younger Starr brothers and was rumored to be involved with numerous men in the last two years of her life. She was shot and killed while on horseback after attending a dance. Some claim Belle was shot by a man she spurned during the dance. Others hypothesize that her son killed her because he was angry after receiving a beating when Belle discovered he had abused her horses.

Belle lived on her own terms but not as a fully participating member of the many famous gangs of her time. The more likely truth is that Belle harbored stolen horses throughout her adult life while also enjoying the company of various inglorious men. Belle's flamboyance and larger-than-life existence led to the many fictionalized books written about her after an untimely and violent death.

It is improbable that my great-aunt knew Belle due to the period in which they lived. The more likely scenario is that my great-grandparents knew her since they connected with the Cherokees through joint businesses illegally distilling liquor. My mother lived with her grandparents for her first four years, beginning in 1928. Unlike Belle, my mother has never handled a gun or ridden a horse. Unlike my mother, I have used a firearm and ridden a horse, although I'm not coordinated enough to do both simultaneously!

When I shared with my mother what I had discovered after researching the origins of her middle name, she laughed about it. She still doesn't like her middle name.

Belle Starr in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, with Deputy US Marshall Benjamin Hughes, who arrested her for stealing horses.