Judge John Shirley was a man of wealth and social standing in Carthage when the Civil War began. He had two sons and a daughter and was pro-Southern in sympathy. His eldest son, Preston, not in the war, would die later in a Texas tavern shooting. His second son, Ed, became a member of Quantrill’s guerillas and was killed in a skirmish near Sarcoxie in 1863. It was his daughter who made the greatest mark of the family. Her name was Myra Belle. We know her as Belle Starr.
Reader Interactions
Leave a Reply