Pearl Starr was born in Rich Hill , Missouri. Belle Starr claimed that Pearl was the daughter of the outlaw Cole Younger. While no official record exists, pictures of a young Pearl Starr show an uncanny resemblance to Cole Younger. Her parentage always may be in doubt. Most historical writers accept that Starr gave birth to an illegitimate daughter [ 8 ] named Flossie [ 9 ] in April when she was In , Pearl Starr's brother Edwin was found in possession of stolen property and was shot by his accomplice.
What became of Starr's daughter is unknown, but in the summer of , Pearl Starr returned alone to her mother's house at Younger's Bend to care for her brother. Edwin's case went to trial in July He was found guilty and sent to prison. About this time, Starr married Will Harrison, but the couple were divorced in Capitalizing on the dime novel fame of Belle, Pearl Reed changed her name to Pearl Starr at this time.
Starr moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas and established her own bordello. The parlor featured a talented piano player, good whiskey, and supposedly the "most beautiful girls west of the Mississippi. Starr had another illegitimate daughter in and named her Ruth. Starr married Arthur Erbach in and had a son with him in Both are buried in the Oak Cemetery in Fort Smith. By , she was living with Dell Andrews and, though not married to him, had another daughter, Jennette, in November.
The only time Starr was implicated in a crime was in After a burglary at a general merchandise store in Fort Smith, police found several stolen items hidden at Starr's Winslow home. She was found guilty of robbery and sentenced to a year in the Arkansas State Penitentiary. In , the city of Fort Smith enacted ordinances making prostitution illegal. For some time, Starr's activities were overlooked, but she eventually was arrested. The charges were dropped on the understanding that Starr would leave the community.
She died there on July 6, [ 11 ] and was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Starr's daughter Flossie was credited with writing a two-part article for the Dallas Morning News Sunday editions on April 30 and May 7, According to these articles, Starr fully believed that her brother Edwin, always resentful of his mother's attention to Pearl Starr, was their mother's killer, but was never able to prove it.
