Rose Lee "Pearl" Reed, daughter of outlaws Myra Maybelle Shirley (aka "Belle Starr") and James "Jim" Reed, was born in September 1868 in Rich Hill, Missouri.
Jim Reed died in a gunfight when Pearl was six years old. Belle remarried to a Cherokee named Sam Starr and settled in Younger's Bend beside the Canadian River in Indian Territory.
After Belle's unsolved murder and Starr's. death, Rose's brother, James Edwin "Eddie" Reed* was imprisoned in the Ohio State Penitentiary in July 1889 for bootlegging whisky to the Indians. [*Some sources say his name was Edwin Benton Reed].
After Belle's unsolved murder and Starr's. death, Rose's brother, James Edwin "Eddie" Reed* was imprisoned in the Ohio State Penitentiary in July 1889 for bootlegging whisky to the Indians. [*Some sources say his name was Edwin Benton Reed].
About this time, Rose married Will Harrison, but they divorced in 1891. Capitalizing on the fame of her mother, she changed her name to Pearl Starr and, supposedly to earn enough money to pay for her brother's freedom, embarked on her life-sustaining trade as a prostitute. She moved to Van Buren, Arkansas and became one of the most attractive and sought-after soiled dove in the house of Madam Van.
At the age of twenty-three, she moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas and established her own bordello, boldly advertising herself as the daughter of the infamous Belle Starr. Located on "the Row," Fort Smith's waterfront street of gambling halls, saloons and bordellos, "Rosa's Place" was identified with a bright red star surrounded by lighted pearls. The parlor featured a piano player, good whiskey and the "most beautiful girls west of the Mississippi." Business prospered and Pearl purchased additional brothels in addition to investing in saloons and other property.
Once having earned a good sum of money, Pearl hired a team of lawyers who won her brother's freedom in 1892. A year later, Eddie received a pardon from President Benjamin Harrison. Anxious to be reunited with his sister, Eddie arrived in Fort Smith to find out how she earned the money that paid for his freedom and quickly rejected his sister and her generosity.
Pearl had 4 children: (1) with Charles Kaigler / daughter Ruth Kaigler, b. 1894; (2) with Robert McClure / daughter Mamie McClure (adopted by Mr. & Mrs. David Epple of Newton KS who named her Flossie Pearl Epple); (3) with Count Arthur E. Erbach / son E. Erback who died as an infant in 1898; and (4) with Dell Andrews / daughter Jennette Steele Andrews, b. 1902.
In 1916 the city of Fort Smith began enacting ordinances making prostitution illegal. For some time, Starr's activities were overlooked, but she was eventually arrested. The charges were dropped on the understanding that Starr would leave the community. In 1921, at age 53, she left for Douglas, Arizona. She died there on 6 July 1925 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
In 1916 the city of Fort Smith began enacting ordinances making prostitution illegal. For some time, Starr's activities were overlooked, but she was eventually arrested. The charges were dropped on the understanding that Starr would leave the community. In 1921, at age 53, she left for Douglas, Arizona. She died there on 6 July 1925 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
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