Henry Starr

{{short description|American outlaw and actor (1873–1921)}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Starr | image = File:Henry Starr.jpg | caption = Picture of Henry Starr from the Oklahoma Historical Society Photograph Collection | birth_name = Henry Starr | birth_place = Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, US | birth_date = {{birth date|1873|12|2}} | death_place = Harrison, Arkansas, US | death_cause = Gunshot wound | burial_place = Dewey Cemetery, Dewey, Oklahoma, US | occupation = Actor, outlaw | death_date = {{death date and age|1921|2|22|1873|12|2}} }}

'''Henry Starr''' (December 2, 1873 – February 22, 1921) was an American outlaw of the frontier and an actor of the silent film era.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Starr, Henry {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=ST060|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.okhistory.org}}</ref>

==Biography==

=== Early life === Starr's parents were Mary Scott Starr and George Starr. He was the nephew of Sam Starr, husband of Belle Starr, he was the last in a long line of Starr family criminals.

During Starr's childhood in Indian Territory, he spent his time around gangs in their hideouts. In 1886, Starr's father died. Starr's widowed mother had to watch three children after that. Later on in life, she married a man named C. N. Walker. Starr disliked him, so he left to become a cowboy at a ranch.

=== Criminal activity === Starr was first arrested and fined for "Introducing spirits into the territory". Starr was repeatedly arrested for crimes he did not commit. After a while, Starr thought that if he was going to be fined for those crimes, he should just commit a real crime while making a lot of money. That's when he started to rob banks.<ref name= "Treadwell">{{cite book |last1=Treadwell |first1=Terry C. |title=Outlaws of the Wild West |date=2021 |publisher=Frontline Books |location=Great Britain |isbn=978-1-52678-237-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-clEAAAQBAJ |access-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref>

Starr was tried for the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Floyd Wilson in 1893.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1893-10-20|title=Henry Starr on trial for murder of Floyd Wilson|pages=2|work=The Weekly Star and Kansan|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3537208/henry-starr-on-trial-for-murder-of/|access-date=2020-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Art T.|last=Burton|title=FLOYD WILSON: FORT SMITH LAWMAN|url=https://www.nps.gov/fosm/learn/historyculture/floyd_wilson.htm|access-date=2020-07-30|website=www.nps.gov|language=en}}</ref> Twice sentenced by Judge Isaac C. Parker to hang for murder, following a series of appeals and Starr's confrontation with Cherokee Bill, who was attempting a prison break, his sentence was reduced to a sentence of imprisonment for manslaughter. Starr was eventually granted a presidential pardon and released.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Henry Starr, the one-time celebrity outlaw|url=http://edmondlifeandleisure.com/henrystarr-the-onetime-celebrity-outlaw-p11586-76.htm|access-date=2020-07-30|website=edmondlifeandleisure.com}}</ref><ref name=shelbycountytoday>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-22|title="The Shooting Starr" by Neal Murphy|url=https://scttx.com/articles/shooting-starr-neal-murphy|access-date=2020-07-30|website=Shelby County Today|language=en}}</ref>

Starr went on to form a notorious gang that terrorized and robbed throughout northwest Arkansas around the start of the 20th century. They were on a crime spree, and the reward if Starr was caught would be $5,000.<ref name= "Treadwell"/>

=== Later life === He was imprisoned again in 1915 in Arizona, wrote his autobiography, ''Thrilling Events, Life of Henry Starr'' and, released on parole. In 1919, he joined the Pan American Motion Picture Corporation and starred in a silent film, ''A Debtor to the Law'' (1919), playing a dramatized version of himself.<ref name=":0" /> While attempting to rob a bank in Harrison, Arkansas, on February 18, 1921, he was shot by the bank president W. J. Myers with a .38 caliber rifle, and later died of his wounds.<ref name="shelbycountytoday" /> Starr is buried at Dewey Cemetery in Dewey, Oklahoma.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Starr Buried 40 Years Ago |url=https://digitalcollections.tulsalibrary.org/digital/collection/p16063coll1/id/6648/ |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=digitalcollections.tulsalibrary.org |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M4Tez8dZ4c The Wild Life of Henry Starr on YouTube]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Henry}} Category:1873 births Category:1921 deaths Category:Train robbers Category:American bank robbers Category:American people convicted of manslaughter Category:American people convicted of murdering police officers Category:American prisoners sentenced to death Category:Cowboys Category:Deaths by firearm in Arkansas Category:Gunslingers of the American Old West Category:Outlaws of the American Old West Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States federal government Category:American male silent film actors Category:20th-century American male actors