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From: "Mary Lou Hudson" <>
Subject: [OUTLAWS] Wm. Tener Starmer Killed by Dalton Gang
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 00:17:59 -0500


William Tener Starmer
Killed by Dalton Gang
By Lois Laird, Dighton, Kansas 67839

The following excerpt was taken from OKLAHOMBRES PARTICULARLY THE WILDER ONES, by
Everett Dumas Nix. Everett Dumas Nix was the U.S. Marshall for Oklahoma Territory at the time of William Tener 'Bill' Starmer's death and Mr. Nix, in his old age told the stories of those early days to a man named Gordon Hines, who wrote up Mr. Nix's memories. This is probably the most accurate account that is on record of what actually happened the day William Tener Starmer died.

Page 37-38
"........Soon after the organization of their band, the Dalton gang made a raid on a colony of Missourians who had settled near Orlando on Beaver Creek. Eight or ten horses were stolen, and the bandits made a dash back toward the Indian Territory. A posse was quickly organized that followed the horse thieves to a point near Twin Mounds in the Territory. The trail growing warmer, the posse divided to search the dense timber along the bank of the creek. Two members of the posse, William Thompson and W.T. Starmer, a cousin of George G. Starmer, later one of my deputies, were ambushed by the outlaws who hid behind a pile of driftwood. The possemen dropped to the ground quickly and attempted to conceal themselves behind stumps while they poured a deadly fire in the direction from which the bandits' shots had come, but the outlaws were too well sheltered to suffer damage, and within a few minutes Starmer lay fatally wounded while Thompson made his get-away. When Starmer's !
body was examined it was found that he had been hit by three bullets so well aimed that any one would have killed him. His own Winchester was empty, indicating that he had fought to the last cartridge."
End of excerpt.
William T. Starmer, b. March 6, 1856 in Gentry County, Mo. to Jacob Tener and Elizabeth Blakley. His father was born at Knoxville, Tenn. and his mother in Whitley County, Ky. His paternal grandparents were Alexander Starmer and Anna Tener; his great-grandparents were George Starmer and Jacob Tener and Esther Gibson. Maternal grandparents were Nathaniel Blakley, son of Jesse Blakley and Mary Kearns, and Frankie Creekmore, daughter of Ballentine Batchelor Creekmore and Mary Brown. the Creekmore family line goes back many generations in the United States.
William T. Starmer and brothers Nathaniel H. and James L. Starmer and double cousin George G. Starmer came to Oklahoma together. All made the run of '89 into Oklahoma Territory and secured land about half way between Orlando and Marshall. James and George relinquished their land in about a year and George went to work as police officer in the town of Perry.
William T. and Nathaniel H. Starmer made numerous improvements on their land and were living and prospering until one day the Dalton Gang came through the neighborhood and stole horses belonging to the settlers. William T. was a U.S. Deputy Marshal and he quickly organized and led a posse in pursuit. He forbade younger brother Nathaniel to join the posse. They trailed the Dalton Gang to the area around Twin Mounds east of Stillwater. There the Daltons holed up in some underbrush along a creek and Bill Starmer and another member of the posse, Bill Thompson, went in after them. After a few moments of gun battle, Bill lay dead, his Winchester empty beside him. Thompson was able to get away. Bill's grave is unknown but was probably buried in an early cemetery at Orlando which was used by very early settlers; now lost after being abandoned and uncared for through the years. This cemetery was located at the southeast edge of the townsite. The date of Bill Starmer's deat!
h is recorded in family records as May 2, 1892.
William T. Starmer married 21 Sept., 1882 Nancy Boyer in Daviess County, Mo. They had two children, Gertrude and Claude. Both his wife and son died in October 1887 and when he came to Oklahoma he left his small daughter, Gertrude, in Missouri with her mother's relatives.
After Bill's death, cousin George resigned police in Perry and joined the forces of Everett Dumas Nix as U.S. Deputy Marshal and had many exciting adventures in Oklahoma before returning to Missouri. He was later a police officer in St. Joseph, Mo. and later still, worked in the postal department of that city.
Nathaniel H. Starmer relinquished his homestead in March 1893 and with his small family returned to their home in Buchanan County, Mo. where his lived many years. He later lived north of Utica, Trego County, Kan. Returning to Missouri in later years he made his home with a son until death came to him on 26 Dec. 1943 at Olathe, Kan. where they were living. He is buried in the family plot at Armstrong Cemetery at Rushville, Mo. He was born 4 Aug. 1862 in Gentry County, Mo. and was 81 at the time of death, having lived through a most interesting and colorful time in the history of our country and having been a witness to many changes in the way we live.

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