Minnie Staggs

After my interest in family history was sparked by a fantastical tale my paternal grandfather told my children about his mother, Minnie Staggs, I began dabbling in family history. Minnie’s story was first on my list of family legends to explore. Although my grandfather was a notorious liar and the stories he told were suspect, I was still curious about my family’s proclaimed “Cherokee grandmother.” This post summarizes my discoveries about Minnie’s life story - all subject to update or change as more accurate information comes to light.

It's Complicated

In March of 1866, a year after the Civil War ended and 11 months after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Florence Arminda Staggs (Minnie) and her twin brother, Robert M. Staggs, made their entrance into the upside-down world of pro-slavery Arkansas in the early days of reconstruction.^1a,^1b,^1c Their father, Eli Staggs, already had four children (Nancy, Lewis, Susan, and George) by his deceased wife, Mary Berry,^2a,^2b and was now married to Mary’s sister, Nancy Jane Berry.and was now married to Mary's sister, Nancy Jane Berry.^3a,^3b

A Bloody Affair in Arkansas

Five months after the twins were born, Eli lost his life in what the family would claim was a case of mistaken identity.⁴ Family stories provide a variety of scenarios, but the one I was always told was that while attempting to fetch a doctor when his wife went into labor, the "Army" mistakenly shot him as a deserter. Interestingly, by 1866, the Confederate Army had surrendered and I'm not sure the Army was hunting Confederate deserters. However, had he been shot as a deserter, it would not have been a mistake, as Eli was a twice-documented deserter from the 32nd Arkansas Infantry.⁵ To be fair, Eli could have been a straggler⁶ (a soldier who was separated from his company and then returned.)

A search of old newspaper articles through the Library of Congress's service, "Chronicling America," offered a different take on the death of one Eli Staggs in August of 1866 and was reported in newspapers as far away as Memphis, Tennessee, and Wilmington, Delaware with the dramatic headline, "A Bloody Affair in Arkansas":

The Jacksonport Era of the 11th says that a man named McKinney, an overseer hired by a planter in that county, was stopped on his way to the plantation the Tuesday evening previous by four men, who robbed, blind-folded and tied him to a tree. The Era says that as soon as released, he went to Cotton Plant and obtained a State's warrant for the two he recognized – Stracener and Berry were their names – who were arraigned before Justice Lentz of Cotton Plant. The evidence for the State was in accordance with the above facts. But one of the accused parties – Berry – adduced evidence by which he proved that he was at another place at the hour the outrage was perpetrated. It is believed that the witnesses who deposed this testimony were the accomplices of Berry. Upon this evidence, both parties were released. When the trial was concluded, McKinney and his friends left Cotton Plant for their homes – some in wagons, and some on horseback. About five miles north of Cotton Plant, The Stracener and Berry party overtook them. One Eli Staggs, a brother-in-law to Berry and a witness for him – rode up to McKinney and commenced abusing him, and finally challenged him to a pistol combat or duel on the ground. McKinney readily accepted; and, leaping from his wagon, pistol in hand, about twenty feet apart, the firing between the parties commenced. Each party fired three shots, any one of which would have proved fatal. Staggs received the first shot in the mouth, the next in the throat, and the third in the breast. McKinney was shot three times in the breast. When these shots were fired, the parties turned their backs upon each other – walked about the same distance from the scene, and both fell about the same instant – one upon his back, and the other upon his face – and died with pistols in hand. This occasioned a good deal of promiscuous shooting – about twenty random shots – between the respective friends of both parties. But fortunately, no other damage was done.⁷

The Des Arc Citizen in Arkansas described the shooting more succinctly:

We learn from reliable authority that a serious affray occurred in the neighborhood of Parley P. Hill's, six miles from Cotton Plant, between two men, McKinney and Staggs, in which McKinney shot Staggs, killing him almost instantly, after which a friend of Staggs shot McKinney, killing him. A man named Marsh was shot twelve times, but not seriously hurt. The difficulty originated in some old charges that had been preferred against McKinney.⁸

Although the family account of Eli being accidentally shot by the Army as a deserter may have seemed a plausible alternative to the shootout reported by the newspapers, the facts are hard to dispute. Augusta (where Eli and his family lived) and Cotton Plant (where the shooting occurred) are both within Woodruff County, Arkansas. A probate was opened for Eli Staggs in August of 1866,⁹ and this shooting occurred in August of 1866. Also, Eli was married to Nancy Berry, making his brother-in-law a Berry. Although another Eli Staggs appears in Arkansas on the 1860 Federal Census,¹⁰ he lived over 200 miles away in Magnolia, Arkansas and would only have been 19 years old at the time of this shooting, with no known Berry relatives.

A New Chapter

Sometime between her husband's death and her record being entered in the 1870 Census, the widow, Nancy Staggs, married William T. Gilleon.¹¹ In addition to Minnie and Robert, the census entry includes three of Eli and Mary's children, Nancy, Susan, and George as members of the Gilleon household. Minnie is recorded as a white female who can read but cannot write.

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By 1880, Minnie and Robert are working as laborers in Barnes (a township in Woodruff County) on the farm of J.J. McDaniel and his wife, Victoria.¹² John McDaniel appears as a boy on the 1870 Census¹³ in De View, Woodruff County, where Minnie's Uncle Burton lives. John's sister, Mary, is listed as a close neighbor to Burton in this 1880 Census.¹⁴ Because the twins are only 14 years old and their mom does not appear on the Census, it is presumed she died sometime between 1870 and 1880, but I have found no documentation to verify the date of her death. Family accounts⁴ indicate that Minnie, Robert, and their half-sibling, George, became wards of their Uncle Burton, but I have not been able to find documentation of this. My assumption is that Burton, as the twins' guardian, found work for Minnie and Robert on the farm of a long-time acquaintance, John McDaniel.

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A Family of Her Own

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Seven years later, William Webster Bates applied for a license to marry Minnie Staggs — the record shows a marriage date a year later than expected^1b, most likely a clerking error rather than a second ceremony; see Florence's page for the full discrepancy. By 1900, Minnie and her husband appear on the Federal Census with their four children^1c — see Florence's page for the full family list. The Census was conducted in July of that year, so there was no record of their son, Chancy, who was born August 22 but died 12 days later.¹⁵ At this time, William and Minnie own their home and farm free and clear. Minnie has not learned to write, but the census indicates that she can now read.

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In 1910, Minnie and William are renting a farm in Looney, Oklahoma, and have added three more children and one grandchild to their household¹⁶ — see Florence's page for the full family list. This is the last federal census that Nora appeared in as she will die in 1918,¹⁷ reportedly a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic (although I have found no official records to support the cause of death). On this census, Minnie is reported as a white female who can read and write.

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William W. and Minnie Bates

William makes his last appearance on a Federal census in 1920,¹⁸ and will pass away four years before the next census. Sometime after William's death in 1926, Minnie moves to Los Angeles, California, presumably to live near her daughter, Ada (now called Edythe), who appears on the 1930 Federal Census in Los Angeles.¹⁹ I have not been able to locate Minnie on a census after 1920, but her death certificate^1a indicates she owned a home in Los Angeles and had been a resident for 10 years.

Minnie died of cerebral hemorrhage in Los Angeles — see her page for the full detail of her final illness. In an interesting final twist, the funeral director noted the body was originally to be transported to Quanah, Texas, but she was ultimately buried beside her husband in Harmon County, Oklahoma.²⁰

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Notes:

To date, I have found no connections to support family stories indicating that Minnie had Native American heritage. Several of Minnie's grandchildren and great grandchildren (myself included) have had their DNA tested and, so far, there is nothing to substantiate the family stories. Despite genealogical documentation collected by me and my cousins, and their own DNA results, several of my relatives doggedly insist that Minnie was Native American (sometimes they declare she was "full blood Indian" and at other times they declare she was "half Indian.") Other members of the Staggs family have pursued similar family stories,²¹ so there may be a thread that I will find someday to lead me to the source. My aunts' stories about Minnie's father being a Native American Chief are obviously false, as Minnie's father was a white farmer who died in a shootout in Arkansas. I will dive deeper into Minnie's ancestry in another post, but for now, I am confident that my grandfather's tales about his mother were not based in fact.

References

• 1a. ↩ “California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800–1994,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGVW-NM37 : 22 October 2019), Minnie Bates, 1935. [Birthdate listed as 10 March 1866.]
• 1b. ↩ “Arkansas Marriages, 1837–1944,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7SQ-RP1 : 11 January 2020), Minnie Staggs in entry for W. W. Bates, 1887. [Age recorded as 21.]
• 1c. ↩ 1900 U.S. census, Greer County, Oklahoma Territory, population schedule, Duke Township, sheet 21, dwelling 443, family 444, Arminda F Bates in household of William W Bates; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T623. [Age recorded as 34.]
• 2a. ↩ “Mississippi Marriages, 1800–1911,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V28F-VKQ : 14 February 2020), Eli Staggs, 1852. [Marriage to Mary Berry.]
• 2b. ↩ 1860 U.S. census, Jackson County, Arkansas, population schedule, Bayou Cache, p. 681 (stamped), dwelling 1744, family 1744, Eli Staggs; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M653. [Lists Eli as head of family with wife Mary and children Nancy, Lewis, Susan, and George.]
• 3a. ↩ 1850 U.S. census, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, population schedule, Pontotoc, p. 183B (stamped), dwelling 1710, family 1710, Mary Berry and Nancy Berry in household of Jarrett Berry; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 380. [Mary and Nancy Berry listed as siblings.]
• 3b. ↩ 1850 U.S. census, Pontotoc, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 195B, dwelling 1876, family 1876, Ezekiel Staggs household, including Eli Staggs (age 19) and Ezekiel Staggs (age 7); image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020) citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 380, image 397.
• 4. ↩ Mrs. John B. Kittrell, Sr., “Information Sought on the Eli Staggs Family,” Woodruff County Historical Society, Summer 1981, 18–19, image. [Information supplied by Minnie's youngest daughter, Beulah.]
• 5. ↩ Compiled service record, Eli Staggs, Sergeant (demoted to Private), Company I, 32nd Arkansas Infantry; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas, record group M317, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/30704927). [Records show Eli deserted 12 January 1863 and again 15 August 1863.]
• 6. ↩ Kathryn Shively Meier, “‘Cowards of the Army’: Straggling in the Civil War,” HistoryNet, n.d. (https://www.historynet.com/cowards-of-the-army-straggling-in-the-civil-war.htm : accessed 22 June 2020).
• 7. ↩ “Bloody Affair in Arkansas,” (Memphis) Public Ledger, 24 August 1866; Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033673/1866-08-24/ed-1/seq-1/ : accessed 22 June 2020), col. 3, par. 5.
• 8. ↩ (Des Arc) Des Arc Citizen, 4 August 1866; Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051370/1866-08-04/ed-1/seq-3/ : accessed 17 May 2020), col. 1, par. 7.
• 9. ↩ Records of Administrator, Executor and Guardian Bonds; Record of Letters of Guardianship; Record of Administrators and Curators, 1861–1904, Arkansas Probate Court (Woodruff County), Eli Staggs, 11 August 1866; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020). [Nancy J. Staggs and Burton Berry listed as administrators.]
• 10. ↩ 1860 U.S. census, Columbia County, Arkansas, population schedule, Magnolia, p. 347B (written), dwelling 925, family 945, Eli Staggs in household of Levi Staggs; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.
• 11. ↩ 1870 U.S. census, Woodruff County, Arkansas, population schedule, De View, p. 479A (stamped), dwelling 138, family 137, William T. Gilleon; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M593. [Household includes Eli and Mary's children Nancy J., Susan, and George Staggs, and Eli and Nancy's children Arminda and Robert Staggs.]
• 12. ↩ 1880 U.S. census, Woodruff County, Arkansas, population schedule, Barnes, p. 238B (stamped), dwelling 16, family 19, Minny [sic] and Robbert [sic] Stags [sic] in household of J. J. McDaniel; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 59.
• 13. ↩ 1870 U.S. census, Woodruff County, Arkansas, population schedule, De View, p. 472B (stamped), dwelling 49, family 49, John McDonald [McDaniels]; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 67.
• 14. ↩ 1880 U.S. census, Woodruff County, Arkansas, population schedule, De View, p. 249D (stamped), dwelling 105, family 106, Mary McDonald [McDaniels]; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 59.
• 15. ↩ The Louis Cemetery (Louis, Oklahoma), Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 1 July 2020), “Chancy C., Son of W.W. & M. Bates. Born Aug. 22, 1900. Died Sept. 3, 1900.”
• 16. ↩ 1910 U.S. census, Harmon County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Looney, p. 8B (written), dwelling 136, family 138, Florence R Bates; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.
• 17. ↩ The Louis Cemetery (Louis, Oklahoma), Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 1 July 2020), “Nora M Bates, Oct. 7, 1897 – March 15, 1918.”
• 18. ↩ 1920 U.S. census, Jackson County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Baucum, p. 1A (written), dwelling 8, family 8, Minnie Bates in household of William W Bates; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T625.
• 19. ↩ 1930 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles, p. 1A (written), dwelling 1, family 1, Edythe P Haman in household of Harry F Haman; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T626.
• 20. ↩ The Louis Cemetery (Louis, Oklahoma), Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 1 July 2020), “Mother Minnie Bates 1866–1935 | Father W.W. Bates 1860–1926.”
• 21. ↩ William A. (Bill) Staggs, “STAGGS in S.C., Ala., Miss. & Ark.,” Genealogy.com Forums, April 1998 (https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/staggs/14/ : accessed 1 July 2020).