STARNES, LOUISA C. (1852~1952). Confederate widow Louisa C. Starnes was born on November 5, 1852 in Mt. Pleasant, Titus County, Texas. She was born to William Naramoore and Mary Lou Allen.

She married Confederate veteran Richard Aaron Starnes in Delta County, Texas on December 31, 1883. The two had one child named Mrs. I. G. Gardenhire. Starnes was from the same area of Texas as his wife.

Richard Starnes served in the 23rd Texas Cavalry, Company B for about nine months. He joined at the end of 1864 and served until the unit's surrender at the close of the Civil War. Starnes likely saw little combat, the 23rd participated in the Red River Campaign in early- to mid-1864 and Starnes joined the unit after that.

At an unknown time, the couple moved into the Confederate Men's Home in Austin together. Richard Starnes died on November 5, 1931. Soon after his death, the Texas Legislature passed a law forbidding women to live in the Confederate Men's Home without their husband, forcing Louisa Starnes to move out. She lived with her daughter in Austin, Texas until the mid-1940s.

Starnes moved into the Confederate Woman's Home on March 22, 1944. She died on October 6, 1952 one month shy of her 100th birthday. She was buried at the Texas State Cemetery next to her husband.

Information taken from Texas State Cemetery research materials.