Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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    Darcas Annis Martin (1865-1951)

    BIRTH: Apr 1865, Cherryville, Crawford, Missouri, USA
    DEATH: 29 Aug 1951, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA
    FATHER: Dabney Harrison Martin (1830–1904)
    MOTHER: Rachel Caroline Reeves (1832–1918)
    SPOUSE: Walter Monroe Edgar (1861–1950)

    When Darcas Annis Martin was born in April 1865 in Cherryville, Missouri, her father, Dabney, was 34, and her mother, Rachel, was 33. She married Walter Monroe Edgar on February 17, 1884. They had ten children in 19 years. She died on August 29, 1951, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of 86, and was buried in Terlton, Oklahoma.

    The Life of Darcas Annis Martin

    Darcas Annis Martin was born in April 1865 in Cherryville, Crawford County, Missouri, just as the Civil War was drawing to a close. She entered a world marked by hardship and rebuilding, where families depended on the land and on one another to survive. Her parents, Dabney Harrison Martin and Rachel Caroline Reeves, were part of the generation that rebuilt rural Missouri after years of conflict. Dabney was a farmer, and Rachel managed a bustling household that eventually grew to include ten children.

    As one of the younger children in a large family, Darcas learned early the skills that defined rural womanhood in the late nineteenth century—cooking over a wood stove, tending gardens, sewing, caring for younger siblings, and helping with the endless work that kept a farm running. Her childhood was shaped by the rhythms of planting and harvest, the close bonds of a large family, and the quiet resilience required of women in frontier communities.

    Marriage and Family

    On 17 February 1884, at the age of nineteen, Darcas married Walter Monroe Edgar in Crawford County. Walter was a young farmer from a nearby family, and together they began building a life rooted in hard work, partnership, and the hope of opportunity.

    Over the next two decades, Darcas and Walter welcomed ten children: Perry A. Edgar, Jocie Clara Edgar, Clarence Edgar, Mertie Edgar, Perlie Edgar, Farris Edgar, Grover Elden Edgar, George Lemuel Edgar, Edith Edgar, and Earnest Edgar.

    Their home was lively, noisy, and full of the constant movement of children. Darcas managed the household with skill and patience—cooking large meals, sewing clothes, tending gardens, and caring for infants while older children helped with farm chores. She was the steady center of a large and growing family.

    A New Life in Oklahoma

    Around 1900, Darcas and Walter moved their family from Missouri to Pawnee County, Oklahoma, joining thousands of settlers seeking new opportunities in the developing territory. Life on the Oklahoma frontier demanded strength and adaptability, and Darcas met those challenges with the same quiet determination that had defined her early years.

    In 1906, Walter received an 80‑acre homestead patent, and Darcas helped transform that land into a working farm. She raised her children through droughts, storms, and the uncertainties of frontier life, teaching them the values of thrift, faith, and perseverance.

    Her children grew up in Terlton, attended local schools, married, and scattered across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and beyond. Through it all, Darcas remained the matriarch of the Edgar family—someone her children returned to for comfort, advice, and the grounding presence of home.

    Later Years

    As the years passed, Darcas watched her family expand into grandchildren and great‑grandchildren. She lived through eras of immense change—from the post‑Civil War recovery of Missouri to Oklahoma statehood, from horse‑drawn wagons to automobiles, from frontier homesteads to modern towns.

    She outlived her husband Walter by just over a year. After his death in 1950, Darcas spent her final months near family in Oklahoma City, where she passed away on 29 August 1951 at the age of 86.

    She was brought home to Terlton Cemetery in Pawnee County, where she was laid to rest beside Walter, on the land and among the people who had shaped her life.

    Legacy of Darcas Annis Martin

    Darcas’s life reflects the story of countless pioneer women whose names rarely appear in history books but whose labor, sacrifice, and devotion built the foundations of families and communities. She raised ten children, supported her husband through decades of farming and frontier life, and carried her family through hardship with quiet strength.

    Her legacy lives on in the generations that followed—through the stories passed down, the values she instilled, and the enduring memory of a woman who lived a long, full life rooted in family, faith, and resilience.

    Parents

    FATHER: Dabney Harrison Martin (1830–1904)
    MOTHER: Rachel Caroline Reeves (1832–1918)

    Married

    Walter Monroe Edgar (1861–1950) married 17 Feb 1884, Crawford, Missouri, USA

    Children

    • Perry A Edgar (1884–1969) married Pearl Kelly (1896–1982)
    • Jocie Clara Edgar (1885–1953) married Benjamin Harrison Scott (1890–1953)
    • Clarence Edgar (1887–1977) married Matilda Ann Moore (1891-1976)
    • Mertie Edgar (1888–1974) married John Ellis Hickey (1894–1965)
    • Perlie Edgar (1890–1961) married Warren D Klintworth (1889–1981)
    • Farris Edgar (1892–1963) married Maude M Hudson (1898–1963)
    • Grover Elden Edgar (1895–1985) married Cena Bullington (1902-1996)
    • George Lemuel Edgar (1897–1980) married Minnie M Dietz (1898–1987)
    • Edith Edgar (1902–1989) married William James Kelley (1900–1959)
    • Earnest Edgar (1904–1992) married Ida Estelle McFerrin (1906–1994)

    Documents

    • Birth Records
    • Wedding records
    • Death records
      • Find a Grave > Dorcus Ann Martin Edgar
      • Burial: Terlton Cemetery, Terlton, Pawnee County, Oklahoma, USA
    • Census Records
      • 1870 United States Federal Census > Missouri > Crawford > Osage > Darcus Martin, age 9, living with parents Dabmer Martin (39, farmer) and Rachel A Martin (35, housekeeper) and siblings John Martin (19), Jesse Martin (17), Jane Martin (15), James Martin (13), George W Martin (11), William Martin (5), and Henry Martin (1)
      • 1880 United States Federal Census > Missouri > Crawford > Courtois > 054 >Darcas A. Martin (Age 15) living with parents Dabney H. Martin (49, farmer) and Rachael C. Martin (48) and siblings James T. Martin (21), Darcas A. Martin (15) William M. Martin (13), Sarah E. Martin (10), Louisa J. Martin (8), and Nathan F. Martin (6)
      • 1900 United States Federal Census > Missouri > Crawford > Courtoise > District 0003 > Darkus A Edgar (35) and husband Walter M Edgar (age 38, Birth Date: Dec 1861, farmer, owns mortgaged house), and children Perry A Edgar (14), Clarie Edgar (14), Clarence Edgar (13), Mertie Edgar (11), Perlie Edgar (9), Farris Edgar (8), Elden Edgar (5), and Georgia M Edgar (2)
      • 1910 United States Federal Census > Oklahoma > Pawnee > House Creek > District 0175 > Dorcas A Edgar (age 44) and husband Walter M Edgar (age 47, farmer, owns mortgaged farm) with children Elden Edgar (age 12), George Edgar (age 10), Edith Edgar (age 8), and Earnest Edgar (age 6)
      • 1920 United States Federal Census > Arkansas > Newton > Osage > District 0105 > Dorcas A Edgar (age 54) with husband Walter M Edgar (age 68, farmer, owned home free) and son Earnest Edgar (age 15)
      • 1930 United States Federal Census > Arkansas > Newton > Plumlee > District 0021 > Dorcas A Edgar (age 65) and husband Walter M Edgar (age 69, farmer, owned home valued at $100, no radio in house)
      • 1940 United States Federal Census > Arkansas > Newton > Plumlee > 51-22 > Dorcas A Edgar (age 74) and husband Walter M Edgar (age 78, farmer, owned home valued at $500, income in 1939: $0, number of weeks worked in 1939: 0, education highest grade: 4)
      • 1950 United States Federal Census > Oklahoma > Pawnee > Terlton > 59-31 > Darkeus A Edgar (age 85) and husband Walter M Edgar (age 88) living with their son Farris W Edgar
        (age 56, divorced, occupation: School Bus Driver, wages in 1949: $56, served in World War I) and Farris’ son Allen O Edgar (age 16), address 4 Cedar Ave in Terlton, Pawnee, Oklahoma

    Relation of Darcas Annis Martin to Karen Edgar: great-grandmother

    Page last updated May 11, 2026

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