Spouse #1:
Joseph "Little Joe" Starr Jr. (1893-1952)
Marriage Date: February 13, 1921
Marriage Place: Mingo County, West Virginia,
USA

Spouse #2:
Oscar Lawrence Canupp (1906-1957)

Spouse #3:
Basil Hayes Stepp (1880-1936)

Briza always used her married surname "Starr"
which is reflected in all public records
concerning her.

Briza Davis
(Pronounced “Brizzie” & Sometimes “Briz”)
Burial Date: February 22, 2007
Burial Place: Mountain View Memory Gardens,
Maher, Mingo County, West Virginia, USA

Note: Her Grave Marker has the Date Of Death
as February 22, 2007, this in error. The
correct Date of Death is actually February 16,
2007. The Date February 22, 2007 is the date
of burial. ----Russell L. Lawrence

Briza Davis, the oldest daughter of Floyd
Davis and Lear (Starr) Davis, married her
half first cousin Joseph "Little Joe" Starr
Jr. February 13, 1921 in Mingo County, West
Virginia. This union produced one child,
William Mack Starr, born December 1, 1922.
"Little Joe" and Briza soon separated. There
were, however, two other men in her life.

First, Oscar Lawrence Canupp, who arrived
approximately 1929, and neglecting to use
his real surname, introduced himself as
"Oscar Lawrence" from Texas. Years later it
was discovered that his full name was Oscar
Lawrence Canupp, a son of Jonas Jackson
Canupp and Alice Virginia Shults, and that
in fact he was from Sevier County, Tennessee.

During the time he was on Pigeon Creek,
Mingo County, WV. these facts were not
known and he was given the nickname of
"Tex" by Briza's family. As a result of
this relationship two children were born
with the surname "Lawrence" instead of
"Canupp", as is shown by their birth
records. Until they were in their teenage
years these two "Lawrence" children of
Oscar Lawrence Canupp and Briza (Davis)
Starr were erroneously given the surname
of "Starr" in all official records (except
birth), such as school and census records.

In the 1930 Mingo County, WV. census, next
door to her mother, Lear (Starr) (Davis)
Horner, and Lear's second husband, Russell
Lee Horner, the family of Briza is listed as;
Starr, Brizzie age 25, Head; Starr, Bill
(William M.) age 8, Son; Starr, Minnie Jean
age 4 months, Daughter.

Another child was born to Oscar & Briza after
this census was taken, a son named Russell
Lee Lawrence, after his step-grandfather
Russell Lee Horner. Minnie Jean Lawrence,
Russell's sister, was named after Minnie
(Gollihue) Davis, wife of Briza's brother,
John Davis.

Oscar Lawrence Canupp deserted this family in
1932, but did return in July 1954 for a visit
with his two "Lawrence" children who at the
time lived on Hell Creek, a tributary of
Pigeon Creek, Mingo County, West Virginia.
Oscar was brought by Ruby (Canupp) Click,
a daughter from a previous marriage, who had
previously contacted Briza's children by mail
after being told of their existence. The
visit was very short, and Oscar did not
contact them again. His daughter Ruby,
however, has maintained contact through the
years.

The next man in Briza's life, however brief,
was Basil Stepp, a coal miner, and is
remembered as being a good man. This
relationship produced one child, Vane
(pronounced “Vonna”) Lou Stepp, nicknamed
"Bonnie", born November 9, 1934 she died of
Diphtheria at the approximate age of three
years. Her name will not appear in a census
but her birth is recorded in the Mingo County,
West Virginia Courthouse. She is buried in
an unmarked grave in a Starr family cemetery
on the side of the hill at the mouth of Caney
Branch, a tributary of Pigeon Creek, Mingo
County, West Virginia.

This cemetery is now overgrown and difficult
to find. My mother, Briza, showed me where
"Bonnie's" grave is located When we went to
the funeral for my Grandmother, Lear (Starr)
(Davis) Horner, in 1945.(several other
members of the Starr-Davis family lines are
also buried there, most in unmarked graves).

Before making any judgements one has to
consider that Briza raised her children with
loving care, though poverty stricken, through
all the years of the great depression of the
1930's, when times were hard and the struggle
to survive was great. --- Russell L. Lawrence