STAPLES, W. W., Beeville Bee, 3 Feb 1899:

W. W. Staples, one of the oldest residents of Live Oak county and  a ranchman well-known 
throughout Southwest Texas, passed away last Tuesday evening at his home nine miles 
from Mathis.  

The deceased was a native of Tennessee, a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil wars, and 
had been a resident of Texas more than forty years.  He died, possessed of a splendid ranch 
and property and leaves it to his only son, Henry T. Staples.