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Jesse James

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Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw and the most famous member of the James-Younger gang. He became a figure of folklore after his death. He is sometimes labeled a gunfighter, mostly inaccurately.

Jesse James

Early life

Jesse Woodson James was born in Clay County, Missouri, near the site of present day Kearney. His father, Robert James, was a farmer and Baptist minister from Kentucky who helped found William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Robert James traveled to California to prospect for gold and died there when Jesse was three years old. After his father's death, his mother Zerelda (nicknamed Zee) remarried, first to Benjamin Simms, and then to a doctor named Reuben Samuel. After their marriage in 1855, Samuel moved into the James home.

In the tumultuous years leading up to the American Civil War, Zerelda and Reuben acquired a total of seven slaves and grew tobacco on their well-appointed farm. In addition to Jesse's older brother, Alexander Franklin "Frank" James and younger sister Susan Lavenia James, Jesse gained four half-siblings: Sarah Louisa Samuel (sometimes Sarah Ellen), John Thomas Samuel, Fannie Quantrill Samuel, and Archie Peyton Samuel. Sarah later married a man named John C. Harmon.

The James farm was visited in 1863 by Federal troops looking for information regarding Confederate guerrilla groups. The soldiers beat young Jesse and hanged his stepfather (who survived). Shortly after that, in 1864, he joined a guerrilla group lead by Bloody Bill Anderson who led the Centralia Massacre. Jesse joined at about the same time that Anderson's group split from Quantrill's Raiders, so there is some uncertainty regarding whether Jesse James was ever served under Quantrill.

After the Civil War

 
Jesse and Frank James, 1872
 
Clay County Savings in Liberty

The end of the Civil War left Missouri in shambles. The pro-Union Republicans took control of the state government keeping the Democrats from voting or holding public office. James was shot by Union cavalrymen a month after the war ended, leaving him badly wounded. During James' recovery, his first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms (named after his mother), nursed him back to health, and he started a nine-year courtship with her. She later became his wife. Meanwhile, some of his old war comrades, led by Archie Clement, refused to return to peaceful life.

In 1866, this group (possibly including James, though he may still have been suffering from his wound) staged the first armed robbery of a US bank in post civil war peacetime, holding up the Clay County Savings Association in the town of Liberty in which a bystanding student of William Jewell College was killed. They staged several more robberies over the next few years, though state authorities (and local lynch mobs) decimated the ranks of the older bushwhackers.

By 1868, Frank and Jesse James joined Cole Younger in robbing a bank in Russellville, Kentucky. But James did not become famous until December 1869, when he and Frank (most likely) robbed the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri. The robbery netted little, but James (it appears) shot and killed the cashier, mistakenly believing the man to be Samuel P. Cox, the militia officer who defeated and killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson during the Civil War. James' self-proclaimed attempt at revenge for the Civil War, and the daring escape he and Frank made through the middle of a posse shortly afterward, put his name in the newspapers for the first time.

The robbery marked James' emergence as the most famous of the former guerrillas-turned-outlaws, and it started an alliance with John Newman Edwards, a Kansas City Times editor who was campaigning to return the old Confederates to power in Missouri. Edwards published Jesse's letters and made him into a symbol of rebel defiance of Reconstruction through his elaborate editorials and praiseful reporting. Jesse James's own role in creating his rising public profile is debated by historians and biographers, though politics certainly surrounded his outlaw career and enhanced his notoriety.

Meanwhile, the James brothers, along with Cole Younger and his brothers, Clell Miller and other former Confederates—now constituting the James-Younger Gang—continued a remarkable string of robberies from Iowa to Texas, and from Kansas to West Virginia. They robbed banks, stagecoaches and a fair in Kansas City, often in front of large crowds, even hamming it up for the audience. In 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing the Rock Island train in Adair, Iowa. Their later train robberies had a lighter touch—in fact only twice in all of Jesse James's train hold-ups did he rob passengers, because he typically limited himself to the express safe in the baggage car. Such techniques fostered the Robin Hood image that Edwards was creating in his newspapers. Jesse James is suspected to have shot 15 people during his bandit career.

Pinkertons engaged

Express companies turned to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1874 to stop the James-Younger Gang. The Chicago-based agency worked primarily against urban professional criminals such as counterfeiters, safe crackers, con men, and sneak-thiefs. The former guerrillas, supported by many old Confederates in Missouri, proved to be too much for them. One agent (Joseph Whicher) was dispatched to infiltrate Zerelda Samuel's farm and turned up dead shortly afterward. Two others (Louis J. Lull and John Boyle) were sent after the Youngers; Lull was killed by two of the Youngers in a roadside gunfight on March 17, 1874, though he killed John Younger before he died.

Allan Pinkerton, the agency's founder and leader, took on the case as a personal vendetta. Working with old Unionists around Jesse James's family's farm, he staged a raid on the homestead on the night of January 25, 1875. An incendiary device thrown inside by the detectives exploded, killing James's young half-brother and blowing off one of James' mother's arms. Afterward, Pinkerton denied that the raid's intent was to burn the house down.

However, a 1994 book written by Robert Dyer entitled Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri (ISBN-13: 978-0826209597) contains the following: "In early 1991, a Jesse James researcher named Ted Yeatman found an interesting letter among the papers of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The letter was written by Allan Pinkerton to a lawyer working for him in Liberty, Missouri, named Samuel Hardwicke. In the letter Pinkerton tells Hardwicke that when the men go to the James home to look for Jesse they should find some way to 'burn the house down.' He suggests they use some type of firebomb."

The bloody fiasco did more than all of Edwards's columns to turn Jesse James into a sympathetic figure for much of the public. A bill that lavishly praised the James and Younger brothers and offered them amnesty was only narrowly defeated in the state legislature. Former Confederates, allowed to vote and hold office again, voted a limit on reward offers the governor could make for fugitives (when the only reward offers higher than the new limit previously made had been for the James brothers). But Frank and Jesse married (Jesse to his cousin Zee Mimms) and moved to the Nashville, Tennessee, area, probably to save their mother from further assaults.

Downfall of the gang

On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger gang attempted their most daring raid to date, on the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Cole and Bob Younger later stated that they selected the bank because of its connection to two Union generals and Radical Republican politicians: Adelbert Ames, the governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, and Benjamin Butler, Ames's father-in-law and the stern Union commander in occupied New Orleans.

However, the robbery was thwarted when Joseph Lee Heywood refused to open the safe, falsely claiming that it was secured by a time lock even as they held a bowie knife to his throat and cracked his skull with a pistol butt. The citizens of Northfield had taken notice and were arriving with guns. Before leaving the bank, Frank James shot the unarmed Heywood in the head. When the bandits exited the bank, they found the rest of their gang dead or wounded amid a hail of gunfire. Suspicious townsmen had confronted the bandits, ran to get their arms, and opened up from under the cover of windows and the corners of buildings. The gang barely escaped, leaving two of their number and two unarmed townspeople (including Heywood) dead in Northfield. A massive manhunt ensued. The James brothers eventually split from the others and escaped to Missouri. The Youngers and one other bandit, Charlie Pitts, were soon discovered; a brisk gunfight left Pitts dead and the Youngers all prisoners. Except for Frank and Jesse James, the James-Younger Gang was destroyed.

Jesse and Frank returned to the Nashville area, where they went under the names of Thomas Howard and B.J. Woodson, respectively. Frank seemed to settle down, but Jesse remained restless. He recruited a new gang in 1879 and returned to crime, holding up a train at Glendale, Missouri, on October 8, 1879. The robbery began a spree of crimes, including the hold-up of the federal paymaster of a canal project in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and two more train robberies. But the new gang did not consist of the old, battle-hardened guerrillas; they soon turned against each other or were captured, while James grew paranoid, killing one gang member and frightening away another. The authorities grew suspicious, and by 1881 the brothers were forced to return to Missouri. In December, Jesse rented a house in Saint Joseph, Missouri, not far from where he had been born and raised. Frank, however, decided to move to safer territory, heading east to Virginia.

Murder

 
Jesse James' home in St. Joseph where he was shot

With his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse thought he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Bob and Charley Ford. Charley had been out on raids with Jesse before, but Bob was an eager new recruit. To better protect himself, Jesse asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. Little did he know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in Jesse James. Crittenden had made the capture of the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Barred by law from offering a sufficiently large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $10,000 bounty for each of them.

On April 3, 1882, as James prepared for another robbery, he climbed a chair to dust a picture. It was a rare moment: He had his guns off, having removed them earlier when the unusual heat forced him to remove his coat; as he moved in and out of the house, he feared the pistols would attract attention from the several passers-by. Seizing the opportunity, the Fords drew their revolvers. Bob was the fastest, firing a shot into the back of Jesse's head, killing him instantly.

The assassination proved a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role; as crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead bandit, they surrendered to the authorities, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to hang, and were promptly pardoned by the governor. Indeed, the governor's quick pardon suggested that he was well aware that the brothers intended to kill, rather than capture, Jesse James. (The Ford brothers, like many who knew James, never believed it was practical to try to capture such a dangerous man.) The implication that the chief executive of Missouri conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and helped create a new legend in James.

The Fords received a portion of the reward (some of it also went to law enforcement officials active in the plan) and fled Missouri, which now fully embraced the outlaw who had long divided public opinion in the state. Zerelda, Jesse’s mother, appeared at the coroner’s inquest, deeply anguished, and loudly denounced Dick Liddil, a former gang member who was cooperating with state authorities. Charley Ford committed suicide in May 1884. Bob Ford was killed by a shotgun blast to the throat in his tent saloon in Creede, Colorado, on June 8, 1892. His killer, Edward Capehart O'Kelley, was sentenced to life in prison. Because of health problems, his sentence was commuted, and O'Kelley was released on October 3, 1902.[1]

Jesse James’s epitaph, selected by his mother, reads: In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here.

Family

Jesse married his cousin Zerelda Mimms. They had four children: Jesse Edward James (b. 1875), Gould James (b. 1878), Montgomery James (b. 1878), and Mary Susan James (b. 1879). Twins Gould and Montgomery died in infancy.

Rumors of survival

Rumors of Jesse James's survival proliferated almost as soon as the newspapers announced his death. Some said that Ford did not kill James but someone else, in an elaborate plot to allow him to escape justice. Some stories say he lived in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as late as 1948, and a man named J. Frank Dalton, who claimed to be Jesse James, died in Granbury, Texas, in 1951 at age 103. Some stories claim the real recipient of Ford's bullet was a man named Charles Bigelow, reported to have been living with James's wife at the time. Generally speaking, however, these tales received little credence, then or now; Jesse's wife, Zee, died alone and in poverty. The body buried in Missouri as Jesse James was exhumed in 1995 and, according to a report by Anne C. Stone, Ph.D.; James E. Starrs, L.L.M.; and Mark Stoneking, Ph.D. titled Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of the Presumptive Remains of Jesse James, does appear to be the remains of Jesse James. A court order was granted in 2000 to exhume and test Dalton's body, but the wrong body was exhumed. [citation needed]

Legacy

During his lifetime, Jesse James was largely celebrated by former Confederates, to whom he appealed directly in his letters to the press. Indeed, some historians credit him with contributing to the rise of Confederates to dominance in Missouri politics (by the 1880s, for example, both U.S. Senators from the state had been identified with the Confederate cause). His return to crime after the fall of Reconstruction, however, was devoid of political overtones, but it helped cement his place in American memory as a simple but remarkably effective bandit. During the Populist and Progressive eras, he emerged as America's Robin Hood, standing up against corporations in defense of the small farmer (a role he never played during his lifetime). This image is still seen in films, as well as songs and folklore. Although he remains a controversial symbol in the cultural battles over the place of the Civil War in American history, he is regarded as a hero by the neo-Confederate movement.

Irish-American Lucchese Family associate Jimmy Burke named his two sons, Frank James Burke and Jesse James Burke, after the James brothers.

 
A dime novel featuring Jesse James.

Festivals

The Defeat of Jesse James Daysare celebrated every year in Northfield, Minnesota during the first weekend of September to honor its heroes and victory over the Jesse James Gang. The festival is among the largest outdoor celebrations in Minnesota. Thousands of visitors witness reenactments of the robbery, watch championship rodeo, enjoy a carnival, watch the parade, explore arts and crafts expositions, and attend musical performances.

Music and literature

Main article: Jesse James in Music

Jesse James has been the subject of many songs, books, articles and movies throughout the years. Jesse is often used as a fictional character in many Western novels, starting with some of the original dime novels, including some that were published while he was still alive.

Movies and television

  • In an episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? Frank and Jesse James are out in a storm one night when they are taken in by a kind old woman who gives them soup and a bed for the night. She explains that she is getting evicted the next day as she can't afford to pay her rent. The next morning, Frank and Jesse leave the old woman $900 to cover her house, and a note telling her to make sure she gets a cash receipt. They are then seen robbing the bank manager of the money. The bank manager threatens to put a price on their heads and they respond, "We already got a price on our heads, you tell your friends, you just got robbed by Frank and Jesse James."
  • In an episode of Lois and Clark, Superman (Clark Kent) goes back in time and meets Jesse James.
  • In the episode of Little House on the Prairie titled The Aftermmath, Jesse and Frank James take refuge in Walnut Grove after a failed robbery attempt. The arrival of pursuing bounty hunters precipitates a civic crisis in the town, whose leaders are reluctant to turn the James brothers over to a group bent on summarily executing them. The crisis escalates radically when the James brothers take Mary Ingalls hostage. (This episode also suggests, contrary to history, that Bob Ford was a law-abiding citizen who harbored a desire for revenge for Jesse and Frank's murder of his brother during Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas.)
  • In The Young Riders (1989-1992), Jesse James appears in the last season (91-92) as one of the Pony Express riders. In the show, this occurs before he becomes an outlaw.
  • Jesse James is mentioned in the opening song in Smokey and the Bandit ("You've heard about the legend of Jesse James…")
  • Just like Jesse James is the title of a movie that appears in Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking (2005), in which Sam Shepard plays an aging western movie star whose first success was with that movie.

Museums

Museums devoted to Jesse James are scattered throughout the Midwest at many of the places where he robbed.

  • James Farm in Kearney, Missouri: The James farm in Kearney, Missouri, remained in private hands until 1974 when Clay County bought it and turned it into a museum.[1]
  • Jesse James Home Museum: the house where Jesse James was killed in south St. Joseph was moved in 1939 to the Belt Highway on St. Joseph's east side to attract tourists. In 1977 it was moved to its current ___location, near Patee House, which was the headquarters of the Pony Express. At its current ___location the house is two blocks from the home's original ___location and is owned and operated by the Pony Express Historical Association.[2]
  • First National Bank of Northfield: The Northfield Historical Society in Northfield, Minnesota, has restored the building that housed the First National Bank, the scene of the disastrous 1876 raid.[3]

In Asdee, North Kerry, the home of his ancestors, there was a small museum and the parish priest, Canon William Ferris, said a solemn requiem mass for Jesse's soul every year on 3rd April. See Fintan O'Toole's book, "A Mass for Jesse James"

  • Heaton Bowman Funeral Home, 36th and Frederick Avenue, St. Joseph, MO. The funeral home's predesessor conducted the original autopsy and funeral for Jesse James. If you ask politely at the front desk the staff will escort you to a small room in the back that holds the log book and other documentation.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ries,Judith: Ed O'Kelley: The Man Who Murdered Jesse James' Murderer, Stewart Printing and Publishing Co., Marble Hill, Missouri, 1994 (ISBN 0-934426-61-9)

References

These are various biographies, articles and books that address Jesse James:

  • Hobsbawm, Eric J.: Bandits, Pantheon, 1981
  • Koblas, John J., Faithful Unto Death, Northfield Historical Society Press, 2001
  • Ries, Judith, Ed O'Kelley: The Man Who Murdered Jesse James' Murderer, Stewart Printing & Publishing Co., 1994.
  • Settle, William A., Jr.: Jesse James Was His Name
  • Settle, William A., Jr.: Fact and Fiction Concerning the Careers of the Notorious James Brothers of Missouri 1977
  • Slotkin, Richard: Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, Atheneum, 1985
  • Stiles, T.J.: Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002
  • Stone, A.C., Starrs, J.E., Stoneking, M.: Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the presumptive remains of Jesse James, Journal of Forensic Sciences 46, (2001)
  • Thelen, David, Paths of Resistance: Tradition and Dignity in Industrializing Missouri, Oxford University Press, 1986
  • White, Richard, "Outlaw Gangs of the Middle Border: American Social Bandits, Western Historical Quarterly 12, no. 4 (October 1981)
  • Dyer, Robert, "Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri", University of Missouri Press, 1994
  • Yeatman, Ted P.: Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend, Cumberland House, 2001
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