The Life and Times of Missouri Outlaw Jesse James
The James’ log home was like that of their neighbors – simple and unadorned. Robert James was a Baptist minister with a church near Kearny. Unlike many of his neigbors, Robert James was an educated man with enough book learning to read and to preach. When Jesse was just two years old, however, he left home in the hopes that he would make his fortune in the California Gold Rush of ’49. He planned to send for his family but never panned any gold. He died of pneumonia before he could even try.
His widow remarried twice by the time that young Jesse was eight. With his siblings – two brothers, a sister, two stepbrothers and two stepsisters – Jesse learned early to perform the many chores necessary to rural life in those years. His second stepfather, Mr. Samuels, reared the boy as his own. The family prospered in the years leading up to the Civil War and owned four slaves at one time.
The small farm grew but when the nation entered the years of the Civil War, everything changed. Because Missouri was a border state – one that neither declared for the Union or the Confederacy – tempers soared. Neighbors turned against neighbors as factions pitted one against another. For Kentucky born Zee, Jesse’s mother, the choice was clear – the family’s allegiance was Southern.
In the spring of 1863, mounted Union troops arrived on the farm. Because the Samuels were known to be Southern sympathizers, the Union soldiers were harsh and threatened to burn their home. Sixteen year old Jesse objected and tried to fight the soldiers. He was beaten into unconciousness and by the time he roused, their home and everything of value had been burned.
Until this time, Jesse and his older brother Frank had been average boys. They worked hard on the farm and defended their siblings, especially a younger retarded stepbrother. The attack on the farm by Union soldiers changed everything. When Jesse recovered, he joined Quantrill’s Raiders, a radical group with strong Southern sympathies who were as bloody and vicious to Union supporters as the Yankees had been to the Samuels (James) family farm.
Jesse soon became a trusted member of the cruel band who killed and destroyed throughout the northern half of Missouri. After the Centralia Massacre in 1864, he parted company with Quantrill and formed his own gang. Early members included brother Frank along with Cole Younger and brothers.
After the Civil War ended, Jesse saw an opportunity to restore the family finances by robbing banks. Because many banks had foreclosed on land owners who could not pay their mortgages during the war years, James developed a particular hatred for banks. The gang’s first efforts to rob the bank at Liberty, Missouri in 1866 failed but later robberies succeeded. Jesse James was reported to be the mastermind who planned each robbery and became familiar with each bank to ensure success.
The gang soon extended their crimes to include train robbery and for nine years the gang wreaked havoc through several states. When lawmen harassed his mother and family at home on the farm, Jesse’s hatred was fueled. After his mother lost one arm after being shot by a law officer, he vowed revenge and killed more often.
Rumors that he robbed the rich to give to the poor like Robin Hood spread his fame and made him a popular outlaw. Jesse courted his cousin Zerelda for nine years before wedding her on April 18, 1875. Whether his life of crime prevented an earlier marriage is unknown. They soon had two children, Mary and Jesse.
The gang’s long record of successful robberies was broken by a crushing defeat in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876. Citizens of the small town were bonded together against crime. When citizens realized that a bank robbery was in progress, shopkeepers, butchers, blacksmiths and other residents became armed. These men attacked the robbers and drove the James gang out of town before the bank robbery could be completed. Several gang members died, others were wounded, and the gang scattered for cover.
At this time, Jesse James moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he lived a quiet existence for several years. He sent for his family who lived with him there. By 1879, however, they longed to return to their native Missouri and did.
When Jesse returned, the robberies began again and unleashed a new reign of terror on the state.
Between “jobs” as the gang called their crimes, James moved into the bustling city of St. Joseph, Missouri. The town was booming with railroads and other industries. He settled his family into a small frame house in a quiet neighborhood and began a double life under the alias of Mr. Howard. The Howard family lived among their neighbors and no one in the city realized Mr. Howard’s other identity until his death.
Jesse James’ death came after the Missouri governer issued a large cash award for anyone who could deliver the outlaw living or dead. Governer Crittendon considered the state to be in a state of emergency with such frequent bank and train robberies that business as usual was not possible. He was approached by a member of the James gang, a young man named Robert Ford who had gained Jesse’s trust. Ford was promised the reward money upon delivery of James.
On a bright spring day, April 3, 1882, the Howard family went about their daily business. In the parlor, Jesse planned the next robbery with Robert Ford and his brother. Bob Ford noted that Jesse’s guns were not within his reach so he waited for an opportunity.
When Jesse James turned to straighten a sampler that read “Bless This House” on the wall, Ford fired four shots and killed him. By the time that Jesse’s wife rushed in from the kitchen, she saw the Ford brothers fleeing the scene and her husband dead on the floor in a pool of blood.
As news of the murder spread, Mr. Howard’s true identity became known. Robert Ford was given the reward money and touted as a hero throughout the nation. Photographs of the dead outlaw were sent around the world. The outlaw was laid to rest in his native Kearny, Missouri. His body was later removed to another location.
Legends and rumours would abound for more than a century. A story that Jesse James was not dead circulated and the grave was exhumed in the 1990’s but determined that the remains were those of James. Many Western movies and novels have been created based on Jesse James life. Other outlaws took lessons from James. When “Pretty Boy” Charley Floyd lived incognito with his own family, he often used the alias of Howard. Gangs like the Newton Boys robbed trains, inspired by James’ successes.
Years after his brother’s death, Frank James turned himself into the authorities. He served prison time and lived a quiet life after his release. Robert Ford, the man who turned on his friend and fellow outlaw, used his reward money to open a saloon in Colorado. He was often heckled by those who quoted from the “Ballad of Jesse James” and called “the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard and laid poor Jesse in his grave”. In 1892, he met his death by violence when he was shot to death by a customer.
Today, the home where Jesse James lived and died can be visited in St. Joseph. Now located on the grounds of the Patee House Museum at 12th and Penn streets, the home is open to the public. The wall where James attempted to straighten the sampler has been gouged by souvenior seekers over many years and is now covered with protective glass to prevent additional damage.
In nearby Kearney, in the Kansas City area, visitors can tour the Jesse James Museum on the site of the James farm where Jesse was born. Guides offer stories and facts about the infamous outlaw.
Jesse James’ name will remain famous as long as there remain fans of the nation’s Western heritage and famous outlaws.
