Volume 12 , Issue 14

The American outlaw Jesse James

Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 ? April 3, 1882) and his brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers.

After the war, as members of one gang or another, they robbed banks. They also robbed stagecoaches and trains. Jesse Woodson James was born September 5, 1847, in Clay County, Missouri, USA, died April 3, 1882 (aged 34), at St. Joseph, Missouri, USA. Jesse's was an American, who was known for his Banditry.

Jesse's spouse was Zerelda Mimms; Children: Jesse E. James, Mary James Barr; Jesse's parents were Robert S. James and Zerelda Cole James. See more of the James family connections at Stray Leaves - Official website of the James Family.

Zerelda Mimms James (born Zerelda Amanda Mimms on July 21, 1845?November 13, 1900) was the first cousin and wife of Jesse James. Her father, pastor John Wilson Mimms, was married to Mary James, sister of Robert S. James, Jesse's father.

Jesse James and Zerelda Mimms married on April 24, 1874, while the James-Younger gang was still in full force. Jesse was first of the Jameses and Youngers to be married.

Jesse and Zerelda James had four children:

* Jesse Edward "Tim" James (born August 31, 1875 - died March 26, 1951)
* Twins Gould and Montgomery James (born Feb. 28, 1878 and died in infancy)
* Mary Susan James (born June 17, 1879 and died October 11, 1935)

One of America's most famous criminals, Jesse James, wasvshot to death by fellow gang member, Bob Ford, who betrayed James for reward money. BUT ? there are some that think that it was not Jesse James that was shot that day, April 3, 1882. OR ? Was it?

For 16 years, Jesse and his brother, Frank, committed robberies and murders throughout the Midwest. Detective magazines and pulp novels glamorized the James gang, turning them into mythical Robin Hoods who were driven to crime by unethical landowners and bankers. In reality, Jesse James was a ruthless killer who stole only for himself.

The teenage James brothers joined up with southern guerrilla leaders when the Civil War broke out. Would the James brothers be called "Domestic Terrorists" today?

Both James brothers participated in massacres of settlers and troops affiliated with the North. After the war was over, the quiet farming life of the James brothers' youth no longer seemed enticing, and the two turned to crime. Jesse's first bank robbery occurred on February 13, 1866, in Liberty, Missouri.

Over the next couple of years, the James brothers became the suspects in several bank robberies throughout western Missouri. However, locals were sympathetic to ex-southern guerrillas and vouched for the brothers.

Throughout the late 1860s and early 1870s, the James gang robbed only a couple banks a year, otherwise keeping a low profile.

In 1873, the James gang got into the train robbery game. During one such robbery, the gang declined to take any money or valuables from southerners.

The train robberies brought out the Pinkerton Detective Agency, employed to bring the James gang to justice. However, the Pinkerton operatives' botched an attempt to kill James -- leaving a woman and her child injured and elicited public sympathy for Jesse and Frank James.

The James gang suffered a setback in 1876 when they raided the town of Northfield, Minnesota. The Younger brothers, cousins of the James brothers, were shot and wounded during the brazen midday robbery. After running off in a different direction from Jesse and Frank, the Younger brothers were captured by a large posse and later sentenced to life in prison. Jesse and Frank, the only members of the gang to escape successfully, headed to Tennessee to hide out.

After spending a few quiet years farming, Jesse organized a new gang. Charlie and Robert Ford were on the fringe of the new gang, but they disliked Jesse intensely and decided to kill him for the reward money.

On April 3, 1882, while Jesse's mother made breakfast, the new gang met to hear Jesse's plan for the next robbery. It is alleged, when Jesse turned his back to adjust a picture on the wall, Bob Ford shot him several times in the back.

His tombstone reads, "Jesse W. James, Died April 3, 1882, Aged 34 years, 6 months, 28 days, Murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here."

See Also: Jesse James My Father, written by Jesse James, Jr. It begins in chapter one with, "THINGS I REMEMBER OF MY FATHER."

It goes on to say in the first paragraph, "I was born August 31, 1875, in Nashville, Tenn. I recall with vivid distinctness an incident that occurred in Nashville, when I was about five fears old. At that time my father, Jesse James, was away from home. Dick Liddill was staying at our home during the absence of father. It was the night of St. Valentine's day. While mother and myself and sister and Dick Liddill were at home there was a sound as if someone was throwing rocks against the front door. Dick started to open the door, but mother suspected that it was someone who had discovered who we were and were trying to entice Dick out to capture or kill him. She would not allow him to open the door. Dick then got my father's shot gun from a closet. Both of its barrels were loaded heavily with buckshot. Before my mother could interfere to prevent it, Dick aimed at the door and fired the charge of buckshot, tearing a great hole through the door panel and splintering it. Dick rushed to the door and threw it open and ran out on the porch. In the darkness he saw a man running around the corner. Dick fired the second barrel straight at him, barely missing him, the charge rattling against a lamp post on the street. We lived in the suburbs, and a great crowd that had heard the shots gathered to see what was the matter. Dick told them simply that he had shot at a burglar."
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