His death became a national sensation - James had been a famous Confederate guerrilla fighter during the Civil War, and had become America's most wanted crim. The James and Ford brothers were popular subjects of Western films in the 1940s and 1950s: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford), "New Facts on the "Blue Cut" and Glendale", "One more shot at the legend of Jesse James", "Jesse James Wanted Poster Goes Up for Auction", "Death of the man who killed, the man who killed Jesse James", "Jesse James's Murderers. Founded in Chicago in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant who had served as the first full-time detective on the Windy Citys police force, the private agency was experienced in capturing train robbers. (Library of Congress) Information about the former Confederate soldier and famous outlaw from the Wild West Born: September 5, 1847 Died: April 3, 1882 Spouse: Zerelda Mimms Sheriff James Timberlake and Marshal Henry H. Craig, who were law enforcement officials active in the plan, were awarded the majority of the bounty. They surrendered themselves to legal authorities but were dismayed to be charged with first degree murder. Robert Ford posing with the gun he used to kill Jesse James. Senators from the state, former Confederate military commander Francis Cockrell, and former Confederate Congressman George Graham Vest, were identified with the Confederate cause. The outlaws used stolen tools to pry up part of the track, pulling it aside with rope as the train rounded a blind curve. [Jesse removes a towel, revealing his gun] Library of Congress In June of 1892, Robert Ford was managing a dance hall in the town of Creede, Colorado. Yet, it is the last four letters in James, the "ames" that bears a strong likeness to Jesse's. Read one of Jesse's original stories here: http://jessejamesphotoalbum.com/a-deck-of-cards/ [citation needed], On September 7, 1876, the opening day of hunting season in Minnesota, the JamesYounger gang attempted a raid on the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota. [13] Soon afterward, Robert Ford and Dick Liddil relocated to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they opened a saloon. The five bandits outside fired into the air to clear the streets, driving the townspeople to take cover and fire back from protected positions. [54], On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and Jameses went into the living room before traveling to Platte City for a robbery. 2023. In the spring he returned in a squad commanded by Fletch Taylor. Jesse's response was to thumb his nose at them and stage another hold-up in September along the Chicago and Alton line outside Independence, Missouri. Because the gang received support by many former Confederate soldiers in Missouri, they eluded the Pinkertons. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. For this, they wore Ku Klux Klan masks. John Newman Edwards made sure to highlight such techniques when creating an image of James as a kind of Robin Hood. In June 1892, a man named Edward O'Kelley walked into his saloon, offered him a quick greeting ("Hello, Bob") and then shot him dead with a sawed-off shotgun. The Missouri state legislature narrowly defeated a bill that praised the James and Younger brothers and offered them amnesty. After the passage of the KansasNebraska Act in 1854, Clay County became the scene of great turmoil as the question of whether slavery would be expanded into the neighboring Kansas Territory bred tension and hostility. Earlier that year, Bob Ford had arranged with Missouri'sgovernor to take down Jesse in exchange for a reward. [15], After "Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed in an ambush in October, the James brothers separated. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by T.J. Stiles. James grew suspicious of other members; he scared away one man and some believe that he killed another gang member. Jesse James (Brad Pitt) was the most notorious outlaw of his time, wanted by the law in 10 states yet celebrated as a Robin Hood in newspapers and dime novels. Quotes.net. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The atmosphere was volatile, with widespread clashes between individuals and between armed gangs of veterans from both sides of the war. [32] It is unlikely that he ever collected the money due. Robert Ford : I ain't never seen you without your guns, neither. However, his makeshift gang was already coming apart at the seams, fueled by the tension between Hite and Liddil over their competition for the affection of the Fords' sister, a widow named Martha Bolton. A bitter conflict ensued, resulting in an escalating cycle of atrocities committed by both sides. Robert Ford was born in 1862 in Ray County, Missouri, to James Thomas and Mary Bruin Ford as the youngest of seven siblings. Who Is Suspected Pentagon Leaker Jack Teixeira? He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. Published in 1993, this book by T.J. Stiles is about how the Civil War made Jesse James the man that he was. [68], J. Frank Dalton claimed to be Jesse James. "[40][41], Many residents were outraged by the raid on the family home. By age 16, Jesse followed Frank as a marauding bushwhacker, with both joining a ruthlessly violent gang led by William Bloody Bill Anderson. Local violence continued to increase in the state; Governor Thomas Clement Fletcher had recently ordered a company of militia into Johnson County to suppress guerrilla activity. During the Civil War, the border state of Missouri was home to bitter fighting in which both sides of the conflict regularlymurdered prisoners and civilians alike, mutilated enemy dead, looted property and livestock, and left towns and homes ablaze. [63] Later, the Ford brothers starred in a touring stage show in which they reenacted the shooting. Although Charles allegedly took part in the James Gangs final train robbery on Sept. 7, 1881, the Ford brothers did mostly odd jobs including holding the horses on raids. [10], The JamesSamuel family sided with the Confederates at the outbreak of war. [1] Scholars and historians have characterized James as one of many criminals inspired by the regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates following the Civil War, rather than as a manifestation of alleged economic justice or of frontier lawlessness. Bob Ford operated a tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. dead and in coffin, 1882. In one infamous September 1864 atrocity in Centralia, Missouri, the guerrillas forced two dozen unarmed Union soldiers heading home on leave from a train and executed them. Those are the classic words that Road Dogg Jesse James bellowed to alert the WWE Universe to the presence of the hell raising New Age Outlaws. [15], On December 26, 1889, Ford survived an attempt on his life in Kansas City, Kansas when an assailant tried to slit his throat. His wife and two children were in a nearby room. [4], Taylor was severely wounded in the summer of 1864, losing his right arm to a shotgun blast. Teenaged Robert Ford (Casey. As Ford turned to see who it was, O'Kelley fired both barrels, killing Ford instantly. In March 1874, after the agency took on the case of the James gang, a Pinkerton detective searching for Jesse and Frank in Missouri wound up dead, while a Pinkerton agent who pursued the brothers fellow gang members Cole and Robert Younger in another part of the state also was killed. The 1869 robbery marked the emergence of Jesse James as the most famous survivor of the former Confederate bushwhackers. If it wasnt for Jesse James, history wouldnt care about Robert Ford. The gang targeted the bank after learning that Adelbert Ames, a former Union general and Republican governor of Reconstruction-era Mississippi, had recently moved to Northfield. Jesse James remains a controversial symbol, one who can always be reinterpreted in various ways according to cultural tensions and needs. Ames was a stockholder in the bank, but Butler had no direct connection to it.[45]. Though ordered to move South beyond Union lines, they moved north across the nearby state border into Nebraska Territory. THE JAMES-YOUNGERS. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. When silver was found in Creede, Ford closed his saloon and opened one there. Another less glamorous claim is that Robert Ford was a pariah, and the few customers that did turn up, only did so to pick fights. [69] Oran Baker, Hood County sheriff, conducted a visual postmortem exam and found he had thirty-two bullet wounds and a rope burn around his neck. In the case, Daniel Smoote asked for $223.50 from Frank and Jesse James to replace a horse, saddle, and bridle stolen as they fled the robbery of the Daviess County Savings Bank. The only known civil case involving Frank and Jesse James was filed in the Common Pleas Court of Daviess County in 1870. Some filmmakers portrayed the former outlaw as a revenger, replacing "social with exclusively personal motives. [50], By 1881, with local Tennessee authorities growing suspicious, the brothers returned to Missouri, where they felt safer. He said, Hello, Bob. Ford turned to see who it was and Kelly emptied both barrels into his chest, killing him instantly. 1879). The body buried in Kearney, Missouri, marked "Jesse James" was exhumed in 1995 and subjected to mitochondrial DNA typing. Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man He robbed the Danville train He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor He'd a hand, a heart, and a brain Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor He couldn't see a brother suffer pain And with his brother Frank he robbed the Springfield bank And he stopped the Glendale train Poor Jesse had a wife, a James wrote about this death with bitterness a decade later.[21][22]. [60][61][62], After receiving a small portion of the reward, the Fords fled Missouri. Jesse James was the Robin Hood of the West not Wikipedia James' experiences during the Civil War would result in some post-traumatic stress disorder of the worst kind. January 15, 1874. James noticed that a picture was hanging crooked on the wall, and turned his back on Bob to adjust it. 622 Words; 2 Pages; . The notorious robber was killed by a would-be gang member while plotting his next heist. Jesse's Own Words Jesse James took a hand in building his own . [46] The James brothers eventually split from the others and escaped to Missouri. The robbers inside the bank were thwarted when acting cashier 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. And Mr. and Mrs. Howard, their two children and their cousin Charles Johnson strolled to the second Presbyterian Church to attend the 10:00 service. Meanwhile, James' legend continued to grow as one of the outsized figures of the heavily mythologized Old West. After being nursed back to health by his cousin Zerelda Zee Mimms (whom he would wed in 1874 and later have two children), Jesse eventually banded with his brother and other former Confederate guerrillas to rob banks, stagecoaches and trains. Jesse James and four members of the gang robbed their first stagecoach near Hot Springs, Arkansas, taking cash and jewels valued at approximately $3,000. James's mother Zerelda Samuel wrote the following epitaph for him: "In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here. He spent the next two years repeatedly changing his identity and moving from place to place. However, instead of scolding the Fords, James walked across the living room to lay his revolvers on a sofa. The bank was owned by Republican former militia officers who had recently conducted the first Republican Party rally in Clay County's history. He was born on September 5th, 1847 and was a criminal of the Old West along with his brother, Frank James. Wikimedia CommonsFord was promised the $5,000 bounty once he killed James, but received only a fraction of the amount when he did. Two other agents, Captain 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. Ford was promised the $5,000 bounty once he killed James, but received only a fraction of the amount when he did. [17] For a period, Robert earned money by posing for photographs as "the man who killed Jesse James" in dime museums. Popular portrayals of James as an embodiment of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, are a case of romantic revisionism as there is no evidence his gang shared any loot from their robberies with anyone outside their network. Among the deputies was Jefferson B. Snyder, later a long-serving district attorney in northeastern Louisiana. For protection, James asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. [89], Jesse James's boyhood home in Kearney, Missouri, is operated as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous resident. Jesse Woodson James, born in Clay County, Missouri, on September 5, 1847,was the son of Kentucky native Zerelda Cole James and her husband, Robert James, a Baptist minister and slave-owning hemp farmer who assisted in founding William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Bolton also revealed that her brother had a plan that could prove useful, and on January 13, the governor held another meeting with Robert in a Kansas City hotel room, where they forged the arrangement that promised Ford the reward money and a pardon for all crimes committed in exchange for the apprehension of James. [16] Within a few years, Ford settled in Colorado, where he opened a saloon and gambling house in Walsenburg. In January 1882, two James Gang members, Wood Hite and Dick Liddil, got into an argument while hiding out in the home of Fords sister. The Jesse James Tavern is located in Asdee. Killed By One Of His Confederates Who Claims To Be A Detective", "Jesse James's Murderers. Initially, Bob was charged with the first-degree murder of both Wood Hite and Jesse James, while Charles was charged as his accomplice. [25] On May 23, 1867, for example, they robbed a bank in Richmond, Missouri, in which they killed the mayor and two others. Farmers raised the same crops and livestock as in the areas from which they had migrated. 18 Apr. Leo Sayer has married his partner Donatella Piccinetti in an intimate home ceremony. Inside, the outlaws turned to flee. Wikimedia Commons Robert Ford posing with the gun he used to kill Jesse James. [73] During the Populist and Progressive eras, James became an icon as America's Robin Hood, standing up against corporations in defense of the small farmer, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Some of Sam Bass' last words. At the end of the Civil War, Missouri remained deeply divided. Despite public sentiment toward the gang's crimes, there is no evidence that the James gang ever shared any of the robbery money outside their personal circle. Jesse James Crime By Christopher Klein is the author of four books, including When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom. After the train robbery, Jamess brother Frank James had also decided to retire from crime and moved East, settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.[4]. Meanwhile, James' legend continued to . Ford never told the audience that he had shot James from behind. Barred by law from offering a large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $5,000 bounty for the delivery of each of them and an additional $5,000 for the conviction of either of them. Over the years, several different men claimed to be Jesse James. The Ford Brothers Indicted, Plead Guilty, Sentenced To Be Hanged, And Pardoned All In One Day", "Jesse James's Assassination and the Ford Boys", "Bob Ford's Narrow Escape. Instead of confronting them, James walked across the living room and laid his revolvers on a sofa. An Admirer Of Jesse James Tries To Cut His Throat", "The man who killed Jesse James, Descendant of Robert Ford visits the area bringing answers about the past", "The Horror Hams: Laird Cregar, John Carradine and Basil Rathbone", "Introduction: The Dark Cowboy Rides into Town", "The Missouri outlaws of the late 1800s who terrorized the nation", "Casey Affleck's First Run-In With 'Oscar', "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Ford_(outlaw)&oldid=1148015898. They were nervous and bored, looking for opportunity, and feeling restless. All Rights Reserved. This page was last edited on 3 April 2023, at 15:20. [14] According to legend, Ford had a shooting contest with Jose Chavez y Chavez, a comrade-in-arms of Billy the Kid's during the Lincoln County War. They tortured Reuben Samuel by briefly hanging him from a tree. 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