Rather than dying in a hail of gunfire during a heist, the legendary Jesse James met his end on April 3, 1882, shot in the back of the head while dusting a picture on the wall of his rented home in St. Joseph, Missouri. As promised, Governor Crittenden quickly pardoned the Fords, though the swiftness of his act produced bad optics for everyone involved. However, instead of scolding the Fords, James walked across the living room to lay his revolvers on a sofa. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. 1875) and Mary Susan James (later Barr, b. [15], On December 26, 1889, Ford survived an attempt on his life in Kansas City, Kansas when an assailant tried to slit his throat. Sheriff James Timberlake and Marshal Henry H. Craig, who were law enforcement officials active in the plan, were awarded the majority of the bounty. . [10], The JamesSamuel family sided with the Confederates at the outbreak of war. [8] Aside from slavery, the culture of Little Dixie was Southern in other ways as well. 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. [38][39], Allan Pinkerton, the agency's founder and leader, took on the case as a personal vendetta. 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. After 50 years of living incognito, impersonating his secretly murdered cousin, he had perfected a cleaner and more refined style of writing. James's initiative in creating his rising public profile is debated by historians and biographers. Together with Edwards's admiring editorials, the letters helped James become a symbol of Confederate defiance of federal Reconstruction policy. After the James brothers successfully conducted other robberies and became legendary, some observers retroactively credited them with being the leaders of the robbery. Meanwhile, former Union officer Thomas Crittenden began his tenure as Missouri governor in 1881 with a promise to bring James to justice. 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/ 55 views, 3 likes, 1 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Greenville Bible Church: Wednesday Evening Service Between his days as a teenage Confederate guerrilla and his murder at age 34, James became one of Americas most notorious outlaws. 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. It is thought that he took part in the notorious massacre of some two hundred men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, a center of abolitionists. For this, they wore Ku Klux Klan masks. Museums and sites devoted to Jesse James: The Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield, Minnesota, is among the largest outdoor celebrations in the state. (The stepfather survived.). [4] Clay County in particular was strongly influenced by the Southern culture of its rural pioneer families. 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. Confederate guerrillas murdered civilian Unionists, executed prisoners, and scalped the dead. [5] Charles had been out on raids with James before, but Robert was an eager new recruit. [2] He held six slaves and more than 100 acres (0.40km2) of farmland. Former rebels attacked the railroads as symbols of threatening centralization. [17] STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Unarmed, he mounted a chair to dust off a picture on the wall, his back to the brothers as they cocked their pistols. Jesse James was dead. After the train robbery, Jamess brother Frank James had also decided to retire from crime and moved East, settling in Lynchburg, Virginia.[4]. Wikimedia Commons Robert Ford posing with the gun he used to kill Jesse James. He turned around and noticed a dusty picture above the mantel, and stood on a chair in order to clean it. [68], J. Frank Dalton claimed to be Jesse James. . Jesse James and his brother Frank served for the Confederate Army before embarking on criminal careers in the Old West. O'Kelley's sentence was commuted because of a medical condition and a 7,000-signature petition in favor of his release, and he was released on October 3, 1902. To murder James, Ford needed his brother Charles to convince James to make him a fully-fledged member of the gang. After breakfast, they moved into the sitting room to discuss Jesses plan to rob the Platte City, Missouri Bank. Audiences would chant lyrics from a popular song of the day at Fords events. They robbed banks and trains, and shot people who got in their way. 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. The brothers were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War and, for approximately a decade after the war's conclusion, led the James-Younger gang that infamously robbed banks and murdered throughout the Midwest, their actions glorified by Kansas City Times editor James Newman Edwards. Jesse James is one of the most famous outlaws of all time, a sort of Robin Hood figure to the poor, but his crimes took a dark turn. Minutes later the Ford brothers were running down the street, and Bob was yelling: I killed him! Missouri was a border state, sharing characteristics of both North and South, but 75% of the population was from the South or other border states. Dalton died August 15, 1951, in Granbury, Texas. The Missouri state legislature narrowly defeated a bill that praised the James and Younger brothers and offered them amnesty. 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. [56][57][58] Bob Ford operated a tent saloon in Creede, Colorado. "[53] James's widow Zerelda Mimms James died alone and in poverty. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876, when as a result of their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, several members of the gang were captured or killed. Furthermore, James was no longer surrounded by men he could trust. On July 21, 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing a Rock Island Line train west of Adair, Iowa, and stealing approximately $3,000 (equivalent to $68,000 in 2021). Jesse was born in Clay County, Missouri, on September 5, 1847, to Zerelda and Robert James, hemp farmers who owned six slaves. [50], By 1881, with local Tennessee authorities growing suspicious, the brothers returned to Missouri, where they felt safer. [22] On June 13, 1866, in Jackson County, Missouri, the gang freed two jailed members of Quantrill's gang, killing the jailer in the effort. 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. Over time, the letters gradually became more political in tone and James denounced the Republicans and expressed his pride in his Confederate loyalties. With the saloon out of business, Ford moved on to Creede, Colo. On May 29, 1892, he opened a dance hall but six days later it burned down along with Creedes business district. It is the latest brush with the law for Dean, who was just ten years old when he got his big break on Home and Away, acting alongside Ada Nicodemou as her on-screen son VJ Patterson from 2007 to 2014. Bob Ford, a new recruit into the James gang, had pulled the trigger, having conspired with his older brother Charley, already a member of the gang. Following the raid, public support for Jesse and Frank increased, and the Missouri state legislature even came close to passing a bill offering the men amnesty. 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. In the end, the gang killed the bank cashier and a passerby, while two bandits were shot to death by townsfolk before the rest of the outlaws fled. The governor had offered rewards higher than the new limit only on Frank and Jesse James. Jesse James and Frank James, in full, respectively, Jesse Woodson James and Alexander Franklin James, (respectively, born September 5, 1847, near Centerville [now Kearney], Missouri, U.S.died April 3, 1882, St. Joseph, Missouri; born January 10, 1843, near Centervilledied February 18, 1915, near Kearney), two brothers who were among the most During the 1869 bank robbery in Gallatin, the incident that first brought Jesse public notice as an outlaw, he shot and killed the banks cashier in an act of revenge, thinking the man was Samuel Cox, commander of the pro-Union militia troops who had murdered guerrilla leader Bloody Bill Anderson in October 1864. Lewd, cocky and dangerous, the "D-O-double G" and his partner Billy Gunn became one of the most decorated duos in WWE history and an unforgettable part of WWE's Attitude Era during their reign over . The opportunity finally arrived on the warm morning of April 3. Edwards, his old enabler, no longer responded to his mail, seemingly content that many old Confederate colleagues had risen to positions of power around the region. They were given a reward, but it was much less than the amount promised. [44], Cole and Bob Younger later said they selected the bank because they believed it was associated with the Republican politician Adelbert Ames, the governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, and Union general Benjamin Butler, Ames's father-in-law and the Union commander of occupied New Orleans. For protection, James asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. He said, Hello, Bob. Ford turned to see who it was and Kelly emptied both barrels into his chest, killing him instantly. But on June 8, 1892, a man named Ed O. Kelly (or OKelley) was looking to settle a score with Ford. Robert was not yet well acquainted with James, but Charley had worked his way into the outlaw's good graces. Frank Triplett wrote about James as a "progressive neo-aristocrat" with "purity of race". Some said that Robert Ford killed someone other than James in an elaborate plot to allow him to escape justice. Instead of confronting them, James walked across the living room and laid his revolvers on a sofa. Ford was buried in Creede. "Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri,", White, Richard. dead and in coffin, 1882. The Union presence enforced martial law with raids on homes, arrests of civilians, summary executions, and banishment of Confederate sympathizers from the state. Assistant cashier Alonzo Enos Bunker was wounded in the shoulder as he fled through the back door of the bank. [53] Although Charley had been out on raids with James, Bob Ford was an eager new recruit. Jesse James : [Bob walks in on Jesse in the bath] Go away. Frank James fought with the pro-secession Missouri State Guard at the start of the war, then joined a band of Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers," who carried out attacks against Union sympathizers on the frontier. [4], Frank James eluded capture and was believed to have joined the guerrilla organization led by William C. Quantrill known as Quantrill's Raiders. The robbery netted little money. The implication that the chief executive of Missouri conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and added to James's notoriety. [6][pageneeded] Crittenden had made capturing the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Crittenden promised Ford a full pardon if he would kill James, who was by then the most wanted criminal in the US. Now there was a problem Ford had just killed Jesse James cousin. He stormed into Fords tent saloon armed with a 10-gauge shotgun. 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