Jesse Woodson 'the outlaw' James^{[1, 2]}

1847 - 1882  (34 years)

• Name	Jesse Woodson 'the outlaw' James
  	Over the years Jesse's death is subject to speculation..Is he buried with his mother or not, and is that really him... His grave was exhumed and DNA was done. results inconclusive as of this date 2/28/2015
  Born	15 Sep 1847
  Gender	Male
  Died	3 Apr 1882	Saint Joseph, Missouri
  Buried	Mount Olivet Cemetery, Clay County, Missouri   [3]
  Person ID	I6027	My Reynolds Line
  Last Modified	22 Dec 2016

  
  

  Father	Rev. Robert Sallee James,   b. 17 Sep 1818, Lick Skillet, Logan County, Kentucky ,   d. 19 Aug 1850, Placerville, El Dorado, California  (Age 31 years)
  Mother	Zerelda Elizabeth Cole,   b. 29 Jan 1825, Kentucky ,   d. 10 Feb 1911, On a Friday at 3pm on a Frisco train enroute to Oklahoma  (Age 86 years)
  Married	Dec 1841
  Family ID	F518495451	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Zerelda Amanda "Zee" Mimms,   b. 21 Jul 1845, Missouri ,   d. 13 Nov 1900, Jackson County, Missouri  (Age 55 years)
  Married	24 Apr 1874
  Children	1. Jesse Edwards "Tim" James, Jr,   b. 31 Aug 1875, Nashville, Tennessee ,   d. 26 Mar 1951, Los Angeles County, California  (Age 75 years)
  Last Modified	28 Oct 2016
  Family ID	F5960	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Outlaw Jesse James 6027JesseWJames.jpg
  		Zerelda Cole James at the grave of her son Jesse zerelda and jesse james.jpg
  		My Genealogy Hound.com Photographs of Younger Brothers; Associates of Jesse and Frank James; Historic photo of the Younger Brothers, members of the James Gang. Pictured from left to right, Bob, Jim and Cole Younger, with Sister Henrietta standing behind them. Photo dated 5 Sep 1889. 12573766_1110570532309507_1226207060904735428_n.jpg
  		Jesse James JesseJames1864.jpg
  		Jesse James-House Where He Was Killed St Louis Post-Dispatch Jun 29, 1902
  		Jesse James-Photo at 22 St Louis Post-Dispatch Jun 29, 1902

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Bio on Zerelda Cole from wikipedia.jpg
  		Zerelda Cole and her son, Jesse James the outlaw wikipedia.jpg
  		Jesse James Killed Atchison Daily Patriot Apr 3, 1882
  		Jesse James Shot Down The Philadelphia Times Apr 4, 1882
  		Jesse James Funeral The Philadelphia Times Apr 7, 1882
  		Jesse James-Shooting Particulars Raleigh News & Observer Apr 7, 1882
  		Zerelda Cole James Samuel-Obit Eugene Morning Register Aug 13, 1911
  		Zerelda Mimms James-Obit The Sedalia Democrat Nov 14, 1900
  		Jesse James-Funeral Services Weekly Graphic Apr 14, 1882

  
  

  Headstones

  Jesse W James-Headstone JamesJesse & Zerelda.jpg

  
  

  Histories » Slide Show		Another Pinkerton Detective Killed St Louis Post Dispatch Apr 18, 1874
  		Zerelda Cole James Samuels-Bio St. Louis Post-Dispatch Apr 5, 1882
  		Jesse & Frank James-A Career of Crime The Philadelphia Times Apr 4, 1882
  		Frank James Letter to Memphis Newspaper The Saint Paul Globe Apr 8, 1882
  		Jesse James Brain Preserved Omaha Daily Bee Oct 18, 1895
  		Jesse James-Ashes Moved St. Louis Post-Dispatch Jun 29, 1902
  		Zerelda James Samuels-Fire Bombed Home The Tennessean Jan 28, 1875
  		Zerelda James Samuels-Fire Bombed Home The Leavenworth Times Jan 28, 1875

  
  

• Notes

  Birth: Sep. 5, 1847 Death: Apr. 3, 1882 Saint Joseph Buchanan County Missouri, USA Western Outlaw. He was born Jesse Woodson James in Kearney, Missouri to Baptist minister Reverend Robert and Zerelda James and the younger brother of James. His father heeding a calling left for California with the intent of preaching to gold miners but contracted cholera and died. He is buried in an unmarked lost grave in Placerville. By the time Jesse was eight, his mother had remarried twice more. From the third marriage, he gained two stepbrothers and two stepsisters. As a youth, he was churchgoer, baptized at the Kearney Baptist Church and sang in the choir wanting to emulate his father and become a Baptist preacher. Jesse had very little formal education but was skilled with horses and a natural leader. When but fifteen, he followed his brother James into the ranks of Quantrill's Raiders. After the war ended, he attempted to surrender at Lexington, Missouri and gain amnesty along with his brother Frank, Cole Younger and others but a gun battle ensured. The remnants of the "Raiders" were forced to hide out in the woods. With no means of livelihood, the James-Younger gang came into being. For the next fifteen years they robbed banks and when security made that difficult, they turned to stagecoaches and trains. After the failed disastrous attempt to rob the bank in Northfield, Minnesota, many of the gang member were wounded and captured, However, Jesse slipped away and lived quietly in St. Joseph Missouri under an assumed name. Two of his gang members were tempted by a reward for his capture dead or alive. They went to his house and while his back was turned, Robert Ford shot him one time in the back of the head. His mother had him buried in the front yard of the James Farm with an imposing monument with a inscription condemning the assassin. The house in St Joseph where Jesse met his death is preserved and is the epitome of morbidity. Here you can see the bullet hole made as it passed thought the skull of Jesse. The structure is filled with James memorabilia. The house was actually moved here after being saved from the jaws of demolition. Now more has been added. Artifacts from the controversial exhumation of 1995. A bullet from his right lung stemming from an old civil War injury, the tie tack he was wearing when first buried and fragments of wood, the handles and the glass fragments from the coffin front piece grace a glass cabinet. Jesse James boyhood home today remains relatively secluded in the countryside near the small town of Kearney. After Zerelda's third and very successful marriage to her neighbor a country doctor, the two farms became one and was very prosperous with several slaves doing most of the work. After the death of her son, a defiant mother sat on the front porch giving tours of the house and selling stones from the grave and supposed pistols owned by her famous son. It was here Union soldiers harassed the family known as confederate sympathizers and attacked Zerelda and tried to hang her third husband. The incident defined young Jessie's determination to join the Confederate army. It was here Pinkerton detectives threw an incendiary bomb into the residence killing a younger step brother and maiming Zerelda. After her death and Jesse's wife, his body was moved from the farm to the family plot in Mount Olivet Cemetery Kearney and interred beside her. Frank James in his old age kept up the tours by charging 50 cents until his death. Clay County purchased the rundown property and after two restorations, 75 percent of the original material remains. It contains original furnishings. The James home is perhaps one of the most authentic birthplace sites in America today. Now, the Clay County government at the Jesse James Farm and Museum is still selling pebbles for 25 cents along with shirts, books and toys. The Jesse James Bank Museum, formerly the Clay County Savings Assoc., located on the historic square in Liberty, Missouri, was the site of the nation's first successful daylight peacetime bank robbery on February 13, 1866, when the James-Younger gang robbed the bank of $60,000 in cash, gold and negotiable instruments. During their getaway, they shot and killed an innocent bystander, 17-year old college student, George C. 'Jolly' Wymore, who was standing across the street. (bio by: Donald Greyfield (inactive))

  
  

• Sources

  [S32] Find-A-Grave.com, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=539. [S100] Internet Source, http://www.mygenealogyhound.com/vintage-photographs/missouri-photographs/Younger-Brothers-Bob-Jim-Cole-Younger-historic-photo.html. [S32] Find-A-Grave.com, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=james&GSfn=jesse&GSby=1882&GSbyrel=before&GSdyrel=all&GSst=26&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=6228&df=all&.