Jesse James: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Criminals) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2021-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The James-Younger Gang

“They were brave fellows. They were true men. There was not a coward or a liar among them.”

—Frank James on the Younger brothers

Jesse James’ life was about to take a strange turn as he came into contact with a journalist named John Newman Edwards. A staunch Confederate, Edwards ranted against Blacks having the right to vote, carpetbaggers, and anything to do with the Unionists. He had already sung the praises of Cole Younger, a guerrilla and outlaw, and now he was intrigued by Jesse after hearing about the robbery in Gallatin. Jesse James was about to become famous.

To Edwards, the James brothers were a mighty symbol—they were brave young men drawing revenge on those who had ripped their lifestyle away from them and their families. The rest of the state might have considered Jesse a killer, but as Edwards described him, “There is always a smile on his lips, and a graceful word or compliment for all of whom he comes in contact . . . Jesse laughs at everything. Frank at nothing at all. Jesse is light-hearted, reckless, devil-may-care. Frank, sober, sedate, a dangerous man always in ambush in the midst of society. Jesse knows there is a price upon his head and discusses the whys and wherefore of it. Frank knows it too, but it chafes him deeply.”

Edwards would write about the James boys for years to come. With the fame that Edwards brought them, Jesse decided to go public in June of 1870 when the Kansas City Star printed a letter from him written to Governor McClurg. In this letter, Jesse was using his newfound fame to make a case for his innocence. “The past is sufficient to show that Bushwhackers have been arrested in Missouri since the war, charged with bank robbery, and they have all been mobbed without trials . . . it is true that during the war I was a Confederate soldier and fought under the black flag, but since then I have lived as a peaceable citizen. As soon as I think I can get a just trial, I will surrender myself to the civil authorities of Missouri and prove to the world that I am innocent of the charges against me.”

Jesse even claimed he had witnesses that had seen him elsewhere during the shooting in Gallatin. But then again, he was still popular among Confederate sympathizers.

With the use of the press in this way, Jesse James would have been the first celebrity criminal playing to the public through the media. This gave rise to him becoming associated with a type of Robin Hood persona, who took from rich Unionists and gave to poor Southerners. There is, however, no evidence that Jesse ever shared his loot with anyone outside of his group. Nevertheless, the press campaign seemed to work. Belief in Jesse’s guilt became mixed with the possibility of his innocence. By August, Jesse and Frank were able to start showing themselves in public again, albeit heavily armed.

The following year seemed to bring romance into the lives of Jesse and those around him.

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