![]() ![]() Samuel taught both boys horse-riding and shooting skills. ![]() Quite to the contrary, Jesse was described as generous, noble-hearted, and assertive, with a prankish charm. Dr. Frank reportedly wanted to become a school teacher. He developed an interest in his late father’s sizeable library, particularly the works of William Shakespeare. In his youth, Frank was said to be a taciturn, withdrawn Bible-reading boy. The family purchased slaves to help them in the running of the farm. Samuels purchased additional adjoining property and the James’ holdings grew. When it came to the children, Zee made all the decisions. Dr. The physician was well-to-do, docile, and allowed his wife to make the important family decisions. This didn’t prove necessary since Simms was killed on January 2, 1854, in a horse accident.Ī third marriage to Dr. Jessie jame series#After a series of arguments between the couple, Zerelda started procedures for a divorce, an unusual move for the time. Zee was a woman of strong opinions who fiercely guarded her sons against criticism. His lack of affection for them and his use of corporal punishment which Zerelda did not approve of, resulted in the failure of the marriage. Zerelda married a second time to a man named Benjamin Simms, a neighboring farmer on September 10, 1852. The marriage proved to be an unhappy one, mainly because of Simms’ behavior towards the two boys. Frank, the oldest one was seven years old when his father died. But for the moment she was a widow, left with three young children. Zerelda inherited the farm which she continued to own until her own death years later. Years later Jesse would go in search of his father’s resting place but was unsuccessful. On August 18, 1850, the minister died of cholera at a Placerville, California gold camp and was buried in an unmarked grave. Shortly after arriving in California on August 1, 1850, the Reverend contracted a fever, as a result of drinking contaminated water. The minister never made it back to Missouri. On April 12th he left the farm in Zee’s care and headed west with the intent of preaching to the crowds of gold miners who had gathered there. In early 1850, the Reverend James was asked to serve as chaplain on a wagon train of local men headed west to California in search of gold. Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847, and Susan Lavenia James was born on November 25, 1849. ![]() was born at the farm on July 19, 1845, but died just 33 days later. Three more children quickly followed. Robert James, Jr. Their first son, Alexander Franklin “Frank” James was born at the family farm on January 10, 1843. Zee, who stood six feet tall, was known as a hard-working, strong-willed farm woman. Reverend James was a well-liked and respected man in the community who helped found William Jewel College in Liberty, Missouri. With the help of neighbors, Robert and Zerelda, “Zee”, as she was more commonly known, built a log cabin in the wilderness and began to carve out a farm. Robert became the pastor of a small Baptist Church outside of Kearney. Centerville would later be known as Kearney. After Robert’s graduation, the young family relocated to the Centerville area of Clay County, Missouri. Married on December 28, 1841, Robert James continued his schooling and graduated from Georgetown College. Jesse James’ parents, Robert Sallee James, and Zerelda Elizabeth Cole James were originally from Stamping Ground, Kentucky where the two met at a revival meeting. However, while Jesse was many things, including being a sometimes kind man, a dapper dresser, and a prankish charmer, he was also a cold-blooded murderer, robber, horse thief, and terrorist. This obviously remains true today, as thousands of people are intrigued by not only Jesse James, but by the many outlaws who carved out the western frontier. Jesse James was touted as being the modern-day Robin Hood because it was said that he robbed from the rich and was kind to the poor.Īt the time, his exploits were relished by those who could do no more than fantasize about living such an adventurous life. In the mid-1860’s journalists, eager to entertain Easterners with tales of the Wild West, exaggerated and romanticized the gang’s heists. Late in America’s second century, the man rebelled against a society that he didn’t like and became a folk hero. When Jesse James was still alive, America already loved him, for, in him, there was adventure in an otherwise dull, slowly-turning-scientific age. Jesse James was an outlaw, bank and train robber, Confederate guerrilla during the Civil War, and leader of the James–Younger Gang. “ Jesse James (partly) turned to crime as a means of exacting revenge on all things Yankee ” - Time-Life Books’ The Wild West ![]()
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