Frank James

Frank James ORIGINAL NAME Alexander Franklin James BIRTH 10 Jan 1843 Kearney, Clay County, Missouri, USA DEATH 18 Feb 1915 (aged 72) BURIAL Hill Park Cemetery Independence, Jackson County, Missouri

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/537/frank-james

Western Outlaw. He was born Alexander Franklin James in Kearney, Missouri to a Baptist minister,

Children Photo Robert Franklin James 1877–1959

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_James

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Alexander Franklin "Frank" James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.

He was born Alexander Franklin James in Kearney, Missouri to Baptist minister Reverend Robert Sallee James and his wife Zerelda (Cole) James, who had moved from Kentucky. He was the oldest of three children. His father died in 1851 and his mother re-married Benjamin Simms in 1852. After his death she married a third time to Dr. Reuben Samuel in 1855 when Frank was 13 years old. As a child, James showed interest in his late father's sizable library, especially the works of William Shakespeare. Census records show that James attended school regularly, and he reportedly wanted to become a teacher.

In 1861, when he was eighteen years old, the American Civil War began. Missouri remained in the Union although a minority favored secession (nearly three times more Missourians fought for the Union). The secessionists including Governor Jackson attempted to push the Union army out of the state but were eventually defeated. The James family was from the heavily Confederate western portion of the state. On September 13, 1861, the Missouri State Guard, including private Frank James, besieged Lexington, Missouri. Frank fell ill and was left behind when the Confederate forces later retreated. He surrendered to the Union troops, was paroled, and was allowed to return home. On his arrival, however, he was arrested by the local pro-Union militia and was forced to sign an oath of allegiance to the Union.

After the withdrawal of regular Confederate troops in the fall of 1864, a bitter guerrilla conflict soon began between bands of pro-Confederate irregulars (commonly known as bushwhackers) and the Union homeguards. By early 1863, Frank, ignoring his parole and oath of allegiance, had joined the guerrilla band of Fernando Scott, a former saddler. He soon switched to the more active command led by William Clarke Quantrill.

Guerrilla warfare was brutal, and both sides committed atrocities, including shooting their prisoners. Union militiamen searching for Fernando Scott raided the Samuel farm and briefly hanged Dr. Reuben Samuel, Frank's stepfather, torturing him to reveal the location of the guerrillas. Shortly afterward, Frank took part with Quantrill's company in the August 21, 1863, Lawrence Massacre where approximately 200 mostly unarmed civilians were murdered.

During his years as a bandit, James was involved in at least four murders between 1868 and 1876, resulting in the deaths of bank employees or citizens. The most famous incident was the disastrous Northfield, Minnesota, raid on September 7, 1876, that ended with the death or capture of most of the gang.

Frank James was an employee of Aaron Mittenthal, the future grandfather of composer Aaron Copland, at his Dallas dry-goods store. It was James's theft of the store's profits that convinced the Mittenthals to leave Texas and return to New York City.

Five months after the killing of his brother Jesse in 1882, Frank James boarded a train to Jefferson City, Missouri, where he had an appointment with the governor in the state capitol. Placing his holster in Governor Crittenden's hands, he explained,

"I have been hunted for twenty-one years, have literally lived in the saddle, have never known a day of perfect peace. It was one long, anxious, inexorable, eternal vigil." He then ended his statement by saying, "Governor, I haven't let another man touch my gun since 1861." Accounts say that James surrendered with the understanding that he would not be extradited to Northfield, Minnesota.

He was tried for only two of the robberies/murders – one in Gallatin, Missouri for the July 15, 1881 robbery of the Rock Island Line train at Winston, Missouri, in which the train engineer and a passenger were killed, and the other in Huntsville, Alabama for the March 11, 1881 robbery of a United States Army Corps of Engineers payroll at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Among others, former Confederate General Joseph Orville Shelby testified on James' behalf in the Missouri trial. He was acquitted in both Missouri and Alabama. Missouri accepted legal jurisdiction over him for other charges, but they never came to trial. He was never extradited to Minnesota for his connection with the Northfield Raid.

His New York Times obituary summarized his arrest and acquittal:

"In 1882 ... Frank James surrendered in Jefferson City, MO. After his surrender James was taken to Independence, MO., where he was held in jail three weeks, and later to Gallatin, where he remained in jail a year awaiting trial. Finally James was acquitted and went to Oklahoma to live with his mother. He never was in the penitentiary and never was convicted of any of the charges against him." In the last thirty years of his life, James worked a variety of jobs, including as a shoe salesman and then as a burlesque theater ticket taker in St. Louis. One of the theater's spins to attract patrons was their use of the phrase "Come get your ticket punched by the legendary Frank James." He also served as an AT&T telegraph operator in St. Joseph, Missouri. James took up the lecture circuit, while residing in Sherman, Texas. In 1902, former Missourian Sam Hildreth, a leading thoroughbred horse trainer and owner, hired James as the betting commissioner at the Fair Grounds Race Track in New Orleans. He returned to North Texas area where he was a shoe salesman at Sanger Brothers in Dallas.

In his final years, James returned to the James Farm, giving tours for the sum of 25 cents. He died there on February 18, 1915, aged 72 years. He left behind his wife Annie Ralston James and one son.

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Western Outlaw. He was born Alexander Franklin James in Kearney, Missouri to a Baptist minister, he was the first of four children. His father heeding a calling left for California with the intent of preaching to gold miners but contracted cholera and died. Frank's mother Zerelda would remarry two more times before her death resulting in four more children. Frank was self-taught after developing an interest in his late father's sizeable library. He had thoughts of pursuing a higher education but political events influenced his life. Frank joined the Missouri State Guard fighting for the Confederacy then returned home because of an injury but soon recovered and at age nineteen joined William Quantrill's Raiders, a group of Southern sympathizers from Missouri who used hit-and-run tactics to attack abolitionist "Jayhawkers" in Kansas. When the war ended, the US government pardoned Confederate troops, However, guerrilla bands like Quantrill's Raiders were still considered outlaws. Frank turned himself in as a Confederate soldier signing all the paperwork declaring his allegiance to the Union but used his given name of Alexander and the militia kept up the hunt. Frank James, Jesse James, Cole Younger and other "Raiders" attempted to surrender at Lexington, Missouri but federal soldiers opened fire. Those that escaped hid in the woods and the result was the formation of the James-Younger gang. During the next 12 years, they committed many robberies involving banks, trains and stagecoaches. The Pinkerton Detective Agency was hired to apprehend the gang. However, their bumbling resulted in the deaths of many agents. They would be foiled time and time again as even local townspeople aided gang members. Frank's outlawry came to end after the death of his brother Jesse, shot in the back, by a member of his own gang for the reward money. Frank surrendered to Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden and was jailed in Independence. With Civil War sympathies still running high, he was acquitted by the jury after only five minutes of deliberation, during a circus like trial held at the nearby Gallatin Opera House. Frank James had led a life of crime for almost two decades yet stood trial only twice and other then time in jail, which was considerable, he did no prison time. After the acquittal and pardon from the Missouri trial, he was taken to Huntsville, Alabama, to stand trial for robbery resulting in another innocent verdict. The defense lawyer was none other than the former Secretary of War for the Confederacy, Leroy Pope Walker. Walker would pass away a year later. A historic marker concerning this can be see in downtown Huntsville, corner of Green and Eustis., After his acquittal, he shunned offers to capitalize on his outlaw fame turning down many offers. Instead, he took menial jobs: shoe salesman, farmer and with the Standard Theatre saloon in St. Louis as an usher, doorman and bouncer. In his declining years he did join Cole Younger in a traveling wild west show using their outlaw fame to draw spectators. With creeping old age, he returned to the James Farm giving tours for the price of twenty-five cents. Here he died at age 72. Frank was cremated as he feared graverobbers. His ashes were kept in a bank vault until his wife's death at age 91 in 1944. She was cremated and the couple was interred in Hill Park Cemetery which is located in the upper part of Hill Park, Independence and consists of a small stone wall enclosure of graves. The jail in Independence where Frank was held for six months and treated more like a celebrity guest than an outlaw still stands and the cell has been restored to the condition it was when occupied. The rundown James farm was owned by descendents of Frank James. In 1978, Clay County purchased the home and restoration work was completed. The house contains many artifacts from the James era and is a popular tourist attraction. The bank in Liberty, Missouri which is claimed to be the first bank robbery committed by the James gang. $62,000 was taken and the bank ended up closing due to insufficient funds. The building has been restored and is opened daily to tourists.

Bio by: Donald Greyfield