Jesse James Killed     

Jesse James

Robert Ford killed Jesse James on April 3, 1882. Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847. He and his brother Frank were Confederate bushwhackers during the Civil War and were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers. After the war, they continued some of this activity by robbing banks, stagecoaches, and trains. Sometimes they joined with other outlaw groups, like the Younger Gang. Jesse married his cousin, Zerelda Amanda Mimms.

Robert Ford

The brothers were most active over a ten year period from 1866 to 1876. In 1876, however, they attempted to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, and several of the gang members were captured or killed. The James brothers recruited new members, but they felt the pressure of being hunted men more and more. On April 3, 1882, Jesse was killed by one of his young gang members. Robert Ford planned to collect the reward money. Death made Jesse an even more famous legendary figure.

There were rumors that Jesse even came to North Carolina to visit friends from the war living around Union and Stanly Counties. Several citizens in Stanly County say this is part of the oral history in their families, and a book has been written on it. I included some of this in the last novel in my Appalachian Roots series set in Big Lick in Stanly County. In Transplanted to Red Clay, rumors are spread that J.T. Jackson was really Jesse James, who had come to visit his old Confederate friend, Merriman Little. I recently did a presentation at the Oakboro Regional History Museum on my research for the book which included this.
(All my profits from my books go to a scholarship fund for missionary children.)

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