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Jesse James Outlaw: Bandit, Robberies, Great Grandfather Jesse G James And Monster Garage
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Published: May 30, 2007
Living in Missouri during the Civil War was no walk in the park. Soldiers regularly raided homesteads, raping women, killing innocent children, and pillaging what they didn't burn, all in the name of the Union. Not to mention the fact that right across the border in Kentucky there were hillsides, towns, and cities of staunch Union supporters.
Residents of the South who didn't even join the Confederate army were regularly abused and killed. Reactionary guerrilla fighters sprung up across the South, one of the more infamous being "Bloody" Bill Anderson.
Jesse James, the infamous outlaw, was born to a Baptist minister in Missouri in 1847, and cut his teeth slaughtering Union soldiers with Anderson's militia, joined by his brother Frank who had been a part of another notable reactionary guerrilla group under the leadership of William Quantrill. Many accounts differ as to the amount of bloodshed Jesse James was actually directly involved in during this time; some claim his involvement was limited to arson while others credit him with murder. Regardless of the extent of his criminal record, after the war ended Jesse James and his fellow raiders were revoked of their civil liberties and targeted for retribution for their crimes against Union soldiers.
Thrust into a life of crime, Jesse James and his brother paired with Frank and Cole Younger and began a famous spree of bank and train robberies across the middle states of America. The first bank robbery occurred in Liberty, Miss., in 1866, and the bandit quartet was said to have made off with as much as $62,000. Yet some claim that Jesse James was not involved in this robbery. Their robberies continued over the course of more than a decade throughout the states of Missouri and Kentucky, as well as Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Having learned expert horse riding and marksmanship skills during the Civil War, Jesse James provided leadership to the group. The culmination of their robberies occurred in Iowa, raiding the Chicago and Rock Island Express near Adair, Iowa, in 1873.
Jesse James married his first cousin, Zerelda Mimms, on April 24, 1874. Zerelda or "Zee" was named after his own mother, with whom he maintained a close relationship during his brief life, often staying at her house in Missouri while evading the law. Two children were born to Jesse and Zerelda, a boy and a girl.
In 1876 Frank and Jesse were incarcerated in the Stillwater State Penitentiary and sentenced to life in prison after a disastrous robbery attempt in which many members of the James-Young gang were killed, and one of the Young brothers was injured. They escaped shortly thereafter, though they lived under assumed names in Tennessee and Colorado for nearly three years. By October of 1879 Jesse and Frank had returned to a life of crime, robbing multiple banks and trains throughout 1880 and 1881.
On April 3, 1882, Bob and Charlie Ford attempted to collect on a $10,000 reward and murdered Jesse James at his St. Joseph, Miss., home with a single bullet to the back of the head. He was 34 years old. Both Bob and Charlie met untimely demises as well. While they were sentenced to hang for the murder of James, they were pardoned, though Charlie committed suicide and Bob died in a barroom brawl less than ten years after killing Jesse James.
While many legends exist regarding the outlaw Jesse James, none is more famous than the theory about his death. Some claim that it was not James who died in 1882, and that a look-a-like named Charlie Bigelow was buried in his place. However, in the mid 1990s the grave of Jesse James was exhumed and DNA testing concluded that it was indeed the remains of the famous bandit that had been laid to rest there.
The outlaw Jesse James is the great grandfather of Jesse Gregory James, owner of the famous West Coast Choppers bike shop, which has sold motorcycles to celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal and Kid Rock. Jesse G James has been married to Sandra Bullock since July of 2005, and was the star of Monster Garage, a Discovery Channel show in which James and his crew convert ordinary vehicles into extraordinary machines. Retired in its fifth season after 80 shows, notable conversions included turning a Lincoln Town Car Limo into a Firetruck, making a three-wheel chopper out of semi-truck axles, and equipping an ice cream to hit 100 mph... on ice. Jesse G James carries on the rebel (if not outlaw) spirit of his ancestor Jesse James as a biker, husband, and father in Long Beach, Calif.
Sources:
Blair, Richard. "History of Jesse James." Ex. Crimes Committed Against Jesse W. James: An Inquiry. Jesse James: Outlaw?. 2005. Mark Blair. 25 May 2007.
http://www.jessejamesoutlaw.com/jesse-james-hist ory.html
FourWinds, Pete. "Biography for Jesse James (VII)." IMDb. 1990-2007. Internet Movie Database, Inc. 25 May 2007. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1303492/bio.
Gibson, Elizabeth. "The Outlaw Jesse James." Suite101. 31 Aug. 1999. Suite101.com Media Inc. 25 May 2007. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/old_west/24809 /1.
"Outlaws - Jesse James." FrontierTimes.com. 25 May 2007. http://www.frontiertimes.com/outlaws/jesse.html
"Plot Summary for 'Monster Garage.'" IMDb. 1990-2007. Internet Movie Database, Inc. 25 May 2007.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346343/plotsummary< br />"Jesse James Rides Again." Discovery Channel. 2007. Discovery Communications Inc. 25 May 2007.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/ meet/meet.html
"St. Joseph History - Jesse James." City of St. Joseph. 2006. 25 May 2007.
http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/jessejames .cfm
Related Articles
Jesse James, the infamous outlaw, was born to a Baptist minister in Missouri in 1847, and cut his teeth slaughtering Union soldiers with Anderson's militia, joined by his brother Frank who had been a part of another notable reactionary guerrilla group under the leadership of William Quantrill. Many accounts differ as to the amount of bloodshed Jesse James was actually directly involved in during this time; some claim his involvement was limited to arson while others credit him with murder. Regardless of the extent of his criminal record, after the war ended Jesse James and his fellow raiders were revoked of their civil liberties and targeted for retribution for their crimes against Union soldiers.
Thrust into a life of crime, Jesse James and his brother paired with Frank and Cole Younger and began a famous spree of bank and train robberies across the middle states of America. The first bank robbery occurred in Liberty, Miss., in 1866, and the bandit quartet was said to have made off with as much as $62,000. Yet some claim that Jesse James was not involved in this robbery. Their robberies continued over the course of more than a decade throughout the states of Missouri and Kentucky, as well as Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Having learned expert horse riding and marksmanship skills during the Civil War, Jesse James provided leadership to the group. The culmination of their robberies occurred in Iowa, raiding the Chicago and Rock Island Express near Adair, Iowa, in 1873.
Jesse James married his first cousin, Zerelda Mimms, on April 24, 1874. Zerelda or "Zee" was named after his own mother, with whom he maintained a close relationship during his brief life, often staying at her house in Missouri while evading the law. Two children were born to Jesse and Zerelda, a boy and a girl.
In 1876 Frank and Jesse were incarcerated in the Stillwater State Penitentiary and sentenced to life in prison after a disastrous robbery attempt in which many members of the James-Young gang were killed, and one of the Young brothers was injured. They escaped shortly thereafter, though they lived under assumed names in Tennessee and Colorado for nearly three years. By October of 1879 Jesse and Frank had returned to a life of crime, robbing multiple banks and trains throughout 1880 and 1881.
On April 3, 1882, Bob and Charlie Ford attempted to collect on a $10,000 reward and murdered Jesse James at his St. Joseph, Miss., home with a single bullet to the back of the head. He was 34 years old. Both Bob and Charlie met untimely demises as well. While they were sentenced to hang for the murder of James, they were pardoned, though Charlie committed suicide and Bob died in a barroom brawl less than ten years after killing Jesse James.
While many legends exist regarding the outlaw Jesse James, none is more famous than the theory about his death. Some claim that it was not James who died in 1882, and that a look-a-like named Charlie Bigelow was buried in his place. However, in the mid 1990s the grave of Jesse James was exhumed and DNA testing concluded that it was indeed the remains of the famous bandit that had been laid to rest there.
The outlaw Jesse James is the great grandfather of Jesse Gregory James, owner of the famous West Coast Choppers bike shop, which has sold motorcycles to celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal and Kid Rock. Jesse G James has been married to Sandra Bullock since July of 2005, and was the star of Monster Garage, a Discovery Channel show in which James and his crew convert ordinary vehicles into extraordinary machines. Retired in its fifth season after 80 shows, notable conversions included turning a Lincoln Town Car Limo into a Firetruck, making a three-wheel chopper out of semi-truck axles, and equipping an ice cream to hit 100 mph... on ice. Jesse G James carries on the rebel (if not outlaw) spirit of his ancestor Jesse James as a biker, husband, and father in Long Beach, Calif.
Sources:
Blair, Richard. "History of Jesse James." Ex. Crimes Committed Against Jesse W. James: An Inquiry. Jesse James: Outlaw?. 2005. Mark Blair. 25 May 2007.
http://www.jessejamesoutlaw.com/jesse-james-hist ory.html
FourWinds, Pete. "Biography for Jesse James (VII)." IMDb. 1990-2007. Internet Movie Database, Inc. 25 May 2007. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1303492/bio.
Gibson, Elizabeth. "The Outlaw Jesse James." Suite101. 31 Aug. 1999. Suite101.com Media Inc. 25 May 2007. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/old_west/24809 /1.
"Outlaws - Jesse James." FrontierTimes.com. 25 May 2007. http://www.frontiertimes.com/outlaws/jesse.html
"Plot Summary for 'Monster Garage.'" IMDb. 1990-2007. Internet Movie Database, Inc. 25 May 2007.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346343/plotsummary< br />"Jesse James Rides Again." Discovery Channel. 2007. Discovery Communications Inc. 25 May 2007.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/monstergarage/ meet/meet.html
"St. Joseph History - Jesse James." City of St. Joseph. 2006. 25 May 2007.
http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/history/jessejames .cfm
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