HISTORIC TINTYPE of RHODA MAY-JAMES

Rhoda May-James

RHODA MAY (1806-1889) is the stalwart spouse of the “talented, but erratic” Rev. Joseph Martin James (1791-1848).

Rhoda withstood all transgressions, indignities, & social ostracism that her husband created with admirable Teutonic stoicism.

When acute alcoholism took Joe’s life at age fifty-seven, Rhoda became a forty-two year old widow, left alone to raise nine children.

For the next forty-one years of her life, Rhoda May James resolutely carried the social burden of her husband’s disgrace. She watched as the Civil War divided her children and tore apart her family. She never remarried.

Home of Rhoda May & Joseph Martin James, built circa 1854

Thanks to Gwen Smith-Gershwin, who is a fourth great granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Martin James & Martha  McAlister, Joe’s first wife, this tintype image of Rhoda May now can be appreciated.

The original tintype was handed down in the family through Rhoda Alice Owens-Cole-Dowell, Rhoda May’s granddaughter & namesake.

Rhoda May

Prior to the contribution of this tintype image to The James Preservation Trust, the only known image of Rhoda May was a framed oval colored photograph. This colored image still hangs in the home of Nelva Anne Herrin, a great granddaughter of Joe Martin & Rhoda May James. Nelva Anne’s contemporary home, built by her father Lem Garland Herrin, sits opposite the decayed ruin of the home built & occupied by her great grandparents Joseph Allen Herrin & Susan Harriet James on the original settlement lands of John M. James at Shopville in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Susan Harriet James is a daughter of Joe Martin James & Rhoda May.

SOME CHILDREN OF RHODA MAY-JAMES

Edward Perry James & his family. Namesake Rhoda May James sitting at her father's knee.

EDWARD PERRY JAMES (1847-1931) was only a year old when his father died. He grew up in his father’s stone house in Shopville, married Elizabeth Langford, & raised a family of nine children in the same house. His youngest child, he named Rhoda May James, after his beloved mother. Progressively selling off his land holdings in Shopville, he removed his family to a new home he built in Berea, Kentucky, where he died.

Susan Harriet James-Herrin

SUSAN HARRIET JAMES (1843-1920) was five years old when Joseph Martin James died. She was thirty years old when she married Joseph Allen Herrin, a Union veteran of the Civil War.

In a diary Herrin kept during the war, he noted the wounding of Susan Harriet’s brother, Andrew James.

Home of Susan Harriet James & Allen Custer Herrin

Herrin was returned from the war for almost a decade, when he and Susan Harriet married in the home of Rhoda May.

On the land of Susan Harriet’s grandfather, John M. James, in Shopville, the couple built themselves a new home. The home remained occupied by her descendants until about 1947, when the couple’s grandson, Lem Garland Herrin, built his bride, Thelma Hayes, a new home directly opposite the lane of the old home.

Mary Harriet James-Owens

MARY HARRIET JAMES (1842-1935), nicknamed Mary Jane, was age ten when her father died. Left alone with Rhoda May to defend the family home during the Battle of Mill Springs, she successfully retained hold of the single horse they owned against marauding soldiers, by claiming half her family fought on one side while the other half fought on the other. Shortly after the war, she married Union veteran Daniel J. Owens, who had been imprisoned during the conflict. She was mother to ten children.  At age ninety, she flew in an airplane for the first time. Flying over five states, she sang “Glory, Glory Halleluiah” and exited the airplane singing “Nearer My God to Thee.”

Rev. Martin Nall James

Rev. MARTIN NALL JAMES (1833-1911) was fifteen when Joe Martin James died. He became a Baptist preacher, but not one like his father. At twenty-five he married Susannah Elizabeth Matthews. The couple elected themselves Baptist missionaries & migrated into Missouri. During the war, he fought on the Confederate side. The couple bore eight children.

Rhoda Ann James, granddaughter & namesake of Rhoda May

CYRENIUS WAITE JAMES (1831-1911) was age seventeen at the time of his father’s death He was Rhoda’s second eldest child. Cy bore witness to much of the abuse suffered by his mother. He and his other siblings also suffered the social stigma brought upon their family by their father’s bigamous third marriage to the youthful Permelia Estepp. Though his half-siblings with Permelia lived in plain view across Flat Lick Creek, the two families remained completely estranged from each other. Cy fought for the Union in the war and was taken prisoner. In prison in Georgia, he awoke to a nightmare of his daughter dying, at the same time she choked to death on some corn In Illinois. Prior to the war he removed his family there. Afterward, he walked them to Texas, where his descendants live today. No picture of Cy is known to exist.  His daughter, Rhoda Ann James, named for his mother and shown here, operated his bank in Rhone, Texas.

A NEPHEW OF RHODA MAY-JAMES

John Smith May, nephew of Rhoda May. Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society

JOHN SMITH MAY (1835-Aft. 1891) was a farmer and a teacher before the Civil War started. Shortly after joining the Confederate Army he was captured & imprisoned in Ohio. After the Battle of Chancellorsville, he was exchanged. He joined John Hunt Morgan in Sparta, Tennessee, but was captured later again with Morgan, David Hunt James, & Richard Skinner James. He was secondly incarcerated at Camp Douglas in Chicago, but later sent to Virginia. He surrendered with Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. Afterwards he returned to Kentucky to resume teaching. By Elizabeth McQueary he had ten children and by Sallie Thurmond two more. In Pulaski County, he became Superintendent of Schools, the Court Clerk for the county, and was elected to the lower house of the Kentucky State Legislature. He and Rhoda May-James died within a few years of one another.


Your problem with History Channel

First off let me say I feel your pain. The History Channel is a cheap production channel that accepts submissions from producers. They put their name on these productions. This misleads the veiwing public into thinking fact checking is being done, like a 60 Minutes or 20/20 show. It isn’t.

One of the wildest shows is this Apocalypse Island thing they keep showing. It is pure fantasy. This guy takes a 3 day trip on a fishing boat to get to this island off the coast of South America, all the while acting like he’s visiting Skull Island from King Kong movies, with the fishing boat captain pleading with him not to go, he intrepidly braves on. He then takes another 2 days hiking to get to this clump of rocks he claims is a Mayan statue with cheap CGI to show what it might have looked like. Acting like Indiana Jones the whole while.

Here’s where he really is. An inhabited Island of 1500 people, with an airport, and easy driving access right up to the rock pile in question. This show has been thoroughly debunked as no more scientific value than a headline in the Globe claiming Batboy meets with Obama.

So I can easily believe they have done it again with Jesse James. Here’s what you do. Verify everything you can, especially the age of the jars the money is being found in, and sick a 20/20 or 60 Minutes on them! They are interested in good stories too! And a disgruntled descendant is a good story!


Jesse Edward Smith Recalls Jesse James, His Namesake & Cousin

Susan Prudence James-Smith 1845-1919

My mother (ed. Susan Prudence James-Smith) and her brother, R. W. James (ed. Robert Woodson James 1838-1922), were first cousins to the James Brothers. The Jesse in my name was taken from Jesse James.

He paid some special attention to me when I was a small boy and made occasional visits to our house until the law was in such hot pursuit they hardly dared to visit among their kin. On one visit to Salt Springs Jesse gave me a one dollar gold piece. I lost it playing in the dusty road. Had plenty voluntary helpers looking for it but it was never found. Jesse told my mother he was going to give me a horse and bridle and saddle when I became of age – his idea about a perfect gift for a boy. He gave my father a fine riding mare with a bullet wound in her neck and a pair of spurs he was wearing and father used them as long as he was riding horses. Then he gave them to me and I am passing them on to my son, Arnold (ed. Edwin Arnold Smith b. 1903), a lover of horses, who wants them as a keepsake.

Zee Mimms-James with her children, Jesse Edwards James & Mary Susan James

Shortly after Jesse’s death in 1882, when he was shot in the back by Bob Ford, one of his men, his wife (ed. Zerelda Amanda “Zee” Mimms-James 1845-1900), who was also a relative of mothers, and Uncle Bob James (ed. R.W. James previously mentioned), came to our farm home at Shackleford, with her small son, Jesse, and daughter, Mary, and spent several days with us. She was a sad and broken-hearted widow and I believe she was dressed in full mourning as was the custom for widows in that day.

Father (ed. John Wesley Smith) sold his blacksmith shop in Salt Springs and moved to the Thompson farm at Shackleford in the spring of 1877 or 1878. Mr. Thompson lived in the East, Boston, I think, and we only saw him once a year. He would come about the time of year to collect the rent and would stay several days or a week. He brought his son whom he wanted to learn something about farming as he was to be the owner of the farm at some future date.

Jesse Edward Smith 1872-1964

The Chicago and Alton Railroad was constructed through the Thompson farm while we lived there. I remember something about the construction work. No tractors, no bulldozers, no hi-loaders. All done with horses, mules, plows, scrapers, picks and shovels. The laborers chewed tobacco and smoked pipes; no cigarettes. We saw the first trains operated on that line.

We moved to Butler, Missouri, in 1888 where father had a Livery, Feed, and Sale Stable. After Frank James had been acquitted of all criminal charges for which he was tried, we saw or heard from him occasionally.

Frank was in Butler one fall and was official starter for the races at the County Fair, a job he had performed at other tracks all over the country. He proved to be about as much attraction as any other feature of the fair. Again he was in Butler with Cole Younger, when they were traveling with a Big Circus as drawing cards. They rode together in a street parade, and, of course, they drew lots of attention.

-  Historical Notes from the Bates County Museum, by Reva Stubblefield; Bates County News, Feb 8, 1973

-  Special thanks to Sandy Kassem, a cousin of Jesse Edward James, for providing this article.

 


Stalkers of Famous & Infamous Families

Yesterday, on the True West magazine web site where I also blog, there was a shootout. Not with bullets, but with words. The perpetrator was a known stalker of mine, who came gunning for me. The stalker made his violence palpable.

The topic of the blog was titled, “Related to a Historical Person?”. I don’t think Walker, the poster of the blog, had any idea what was in store. I humorously chimed in about being a cousin to Sam Walton, but always I’m denied the family discount at Walmart. Randomly, out of nowhere, the stalker appeared under the cover of an anonymous alias to execute the dirty work.

Repeatedly, the stalker badgered me to reveal if I was or was not related to Jesse James. By custom, I do not claim to be related. I know full well the danger it produces and the harm it generates. The stalker furthered badgered me about The James Preservation Trust, founded by myself & the great grandson of Jesse James to address the historical interests of the Jesse James family. The stalker charged me with creating a phantom organization. In fact, the Trust is well documented in the public record & its officers publically identified on Stray Leaves for years. As for me, for the last 55 years I’ve lead a very public life, the information of which anyone can find if they just go looking for it.

My first warning about stalkers came from my mother-in-law in my second marriage. Miss Nancy was the daughter of famed tobacco scion R. J. Reynolds. At first, probing to learn if I myself was a stalker of her daughter, Miss Nancy soon turned in a motherly way to advise me of what I myself may expect. Though she spoke of paranoia, as I could expect to experience it, she also made clear that personal and even physical violence would be an ever constant threat. With that said, she then took me for a ride in her highly polished, black Chrysler that was almost twenty years old. She drove off, leaving her chauffeur standing in the garage.

Miss Nancy was right. My Hollywood marriage to her daughter was littered with a constant litany of worthless sycophants, predatory investment schemers, mongering Scientologists, and the occasional crazed drugee who appeared out of nowhere but required removal from the grounds by police. Living behind closed gates was not sufficient. Nor was it enough to employ three Great Danes, two Bloodhounds, and a St. Bernard in a chronic riot of barking for protection. Every moment you knew that someone was out there, trying to get at you for something, usually having nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

Even before Jesse James was assassinated, the James family had formed its own defenses. Their common defense was to decompose the family into isolated cells of protective anonymity. Personal identity was surrendered. Surrendered, too, was any sense of common family. For more than 125 years, the James family has endured under its shroud since. One line of the family can’t even recognize the other, and occasionally won’t. My book Soul Liberty, to begin publication next year in four successive volumes, will address the James family condition and their identity lost to a constant state of seeming redemptive purgatory.

Personally, I do not open the door to someone unexpected. Too many come to the door unannounced. I do not pick up the phone of an unidentified caller, or a caller I don’t know. One stalker called me five times a day, every day for three years. I’ve learned to change my unlisted phone numbers often. Like Frank James, who circumnavigated the exterior residence before sitting down to a meal with his back to the wall, I too have event rituals I will not mention. I’ve notified certain individuals, that should I encounter a violent or unexpected or unexplained demise, there is a list of those who authorities should investigate.

I don’t consider myself a hunted man. But I do consider myself haunted. The last time R. J. Reynolds peered down at me was from a tin advertisement for his tobacco, nailed to the rafter of a log cabin gift shop at the Calico Mine in Barstow, California, as I and his granddaughter blithely shopped for souvenirs. The last time Jesse James peered at me was from the grave of his twin children, when I exhumed them in Waverly, Tennessee, to re-inter them with Jesse and their mother Zee James in Kearney, Missouri, per Zee’s lifelong wish, and per the promise she extracted from Jesse Jr., a promise left unfulfilled for too long.

In some way, I both regret and am happy that Brad Pitt’s movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, was not as successful as it deserved to be. I got its message in a big way! All it takes is one worthless individual, who is so devoid of self that their own identity must be found by inflicting harm on someone who is better known or recognized.

So, I live more in the virtual world today than in public. More in media, and on the internet, where cyber-stalkers are as real as any true-life physical stalker. Actually, cyber-stalkers are easier to deal with than physical stalkers. When cyber-stalkers appear, I record them, produce the record of their actions against me, and place the record with authorities for any future reference that may be required. It’s far better than living behind electric gates with five barking dogs. And, like Miss Nancy, I’d still get to drive my big, black, 1979 Lincoln Town Car, if I hadn’t sold it when petro-dollars went to four bucks a gallon.


John M. James Appears Before The Kentucky Humanities Council in Restless for Revolution

Last week I had the opportunity to perform John M. James before the Kentucky Humanities Council. John M. James is my 4th great grandfather. See the video below.

Every year the Humanties Council contracts with five performers to add to its stable of historical performances. The Council then sends out the performers around the Commonwealth throughout the year to schools, organizations, and events, dramatizing Kentucky famed characters from the Commonwealth’s storied past.

John M. James is not as famous as some of the characters the Council usually books. Mary Todd Lincoln, Henry Clay, and Daniel Boone are the type of character stars the Council prefers. Even identifying John M. James as the grandfather of Frank & Jesse James, or the 2nd great grandfather of Walmart founder Sam Walton, or as the 5th great grandfather of J. Danforth Quayle, doesn’t carry the same historical weight the Council traditionally seeks. The Council wants characters that are instantly recognizable.

My one-act, one man play focuses on John among his community of rebel Baptist preachers. They made their exodus following the Revolutionary War from Virginia and away from its religious persecution in a Traveling Church into Kentucky. The same band of revolutionary citizens and rebel preachers then went to win the War of 1812, to secure the liberty first won in the Revolution.

After a period of prosperity following the war, Kentucky fell into economic chaos as banks proliferated and predator lenders fell upon the Commonwealth with a vengeance. Currency increasingly was devalued and near worthless. On top of that, the $7 million dollar debt America owed to Napoleon for the Louisiana Purchase was approaching, and it payment was due in specie, either gold or silver. As the full force of the economic Panic of 1819 struck, John found himself nearing death, as broke as Thomas Jefferson. However, John’s revolutionary spirit wouldn’t let him die. He prepared to take on the banks by electing Andy Jackson.

DOWNLOAD your own copy of Restless for Revolution.

Warning: This download may take several minutes. This video file is large.

RELATED LINKS:

Video: John M. James Speaks of Jeremiah Vardeman

This vidieo was made in 2002 at the Vardeman Family Reunion, held at the William Whitley Mansion in Lincoln County, Kentucky. John M. James appears in this video as a much younger man.

The opening of this video shows the re-dedication of the Vardeman Cemetery in Lincoln County, after the cemetery had been relocated and the historic Vardeman Cemetery was flooded by the creation of Cedar Creek Lake.


Fake Photo Reveals New Jesse James History

Jesse James in his famed pork pie hat with Larry, Curley, & Moe in Las Vegas.

Anyone who knows the history of the West probably instantly recognizes this image. When Jesse James abandoned his children and his wife and his family, he freebooted himself west to Las Vegas. Jesse had in mind to re-establish his faded and flawed career as the high wire attraction his Civil War life on the partisan trapeze had prepared him to be. Jesse fancied himself as the focus of attention by adoring vacationers who would come from all those places where formerly he had been hunted as an outlaw. He also fancied the tigers and ostrich plumed showgirls from France he expected to surrounded him and keep him safe.

In Las Vegas, Jesse was welcomed warmly by Ted Binion. Binion convinced Jesse to stop hiding his gold & hidden treasure in Oklahoma. Instead, Binion offered Jesse to stash his gold and hidden treasure inside a new machine Binion had installed in the center of his Casino for Dudes & Dudettes. Binion assured Jesse that, even though the public could see all of Jesse’s treasure through a glass window, the stash would be in the safest spot possible, because every time someone pulled the machine’s trigger to get the money, no one ever got anything out of the machine.

Ted Binion convinced Jesse James he would need an act. The Knights of the Golden Circle were due in town shortly for a secret convention in an undisclosed location. Binion knew about this from rocks with ciphered messages he had found in the desert. For all he knew, Binion said, they could be in Las Vegas already. The Knights needed to be hosted and entertained, and what the KGC liked best was inexplicable rituals. So Binion introduced Jesse James to Larry, Curley, & Moe.

As seen here, Jesse James posed with Larry, Curley, & Moe in this photograph meant to promote the new act, the image taken during Jesse’s rehearsals with the trio. Shortly after this picture was taken, the KGC informed Binion they had enjoyed the act and planned to adopt some of its features in their programs. The KGC left town as unnoticed as they had arrived.

The name of the act – Larry, Curley, & Moe, starring Jesse James – just didn’t have enough ring to draw a crowd. Once more, Jesse faced failure in his life. Having run off from everyone he knew, Jesse was alone in his world, without friends…until Binion introduced Jesse to Bugsy Siegal.

Bugsy was opening a new operation on the Las Vegas Strip. He needed some new acts. Bugsy asked Jesse, Can you sing? Only hymns, Jesse replied. No Good, said Bugsy. Can you dance, Bugsy asked. I can do a fast shuffle out of town, said Jesse. Doesn’t work me, said Bugsy. What can you do, asked Bugsy. Jesse replied, well, I’ve got this gang, or half a gang. The other half’s in prison. We rob banks. Gang, asked Bugsy. I already got a guy with a gang, named Sinatra. Finally, Bugsy Siegal advised Jesse James to leave Las Vegas, go out on the road, and work up an act. He assured Jesse, no matter if Jesse was wheeled back into his showroom on a gurney, Bugsy would hold open a spot for Jesse in his show.

So Jesse James disappeared from Las Vegas. He hit the rode, disguising himself as J. Frank Dalton. Then he got the idea to make himself famous – as himself. He got some roadies, and together they wheeled Jesse all around America on a gurney, whipping up a crowd of gullible curiosity seekers. By the time Jesse James had perfected his act and felt ready to return to Las Vegas, Bugsy Siegal had been murdered. Ted Binion was dead. And Larry, Curley, & Moe were gone.

Jesse James died anonymously, as J. Frank Dalton. His show biz career never did get off the ground. But thank goodness for all those pictures of him that have survived the years. Without them, people would probably think he actually was killed by Bob Ford.


Heather Lee James, Dead at 23 from Diabetes

Heather Lee James, Memorial Day 2008

Regardless of age, diabetes kills.

The future of Heather Lee James lay before her, but Heather knew her diagnosis with diabetes could prove an obstruction to her future happiness.

Though she was young, energetic, and vibrant, Heather was encountering problems already. The disease had begun to impact her so much that Heather no longer trusted herself to live on her own. Heather moved back home in Ohio with her parents, Richard Lee & Gretchen James.

The family had plans for the afternoon on which Heather died. Early that morning, Heather announced she wasn’t feeling well. She returned to bed. As the time to leave grew closer, Richard reminded Heather to get ready.

Downstairs, Gretchen heard Heather enter the bathroom and close the door. She then heard a thud. Gretchen went upstairs to the bathroom to see what happened. Heather had locked the door. Gretchen called to Richard for help.

Richard busted through the door to find Heather lying on the floor, lifeless and barely breathing. Gretchen called for the paramedics and ambulance. Richard held Heather in his arms. When the paramedics arrived, Heather was dead.

Richard Lee James, Memorial Day 2009

The paramedics came to the bathroom doorway and saw Richard standing over Heather’s body. They asked several questions about identification and what happened. Richard was anxious. He knew Heather was dead, but he still held hope the paramedics could help. They asked Richard to wait outside the room. He and Gretchen were too much in shock. It never occurred to them the paramedics first thought they might have arrived at a crime scene. That was October 31, 2008.

The following Memorial Day, Richard, Gretchen, and Heather’s brother Randy Michael James, drove south to Science Hill, Kentucky for their annual family reunion. Richard remained speechless and numb throughout the day. Everywhere he looked was the reminder of Heather’s presence at the same reunion the year before.

Richard, Gretchen, and Randy returned for the reunion in 2010. Richard finally opened up to tell the story of his daughter’s tragic death. Richard appeared much thinner than he was in years past. He confirmed he was on a diet and exercise program. He had lost 70 pounds. He planned to continue and lose more.

Surprisingly, Richard lifted the backside of his shirt, clear to his neck. There, on his right shoulder, was a tattoo of Heather, as accurate a depiction of Heather as a photo taken of her two years before. Diabetes had stolen Heather from him, but it could not steal his love for her. Richard insured Heather would be with him until the day he dies.

Tattoo of Heather Lee James on the shoulder of her father, Richard Lee James


C. E. James Authors History of Franklin County, Kentucky

History of Franklin County by C. E. James

CAMPBELL EDMONDSON JAMES (1852-1921)
                                                    
C. E. James was twenty-seven years old when he authored this short history of Franklin County, Kentucky. The work was Kentucky’s response to the resolution of the U. S. Congress encouraging celebration of the nation’s Centennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. 
His father, the esteemed jurist A. J. James, already has served in the Kentucky State Legislature, was elected Attorney General under Gov. Beriah Magoffin, and had served as Kentucky’s Attorney General under Gov. Preston Leslie. He also was a former Mayor of Frankfort. Electing not to run for the governorship himself, A. J. James was president of the Farmer’s Bank in Frankfort.                                                                                                                                  
In 1887, C. E. James authored a sketch of Frankfort and Franklin County for the Commonwealth’s publication of the Seventh Annual Report from the Bureau of Agriculture, Horticulture, and Statistics of the State of Kentucky.
A lifelong bachelor, C. E. James was a bookkeeper in Frankfort, Kentucky.                                                                                                                                                                                FREE DOWNLOAD: A Short History of Franklin County, Kentucky
(Courtesy of Russell Hatter, Assistant Curator, The Capital City Museum, Frankfort, Ky.)


Visiting the Second Great Grandparents of Frank & Jesse James in Cole Cemetery

Tombstones of Richard James Cole (1729-1814) & Ann Hubbard Cole (1720-1795), his wife.

 

In 1754 at the age of 24, John Cole signed a lease with Hancock Lee for 150 acres of land on the north side of Horsepen Run, adjoining the plantation of John Herndon in King George County, Virginia.

Cole’s Bad Tavern, circa 1866. Photo courtesy of former resident, Frieda Curtis Wheatley

In 1775 and 1776, Lee’s son Willis Lee entered Virginia’s District of Kentucky and encamped at the spring named Lee’s Big Spring, midway between today’s Frankfort and Lexington. Willis Lee, his cousin Hancock Taylor, Isaac Hite, James Douglas, and John Floyd surveyed the area, for the Ohio Company. They filed 18 surveys, totaling 7,200 acres. Taylor built a log cabin, but then was killed by an Indian war party. In April of 1776, Willis Lee also was killed.

Cole’s Bad Tavern cookhouse with Cole’s Cemetery on the hill in the distance.

Capt. John Lee, son of Hancock Lee of Virginia, entered Kentucky and made a brick addition to Taylor’s log cabin. He occupied the structure and began a tavern business. The Kentucky Gazette advertised Lee’s Blackhorse Inn.

Russ Hatter, Assistant Curator of the Capital City Museum, Frankfort, Kentucky

John Cole died three years after executing his lease. His funeral expenses were paid with a case of whisky. In 1782, John’s youngest son, Richard James Cole, joined John Lee in Kentucky, building a residence on Cole’s Road, connecting Lexington to Frankfort. With Humphrey Marshall, Cole surveyed Frankfort for a new state capitol. He acquired slaves and on Cole’s Rd. Richard James Cole operated Cole’s Tavern.

In 1802 John Cole died. His tavern was sold to the mulatto William Dailey and his partner John Kennedy. Fortesqieu Cummings wrote his stays at the Blackhorse Inn and Cole’s Bad Tavern.

Any traveler who has once contrasted the rough vulgarity and the badness of his table and accommodations, with the taste, order, plenty and good attendance of his (Cole’s) mulatto competitor will never trouble Mr. Cole a second time.”

Eric James of The James Preservation Trust

In 1811 Cole’s Bad Tavern burned. In December of 1812, Richard James Cole acquired the Blackhorse Inn from Dailey & Kennedy. Richard James Cole Jr. became its operator. Richard Sr. Died three years later. His great granddaughter Zerelda Elizabeth Cole was born in the Inn on January 29, 1825. Zerelda’s sons are Frank & Jesse James.

LINKS: More about Cole’s Bad Tavern

                More about the Blackhorse Tavern

FREE DOWNLOAD:  The Descendants of John Cole Sr. – the Immigrant


Book Royalties of Jesse James Author Donated to James Farm & Museum

Author Ted Yeatman

 

Book royalties from Frank & Jesse James, The Story Behind the Legend by Ted Yeatman are being donated to James Farm & Museum.

The author died November 1, 2009 in Maryland after a lengthy illness. His family has approved the donation.

James Farm & Museum is owned by the County of Clay in Missouri, and is operated by its Parks & Recreation Department.

The first royalty check of over $1,200 has been received, representing funds due to Yeatman from the times of his passing to the psring of 2010.

Yeatman’s book first appeared in 2000, and has consistently remains the defintive enclopedic accounting of the careers of Frank and Jesse James.


Chris James says, I can touch, taste, & experience the Civil War

Chris James, Re-enactor

Chris James, born             Christopher David James, is a Civil War re-enactor with The “Tuckahoe Braves,”  27th North Carolina, Company D, Confederate States of America.

He appears in the photo galleries of the group’s web site.

Chris lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he is employed in the security office for Fort Bragg. A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Chris settled in North Carolina following his real military service as a sergeant with the 2/504 Infantry. PIR 82nd, Airborne Division, having served in Afghanistan from December, 2002, to August, 2003.

On the James side of his family, Chris proudly claims his cousins, Frank & Jesse James. He’s also a cousin to Walmart founder Sam Walton, his aunt Anne being a close family confidant to the Walton family. On his grandmother’s side, Christ also claims the aviatior-industrialist Howard Hughes as a cousin.

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Of his re-enactments, Chris says,  “I try my best at re-enactments and living history events to be accurately as possible to do some justice to what our ancestors endured.”

Recently Chris asked for an enumeration of who among his James relatives served in the Civil War. Specifically he asked, who was on which side.

For the first time, a list now has been compiled from the family’s genealogy and appears below.

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UNION

Allen Custer Herrin, husband of Susan Harriet James: Oct 12, 1864, Discharged 2nd KY Volunteers, Cavalry Co F, Union

Andrew James, Union. Not identified in the genealogy, only in the diary of Allen Custer Herrin who comments on the death of Andrew James in service.

Cyrenius Waite James: Union. Wounded & POW. Company B, 79th Illinois Volunteer Infantry

John Thomas James:  Pvt. Company B, 12th Kentucky Volunteers, Union

Rev. John James 1862-1917:  Co E. 54th Kentucky Infantry, Union.

William Henry Williams James: Graduate West Point 1868. Commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the 24th United States Infantry. Fort Concho, San Angelo TX 24th Infantry, Company  K

Thomas Hardin Williams James: Attempted to enroll in the U. S. Naval Academy, but he did not pass the examination. Union

Henry James Newton: Union. Assisted Civil War photographer Matthew Brady.

CSA

Joel M. James: CSA, brother of John Thomas James

William R. James: CSA

Joseph McAlister “Mack” James: sympathetic to the North. His son Francis Marion James Sr. was CSA.

Andrew Jackson “A.J.” James, served under Preston Leslie & Sterling Price, CSA

William H. “Will” James 1835-1896: Was reported by Herrin in-law that he rode briefly with Frank & Jesse James, but returned home, all shot up and badly crippled for the rest of his life.

John C. Breckenridge Griffin 1824-1907: In the fall of 1861 he joined the Missouri Guards, Company E, Third Missouri Regiment, South. He served under General JOHN B. CLARK until 1863. He was in the Battle of Lexington, Missouri, and other battles. (3rd Division under Sterling Price.)

James Vardeman Matson: Davis Mounted Rifles, commanded by Captain James V. Matson. CSA

Robert Allen Williams James: Attended West Point. Co E, 11th Tennessee Infantry Regulars CSA

Burton Allen James: CSA sympathizer

Henry A. James 1837-Oct 2-4,1862. CSA Killed at Battle of Corinth, MS

Thruston P. “Tommy” James 1846-May 16, 1863. CSA Killed at Champion’s Hill, MS

David Hunt James: CSA, Co A, Second Regiment, Kentcuky Volunteer Cavalry. Jul 19, 1863: Captured at Buffington’s Island with Morgan’s Raiders, imprisoned at Camp Douglas, near Chicago, IL., paroled Feb 1865. Member of the John C. Breckenridge Camp, Confederate  Veteran Association.

Richard Skinner James: Morgan’s Men’s Association: James, Richard. A private Co. P.O.W. Camp Douglas rec’d Aug. 18, 1863 transferred to Point Lookout, MD Feb. 24, 1865.

Henry Field James Jr. b.1799: CSA sympathizer. Author of the book “Abolitionism Unveiled”

Oscar Dunreath West: CSA, never returned home from the war.

Robert Woodson Hite: Quantrill Guerilla

Clarence Jeff Hite: Quantrill Guerilla

Thomas Martin “T.M: James: CSA sympathizer. Close friend of Jefferson Davis.

William Wythe James: undocumented family member. Served under Quantrill.

Alexander Franklin James, aka Frank James. Partisan guerilla with William Clarke Quantrill

Jesse Woodson James, aka Jesse James. Partisan guerilla with William Clarke Quantrill

UNDETERMINED

John Henry Griffin, 1814-1864, Murdered by James Vonsin, a soldier.

WATCH FOR UPDATES TO THIS LIST.


SPIKE TV strikes out with Deadliest Warriors Al Capone and Jesse James

Representing the family of Frank & Jesse James, The James Preservation Trust was contacted about participating in a segment of Deadliest Warriors, produced by Spike TV. The program pits Al Capone against Jesse James. The interview with Eric James, president of the Trust, identified several hurdles that prevented the James family from participating in the show.

Strike one for Spike TV.

Spike previously shot itself in the foot with the James family. Formerly in another program, Spike TV advertised that motorcycle celebrity Jesse Gregory James, aka Jesse James, was a direct descendant of the outlaw Jesse James. Although the Trust has a standing invitation to the celebrity to produce his genealogy and a DNA test, Jesse Gregory James has produced nothing more than his fraudulent claim. In the view of the James family, the celebrity is a con man. And anyone who supports the fraudulent claim of Jesse Gregory James promotes fraud.

Strike two for Spike TV.

When pitching Deadliest Warriors to the Trust, the agent for Spike TV assured the Trust all efforts would be employed to maintain weapons and historical authenticity. As example, the pitchman then cited Jesse’s use of a Bowie knife and hangman’s noose. In fact, nothing in the historical record identifies Jesse James as using a Bowie knife or hangman’s noose, although a noose was used on Jesse’s step-father by Union soldiers as Jesse himself witnessed.

Strike three for Spike TV.

As compensation, Spike TV offered only per diem and travel expenses, but no compensation. As a professional member of the entertainment unions, Eric James expected to be compensated for his work and the family’s own expertise. Spike TV replied, “Most everyone we use is just happy to be on television. That’s payment enough.” To which James asked, “Do you expect Jesse James would rob a bank if there wasn’t any money in it?”

James Francis "Jimmy" Keating

James points out that Spike TV struck out big time in pitting Al Capone against Jesse James. “If the Colt revolver was to be pitted against the Thompson machine gun,” James says, “why not pit Jesse against a member of his own family who actually used a machine gun to rob trains and banks?”

The reference James makes is to James Francis “Jimmy” Keating, a mobster of the Capone era who was an associate of George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Keating was from St. Paul, Minnesota. He robbed banks and trains throughout the Midwest down to Sherman, Texas, where Jesse’ sister lived. Keating’s son married Eleanor James, one of Jesse’s distant cousins.

George "Machine Gun" Kelly

Spike TV’s match-up between Capone and Jesse James has struck average video reviewers as a stretch. Apparently, Spike TV delivered exactly how much it was ready to pay for.


When a Younger Rode to Defeat Arizona-style Nativism

Fontaine Talbott Fox Sr., Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Ky.

Born in Liberty, Missouri, Charles Bruce Younger Sr. was only twenty-three when he took a stab at killing the political campaign of his older cousin, Fontaine Talbott Fox. Their cousins in the future Younger Gang were yet in their teens.

Fox was a politically savvy old codger. Already in his fifties, he had been a lawyer, judge, and attorney general for Kentucky. He had weathered two successful elections to the state legislature. Fox had muscle and political pull. His father Will Fox was a long standing court clerk, securely installed in his position when he was only sixteen or seventeen by John M. James, the grandfather of Frank and Jesse James. Regardless, Younger was determined to take Fox down.

Fox’s challenger was Albert Gallatin Talbott Sr. An attorney, Talbott received his law education from Samuel Hughes Woodson, an eminent Kentucky lawyer who later turned notorious for fixing elections in the Missouri-Kansas border wars. As a Democrat, Talbott was an abolitionist. Seeking another term in the legislature, Fox, who formerly was elected as a Whig, had drifted into the opposition No-Nothing Party.

No-Nothings were strictly anti-immigration. They supported only native-born candidates for public office. On a religious platform, the No-Nothings were also anti-Catholic.

As a boy, Charles B. Younger served in the Liberty Company of Missouri Volunteers at Fort Leavenworth under Alexander Doniphan, preparing for war against Mexico. When Doniphan went to war, Younger went to St. Joseph’s Catholic College in Bardstown, Kentucky, to pursue an education. His father, Coleman Purcell Younger, had converted to Catholicism, in respect of his wife’s faith when they married. Both father and son were Democrats.

Albert Gallatin Talbott, Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Ky.

When Albert G. Talbott contested Fontaine T. Fox, Charles B. Younger had just arrived in Danville, Kentucky to complete his senior year at Centre College. Two years behind him was Thomas T. Crittenden, who later would plot to kill Jesse James. Younger became Talbott’s campaign manager.

Danville was known as a seat of enlightenment. The town revered knowledge, education, and clear thinking. There, Younger also studied law under Joshua Fry Bell, who had been educated in Europe, and held a worldly view of matters. Bell was a U. S. Congressman, and later was appointed to the Peace Conference and Border State convention to avoid the calamitous Civil War. Danville respected clear thinkers. What Danville didn’t like was political candidates who, when asked what they stood for, replied “I know nothing.”

Albert Gallatin Talbott, inscription. Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Ky.

C. B. Younger defeated his cousin Fontaine T. Fox with a blast of words. Writing repeatedly in a Danville Democratic newspaper, Younger dismantled Fox piece by piece as the candidate with no solutions to serious problems. Younger won the election for Albert G. Talbott. Later when elected to Congress, Talbott took on the serious problem of avoiding civil war. He urged the surrender of slaves in the South to the United States for fair compensation.

Charles B. Younger became a lawyer. He removed with his father to San Jose, California, where the two practiced law, settling disputes among Anglos, immigrants, and Mexicans. His mediation in the Soquel Rancho dispute led to the founding of Santa Cruz.

The junior of C.B.Y. Sr, as he came to be called, married the daughter of Augustus Hihn, a wealthy German immigrant. Working together across European, American, and Mexican cultures, the Youngers became wealthy representing Hihn’s financial interests. As his cousins in the Younger Gang sided with the James Gang, C.B.Y. faced his most delicate circumstance. On behalf of Augustus Hihn, Younger foreclosed on the town of Paso Robles, California, developed and owned by Drury Woodson James, the uncle of Frank and Jesse.

In California politics, the Youngers have remained liberal Democrats, always ready to craft equitable solutions. In Kentucky, their defeated cousin Fountain T. Fox bequeathed his political sentiments to Fountain T. Fox Jr. In 1936 the junior Fox wrote, “I have ready for publication an manuscript on the Woman Suffrage Movement in this country … my argument is against the movement.”

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  • Meet the Leafblower

  • Meet the Leafblower

  • Website: www.ericjames.org
  • He's Eric James - a Broadway & TV has-been, living in the Kentucky Bluegrass. A former law journalist and international business executive turned politico, blogger, historian, writer, & lecturer, Eric now publishes STRAY LEAVES, the official web site for the family of Frank & Jesse James, and LEAVES OF GAS, the family's official blog. Eric also is president of The James Preservation Trust, founded by the late great grandson of Jesse James, Judge James R. Ross. The Trust is dedicated to the preservation and public appreciation of the James family's history through research, education, and dissemination of information pertaining to the James family. Presently, Eric is writing a new four volume history of the Jesse James family. The first volume, "SOUL LIBERTY, Behind the Heritage of Silence in the Family of Jesse James," is scheduled for publication for the fall of 2011.