Tag Archives: Robert

The Latest Fake Jesse James History From Ron Pastore


  Nancy Samuelson, book reviewer for the Wild West History Association, the James-Younger Gang Journal, & Leaves of Gas reviews the latest book to come from the imagination of treasure hunter Ron Pastore       Jesse James’ Secret: Codes, Cover-Ups & Hidden Treasure by Ron Pastore and John O’Melveny Woods, (Intellect Publishing. 2010).    296 pp., soft cover, $19.95.… (more…)

Indiana Cousins of Zerelda Elizabeth Cole-James Family


Before Lucy Cole of Woodford County, Kentucky married Jonathan Sebastian Cropper, the Cropper family’s ancestry reached back to 1685 and the birth of Ebenezer Cropper in Snow Hill, Worcester County, Maryland. After Lucy Cole Cropper died, Sebastian Cropper married Provey Dorsey of New Castle, in Henry County, KY. Sebastian & Lucy Cole Cropper’s son, Joseph Yates Cropper born in Woodford… (more…)

Dr. Samuel Evans James’ Yacht “The Wanderer”


Russell Hatter, the assistant curator of the Capital City Museum in Frankfort, Kentucky, sent us this newspaper clipping from the Kentucky Journal of September 8, 1903. The story documents a day cruise on the Kentucky River aboard Dr. James’ yacht The Wanderer. Among the guests, the article identifies Sally Jouett Taylor, Dr. James’ wife. After Dr. James died, Sally married… (more…)

Troubled DNA of the Sam Walton, Lawrence, and James Families


David Ralph James, and his son Christopher David James, know one thing for certain about their DNA. They don’t possess the Y-chromosome DNA proven to be that of their paternal James ancestors. The problem rests with David’s great grandmother, Mary Ellen James, who was born in 1856. She also is Sam Walton’s grandmother. As most of America knows, Sam Walton… (more…)

Obituary of Dr. John R. James, Uncle of Frank and Jesse James


The James Preservation Trust recently received the contribution of the obituary of Dr. John R. James. For over a hundred years the obituary lay inside the family bible of Jesse Edward Smith, Dr. James’ grandson. Upon the death of Jesse Edwards Smith, the bible was passed to his daughter Agnes. Although Agnes married, she bore no children. Agnes left the… (more…)

Flat Lick Baptist Church – The Mother Church Founded by John M. James


John M. James (1751-1823) was one of the founders of Flat Lick Baptist Church, located outside Shopville in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Most of the his fellow founders were rebel preachers like himself, who had been persecuted for preaching without a license. They made their exodus from Virginia in 1781 in a Traveling Church, bound for the Shawnee temple of New… (more…)

HISTORIC TINTYPE of 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… (more…)

Jesse Edward Smith Recalls Jesse James, His Namesake & Cousin


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… (more…)

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