Stray Leaves YouTube channel

The YouTube Channel & YouTube Feed for Stray Leaves

Family, friends, and visitors of Stray Leaves are welcome to visit the official video channel for the family of Frank & Jesse James HERE on YouTube.

Our YouTube feed shown below appears here and intermittently throughout the Stray Leaves website.

Eric F. James

Official video channel for the family of Frank & Jesse James. We bring you videos from our official website Stray Leaves & authentic history from our biographical book Jesse James Soul Liberty.

No treasure hunting here. No "Jesse slept in the barn and left great-grandma a gold piece in the morning." No stories of could'a, would'a, or should'a. No reality show antics. Just honest research, honest genealogy, and the honest story from inside the Jesse James family.

Think you know Jesse James? Wait until you meet his family. Leave your guns at the door and join us.

Eric F. James
Reception clips from the Jesse James Gang & Family Reunion, 2002
As a 6-year-old boy, Jesse Edwards James Jr. was a witness to the murder of his father, Jesse James. The event impinged on him forever after. His unruly childhood was brought to heel by both family and community, which included the family of Gov. Thomas T. Crittenden. It was the family friend Gov. Crittenden who put the bounty on Jesse James that resulted in his killing. Law school and a job in the Crittenden law office directed Jesse Jr. into his future as a lawyer. He did alright until he was solicited into producing a motion picture about his father. After collecting production money from family, friends, and business associates, the movie flopped. Jesse Jr. assumed responsibility, but he never could repay the money lost. Severe depression overcame Jesse Jr. He required hospitalization, and then institutionalization. Equilibrium escaped him every living day. At age 50, he died in the care of his loving wife Stella and his four daughters. His grandson, Jim Ross whom he raised, became a lawyer and a judge.
Zee Mimms was the wife of Jesse James. Zee and Jesse were first cousins. They both had the same grandfather in John M. James. Zee was named after Jesse's mother, Zerelda Cole James. Over the strong objections of their family who did not attend their wedding, Zee & Jesse were married by their uncle, Rev. William James a Methodist minister, at his home in Greenville, Missouri. Zee bore two children for Jesse - Jesse Edwards James Jr. & Mary Susan James. A set of twins, Gould & Montgomery James, died shortly after childbirth. Zee also lost a fifth unnamed child to a miscarriage. When Jesse was assassinated, Zee fell under the strong infuence of Zerelda. Nevertheless, her life became rudderless and disoriented. She was engaged to give lectures, but never fulfilled her contract. She was drawn to mystics and charismatics. Zee died at the age of 55 of neurasthenia, an ill-defined medical condition characterized by lassitude, fatigue, headache, and irritability, associated chiefly with emotional disturbance.
Robert Newton Ford was killed by Ed O'Kelley on June 8, 1892, in Creede, Colorado. The killing was retribution for Bob Ford's assassination of Jesse James on April 3, 1882. History recalls Bob Ford as "that dirty little coward."
Animating historic images of ancestors is a hit among genealogists. We decided to give it a try and apply animation to a historic icon of our James family. Animation provides insights not evident in a static image. In this video, we perceive some of those insights written about by historians, but never fully comprehended. More will be coming from this technology. We'll produce more of these animations from our photo archives. Let us know what you think.
James City, Virginia (now Leon) was founded by Rev. Daniel James 1764-1845. Frank & Jesse James became future cousins of this ancestral James line which the brothers never knew. Descendants of Rev. James who left Virginia migrated into the Kentucky frontier to become tobacco & hemp planters, bankers, riders with John Hunt Morgan, captives of the Union, and blue grass blue blood. Others went further into Louisiana Territory to become charge d'affairs for Spain, Natchez slave traders, Mississippi & Nashville bankers, and bankrupts. Their stories ill be told in the forthcoming Volume III of the Jesse James Soul Liberty quintet.
50 Years ago, I was privileged to step into the lead role of Michael in the ground-breaking hit play The Boys in the Band. Now, Jim Parsons assumes the mantle as the play opens in revival on Broadway, May 31, 2018.
The Jesse James family has some new found cousins. Meet the family of Jerry Willis.
56 Women from the Jesse James family display their physical likeness & similarities spanning 9 generations & 225 years. Includes Jesse's own family & Native-American cousins.
How to dress for the James-Younger Gang conference & family reunion. http://ericjames.org/wordpress/event/james-younger-gang-2017-conference/
From personal experience with con artists, the Jesse James family points out 7 triggers for identifying a fake Jesse James photo con artist.
Gallery of historic photos from primary sources within the family of Frank & Jesse James, highlighting the James men directly related to the legendary brothers. A great resource for making image comparisons with claimed Jesse James photos. for grasping the actual genetic physical characteristics of the James family, or for identifying the physical differentiation among various lines of the Jesse James family.
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Videos You’ll Find on Our YouTube Channel

  • Jesse James Family Reunion Videos
  • Family Event Videos
  • Video Galleries of the Men and Women of the Jesse James Family
  • Video Animations of Jesse James Family Members
  • Promo & Background Videos for Jesse James Soul Liberty Book
  • Interviews
  • Seasonal Holiday Videos
  • Personal Videos created by our Leaf Blower, Eric F. James

Videos You’ll Find on Our YouTube Feed

The new YouTube feed for Stray Leaves highlights only a dozen of the most recent videos to be uploaded to the Stray Leaves channel.

To view older videos, access the channel directly on YouTube.

New Videos To Look For

As Stray Leaves passes its 25th Anniversary of continuous publication, we have big plans for a new generation of film and video production.

Watch for video & film interviews with historians, book authors, and scholars.

Get closer to the Jesse James family, their relatives, in-laws, and extended family as they show and tell their own stories.

Visit places and attend events relating to the Jesse James family and their interests.

Participate in Zoom meetings and video conferences on topics of interest to you.

All this, and MORE!

Join Our Video Crew

Do you have video or film production skills you like to put to work?

Do you have an interest in Jesse James, history, or family history?

Do you have an idea you’d like to bring to Stray Leaves?

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL
Queries Also Welcomed

Email our Leaf Blower, Eric F. James, today
ericjames@ericjames.org

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Official site for the family & friends of Frank & Jesse James