Think you know Jesse James ? Wait until you meet his family
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Jesse James Soul Liberty, Vol. I
Authorized historical biography of the family of Frank & Jesse James. The first of five volumes, drawn from primary family sources. Includes family photos, letters, documents, memoirs, interviews, genealogy, with source citations, notes, bibliography, & index.
Published in the USA by Cashel Cadence House, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8957469-0-2. Hardcover, $36.95
“Eric James knows more about the Jesse James family than anyone in America.”
– Charles Broomfield, former Clay County (MO) Commissioner, responsible for the transfer of James Farm in Kearney, Missouri from the Jesse James family to Clay County.
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REVIEW: James-Younger Gang Journal
REVIEW: Wild West History Association
Most longtime outlaw-lawman aficionados have probably read a number of books about Jesse and Frank James. Those books probably included Background of a Bandit by Joan M. Beamis and William E. Pullen and Jesse and Frank James: The Family History by Phillip W. Steele. Chances are you think you know a lot about the family of America’s most famous bandits. However, if you think this– think again– you have seen only the tip of the iceberg.
Jesse James fanatics are going to be delighted with all the new material and serious historians are going to wonder how they have missed so much for so long…
In summary, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I did not want to put the book down. It reads a lot like the family sagas written by Howard Fast and John Jakes. However, this is all fact, not fiction.
If you have any interest in the James gang and their history this book is a “must read”. And do not skip the notes; there is a wealth of material to be found in the notes and the bibliography is a gold mine. Four more volumes of James family history are to follow this book. I eagerly anticipate all of them.
REVIEW: Western Writers Association of America
The extended family of the James outlaws has unjustly been ignored by historians. The abundance of the accomplishments of the James family is more than enough to mitigate any stigma attached because of the outlaws. This family has led the way for social justice in many fields. They have been leaders in law, business, church, education and the arts…
The research and writing is outstanding and there is awealth of photos. There are excellent notes, bibliography and family charts. The book is very highly recommended.
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Theater advertisements for plays appeared like this in newspapers. This ad for Bloomer Girl appeared in August of 1845. Bloomer Girl was the product of Daniel Lewis James Jr. and principally his wife Lilith Stanward. The following excerpt about them appears in JJSL:
Written against the backdrop of World War II, when blacks were moving out of the South into an industrial workforce, and women also were moving out of the home into the workplace, Bloomer Girl is set in the pre-Civil War era, interweaving themes of black and female equality, war and peace, and politics. The play’s principal character, Dolly, is based upon the inventor of the bloomer, Amelia Bloomer, a contemporary of an acquaintance of Vassie James and Susan B. Anthony. As a fighter in the suffragette movement for women’s rights, Bloomer advocated, “Get rid of those heavy hoop skirts; wear bloomers like men; let’s get pants; let’s be their equal.” In the play, Dolly politicks for gender equality, as her rebellious niece Evelina politicks her suitor, a Southern slaveholding aristocrat, for racial equality. As the play’s librettist, Yip Harburg, stated,
Bloomer Girl was about “the indivisibility of human freedom.”
Bloomer Girl opened on Broadway on October 5, 1944. Dan (Daniel Lewis James) insisted Lilith’s (Dan’s wife) name come first in the show’s credits. The play was an instant hit, lasting 654 performances. Dan remained modest about the show’s success, considering his contribution a failure. “...I seem not to have given full credit to my collaborators on the 1944 musical comedy Bloomer Girl...The facts, in brief, are as follows: the originator of the story idea from which the musical grew was my wife, Lilith James, who charmingly chose the perversities of Fashion to dramatize the early struggles of the Women's Rights movement. She also developed the principal characters. I joined her in writing a first draft of the libretto. It failed to satisfy our lyricist, E. Y. Harburg, and Harold Arlen, the composer. It also failed to satisfy us. An impasse developed at which point all agreed to call in the team of Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy who were experienced writers in the field of musical comedy. They reworked the material to the satisfaction of everyone but Lilith and myself, who had hoped to invade Gilbert & Sullivan territory, with what we thought was a light-hearted paradoxical look at history. What I took for a personal artistic failure for which I blamed, first of all, myself, went on to become a lavish entertainment which played on Broadway for eighteen months and has since often been revived in summer theater. If I was not delighted, audiences certainly were and full credit for this should be given to Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy (now deceased) without whom the production would never have taken place...”
You've read about our Harmon family cousins in Jesse James Soul Liberty. Now, experience their latest adventure.
One of our highlights from 2020 was watching the progress of the Harmon family global home school. James Milton "Jamie" Harmon and his wife Ashley Hubbard took their children on an around the world tour, making every worldwide location where they stopped a schoolhouse for their children. Jamie is a 3rd great-grandson of Thomas Martin "T.M." James.
Now, the Harmons have published a website of their travels. The highlight of this outstanding website is the inclusion of daughter Hazel Harmon's first published book. Hazel is 9 years old!
Have a look at our James family cousins, and enjoy.
Moulton J. Green has died at the age of 93 from Covid19. Moult is the husband of Jean McGreevy, the second great-granddaughter of Thomas Martin "T.M." James. Jean appears on pages 221-222 of JJSL. Read Moult's obituary here: legacy.com/us/obituaries/kansascity/name/moulton-green-obituary?n=moulton-green&pid=197474427
EXCERPT from Jesse James Soul Liberty, Volume I, “All for the Underdog”. . .
Daniel Lewis James Sr. was educated as a “business aesthete, who painted.” He preferred being addressed simply as “D.L.” Thelma Duncan Barr, the wife of Jesse James grandson Laurence Barr, wrote that she met D.L. once, but didn’t like him. He appeared “too aloof” for her country taste. Even inside his own family, D.L. was regarded somewhat as a snob. But D.L. James was not without dash. He was a Kansas City tennis champion. He took on Bill Tilden, the world’s number one tennis player for seven years. D.L. could do a no-hands flip, and he often dressed in white tie and tails.
D.L.’s granddaughter, Barbara James, recalled him from her childhood. “D.L. and [his wife] Lillie visited us in Hollywood, staying at the Garden of Allah which was diagonally across Havenhurst St. from our house. I was playing on the steps of the hotel’s famous kidney-shaped pool. For some reason, I decided to walk to the bottom of the steps, which was over my head, and proceeded to drown. D.L. was coming out of their room to go to dinner as I disappeared. Without hesitation, he jumped into the deep end of the pool, struggled to the shallow end, and pulled me out. He was in full white tie and tails, and he couldn’t swim.”
Hello how do I buy this book? I am from the James/Prouty line. I sent a message through the website as well. Thank you.
Vol, III of Jesse James Soul Liberty will tell the story of the Forks of Road Slave Market in Natchez, MS. The market was operated by the brothers David Daniel, Thomas Green, and John Duke James. Presently, the Land & Water Conservation Fund of the National Park Service has issued the following funding for the acquisition of properties that threaten the existing site.
"Natchez National Historical Park, Mississippi: $900,000 to acquire four to seven tracts at the Forks of the Road slave market site, which faces multiple threats of urban intrusion to both the site itself and its immediate viewshed. The site and its potential archaeological resources have been under pressure from urban development; protecting the small area that remains is vital to preserving and interpreting this part of the nation's history. The park has also been working in partnership with the City of Natchez and other nonprofit groups for over a decade to develop downtown walking trails, with interpretive signage, that would extend to the Forks of the Road site."
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/11/millions-lwcf-dollars-targeted-parks
Millions Of LWCF Dollars Targeted For Parks
www.nationalparkstraveler.org
Millions of dollars of Land and Water Conservation Fund revenues are targeted to be spent this fiscal year on key land acquisitions in units of the National Park System from Alaska to Florida under pl...