Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
BOOK REVIEW: Duke, Daniel J., Jesse James and the Lost Templar Treasure: Secret Diaries, Coded Maps, and the Knights of the Golden Circle (Rochester, VT, Destiny Books, 2019) 148 pp, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, softcover, $16.99.
Daniel J. Duke, is the son of Betty Dorsett Duke. Those who follow Jesse James’ literature will likely remember that Betty wrote three books. She claimed Jesse James was not killed by Bob Ford and that her grandfather James L. Courtney was actually Jesse James. This book continues along that same line and repeats the claims that James L. Courtney was really Jesse James.
The title of the book, however, is very misleading
The title of the book, however, is very misleading. There is little in this book about the real Jesse James and very little about James L. Courtney. There is also little discussion of the Knights of the Golden Circle. The book is a complete leap into the world of esoteric legends and myths concerning the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Masons, and other such groups.
The book is a complete leap into the world of esoteric legends and myths
The author tosses out the names of many famous people and expects us to believe that such historical figures as Francis Bacon, Sir Christopher Wren, John Dee, and a host of others somehow obtained information about the vast wealth of the Knights Templar and passed this knowledge down to people who survive today. The author’s great-grandfather, James L. Courtney, was one of the chosen few who obtained the knowledge of some of this immense treasurer buried in various locations in the United States.
The book is replete with lots of diagrams, overlays, secret symbols, etc. etc. etc. Various works of art are also presented and these too contain secret symbols relating to vast hordes of treasure.
The Knights Templar came into being during the crusades. They developed an extensive banking system and acquired sizeable amounts of assets. In the early 1300s the King of France, who owed vast amounts of money to the Templars, decided to destroy the order. According to the author, the Templars were able to assemble a fleet of ships and take their treasures to the new world. The plan was to build a new and more perfect society at some future date.
claims that vast amounts of treasure are to be found in Victorio Peak (now within the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico) and a secret vault under Burton Chapel on the campus of William and Mary College in Virginia
Mr. Duke claims that vast amounts of treasure are to be found in Victorio Peak (now within the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico) and a secret vault under Burton Chapel on the campus of William and Mary College in Virginia, There are also various other sites around the United States that contain an untold amount of Templar treasure. The author presents overlays, secret numbers, etc. etc. to make his case.
take a pass on this one.
In summary, if you like fantastic tales of buried treasure, you might enjoy this book. If you are looking for information about Jesse James take a pass on this one.
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☞Today in Old-West History -- On today’s date 119 years ago, Sunday, October 19, 1902, notorious Old-West outlaw & fiddle player James Hardin “Uncle Jim” Younger (1848-1902) met his earthly demise at the age of 54 when he committed suicide by gunshot whilst on parole at Saint Paul, Minnesota.
☞Requiéscant In Pace, Jim Younger.
☞Jim Younger was one of the central figures of a band of the most desperate outlaws the Old West ever knew -- the infamous James-Younger Gang, which was formed by Jim’s brother Cole Younger along with Frank & Jesse James.
☞Jim Younger joined the Confederate Army during the War Between the States (1861-1865) & served with Quantrill’s Raiders. In 1864, he was captured by Union troops & was imprisoned until the end of the War.
☞After the War, Younger worked on various ranches until he joined the James-Younger Gang in 1873. When his brother John was killed at Roscoe, Missouri in 1874, Jim left the gang & went out west where he worked on a ranch in San Luis Obispo, California.
☞In 1876, Jim returned to the gang, & on September 7 he participated in a bank robbery that became known as the Great Northfield Minnesota Raid. During that robbery he was shot & captured. The James brothers escaped, but Cole, Jim, & Bob Younger were shot up by a posse, arrested, & sentenced to long terms in the state penitentiary at Stillwater, Minnesota, where they were afforded celebrity status.
☞Jim Younger’s fiddle was one of the few possessions that he was allowed to have with him in prison, & he played it often. As time passed, Jim noticed that a little bird would appear most every day in the window of his jail cell. It seemed as though the bird came to listen whenever Jim played his fiddle. Jim was lonely & he befriended the bird which he named “Swipsy.” The bird would fly into the prison cell & Jim would always try to have crumbs to feed Swipsy. One day, a fellow prisoner killed the little bird just for spite. Jim then painted a picture of Swipsy on the back of his violin to remember his little feathered friend.
☞In 1898, the prison warden allowed the prisoners to throw a Christmas party at his own home, with Cole Younger portraying Santa Claus & Jim Younger playing his fiddle.
☞Paroled in 1901, Jim became engaged to his long-time lover Alix Mueller; however, because of the terms of his parole he couldn’t marry her.
☞On October 19, 1902, after a failed attempt to sell tombstones & then insurance, Jim Younger locked himself in his room, wrote a suicide note to Alix, picked up his revolver, & blew his brains out.
☞In 2013, Jim Younger’s fiddle, which was played by him at the famous 1898 Christmas party at Stillwater Prison, was sold at a Dallas, Texas auction for over $11,000.
☞The left-hand photograph depicts the image of Swipsy the Bird that Jim Younger painted on the back of his fiddle. The right-hand photograph depicts an undated studio portrait of Jim Younger.
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Stray Leaves Daily updated their info in the about section.
After 10 years, our webpage for the Flat Lick Baptist Church & its founder John M. James has been updated. New additions include a video about the rebel preachers and their Traveling Church, the "talented, but erratic" pastor Joe Martin James, photos of the 100th & 200th anniversaries, slaves in the congregation, collapsing stone walls, Flat Lick on YouTube today - all waiting for a new pastor to take the reins in the 21st century. ericjames.org/wordpress/2011/05/13/flat-lick-baptist-church/
Flat Lick Baptist Church Founded by John M. James
ericjames.org
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes John M. James, the grandfather of Frank & Jesse James, arrived on the Kentucky frontier in 1782 in the company ofFor Drury Woodson James, founder of Paso Robles, CA., and all his descendants, PASO ROBLES FOUNDERS' DAY 2021.