Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
A mystery has surrounded the death and burial of John Jarrette, a Quantrill Raider, and James Gang member. Researcher Lorna Mitchell has been on Jarrette’s trail. Attempting to solve the mystery, Lorna has produced documents, expected to write some new history, plus a grave marker for John Jarette.
An unsubstantiated story of death claims that John and his wife Mary Josephine Younger, known as Josie, a sister of the Younger brothers, perished in an ambush of their home in St. Clair County, Missouri in 1869. Local lore said John and Josie Jarette were buried in Yeater Cemetery in Roscoe, Missouri. The Jarette’s children Jeptha and Margaret, were adopted following their parent’s demise. Genealogy records of William R. Lunceford in 2005 stated Anne and Lycurgus Jones became legal guardians of Jeptha Jarette. Nothing is known of who adopted Margaret. No cemetery records exist for Yeater Cemetery and a physical inspection of the cemetery revealed tombstones too old and weathered to be discernable.
Lorna Mitchell has tracked down John Jarette to Greenwood in British Columbia, Canada. She’s produced a death certificate showing Jarette, a proprietor and rancher, died in a local hospital in 1906.
A marriage certificate also has been produced by Lorna, showing a marriage between Robert Letherdale, a livery proprietor, age 30, and Edwards Rosella Jarette, age 18. Edna, as she was known, is identified as being born in Henderson County, Kentucky with her parents identified as John Jarette and Josephine Younger. The couple was married in 1893.
The marriage certificate for another daughter, Marion Jarette, the spouse of Hugh F. Keefer, also shows John and Josie Jarette as Marion’s parents. Both daughter petitioned the British Columbia Probate Court, with Marion relinquishing any claim.
In addition to these documents, Lorna states she has an archive of supportive documents, records, and newspaper clippings.
Of the new grave marker installation, Lorna writes, “Frank and Sharon Younger, my husband and I just returned from our trip to Greenwood to attend the ceremony for John Jarrett’s new grave marker. The event was a huge success with fifty people in attendance, some in period costume. We toured the museum where they have recently opened an exhibit for John, then we went to the cemetery where the President of the Greenwood Historical Society gave a talk on John. Then a minister gave a short sermon and prayer. Amazing Grace was played on an accordion at the end of the ceremony. After a luncheon ten of us drove to Rock Creek to see the properties where John lived…I will be writing a more detailed account of our trip for the next James-Younger Gang Journal.”
Whenever an important discovery, such as this, is made, new questions arise. We expect Lorna will be moving on to the next step of investigation, namely researching how, why, and when Jarrette went to Canada and what was Josie’s fate and where. Of course, people are going to inquire, too, about the middle initial “M” in her documents and where that comes from, since a middle initial for John Jarette was unknown previously. A couple years discrepancy in Jarette’s birth date can be expected to be called into question also. But a specific date may not be as important as the hopeful discovery of John Jarette’s life in retirement from the James Gang and Quantrill Raiders.
Lorna Mitchell provides the excellent example of how genealogical research will provide historical breakthroughs. Traditional historians should take note. More due diligence of this type should be conducted by genealogists and historians. We look forward to more of Lorna’s fine research. Lorna Mitchell is opening a new door to new history.
Stray Leaves Daily
Daily updates from the family of Frank & Jesse James with stories, photos, & two searchable genealog
VIDEO of the Clay County Board of Commissioners bestowing honor upon our James colleague & friend Charlies Broomfield. Recognition begins at 2:00 min. mark.
Congratulations Charlie!!
We have hints from the Clay County Archives in charge of James Farm in Kearney, Missouri, that a road leading to the farm will be renamed Charles Broomfield Rd. Charlie was a Clay County Commissioner who took an active role in arranging the sale and transfer of James Farm from the James family to Clay County.
Cant say that I understand the significance of this.
Do you have the address of Jesse & Frank James Cabin in Paseo Robles, California?
SLAVE TRADERS AMONG OUR JAMES FAMILY . . . For a decade Stray Leaves has been researching this most distressing discovery. Finally, it’s time to bring this story to light. There’s much to report. The entire story will take time to tell. As we begin, we are also compelled to reconcile what this history means for us. More specifically for those who are now known to descend from these slave traders, whom it can be assumed never knew of this element of their ancestry, but also for the James family as a whole. The resolution will not come easy.
Forks of the Road Slave Market – Violence In Silence
ericjames.org
“Just at the Forks, where the Washington and Kingston, or Palatine roads converge, stood a low squatty frame building used during the winter monthsI ran a DNA test on all the James names I could find in these stories and didn't get 1 DNA match. My DNA is closer to Jesse than that James line is. I am looking into it being through Robert Thomason (step grandfather of Jesse Woodson James) and Julia Ann Singleton (Aunt to Jesse Woodson James).
I am a descendant of Betty G Woodson.
Waterproof, La in Tensas Parish to be more exact.
Tensas Parish. J. G. James and M. Kerrigan.
The King family. Descendants of Viking slayers. archive.org/stream/Kingswood/Kingswood%20reduced_djvu.txt
"In the middle of 1864, Captain Jason W. James was on scouting duty in the southern part of Madison Parish. About eight o'clock one morning he and his company arrived at the Plantation home of Hr. Joshua James on Roundaway Bayou, who also owned the Ione Plantation in Tensas Parish." You will have to read the rest. I am not posting it here. 😲 😲 😲 sites.rootsweb.com/~lamadiso/articles/ward/chap05.htm
And I do believe this James line is connected to Lucille Ball.
And speaking of slave traders. Nicholas Trammell is mixed in with the Carrigans somehow. www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/trammell-nicholas
And I am a descendant of Elizabeth Woodson Thomas. Wife of Captain Edmund King.
I am also showing DNA matches to the James grandparents of Jesse Woodson James and all 8 of his great grandparents. This is what I need help figuring out. All of my James DNA matches will be in the replies to this comment. In this screenshot they are all the white ones
The sons of Colonial Edmund King.
I am a descendant of Mary Joicy who was widow Woodson, mother of Elizabeth Woodson Thomas.
By the way I am not a Kerrigan by DNA. I am a Carrigan. Civil War name change. Descendant of William Michael Carrigan and Nancy Holt. Nancy Holt was the daughter of Michael Holt III and Rachel Rainey. youtu.be/IsK2eSTVW8A
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When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it’s been deleted.Where does Lucille Ball fit?
FIND-A-GRAVE BLUNDERS LEAVE JAMES FAMILY HOWLING . . . Can you spot the errata in this Find a Grave post for the grandfather of Frank & Jesse James? The most glaring deception is the photograph!
History tells us the photograph was invented about the time John M. James was dying. Neither history, nor the administrator of this posting, Charlotte Raley McConaha, can tell us is how photographic technology made its way from France to the distant American frontier to take a photo of John M. James, months before his demise.
Another imprecise miscalculation in this post is the attribution of the middle name “Martin” to John M. James. The name never has been proved by evidence. To guess the name is unreliable and wrong.