![]() Up in Minnesota, Clell Miller, Bill Chadwell (alias Bill Stiles) and Charlie Pitts (alias Sam Wells) were killed, while brothers Cole, Jim and Bob Younger were wounded, captured and imprisoned for a quarter of a century in the state penitentiary. Tom Webb, alias Jack Keene, was captured in Kentucky with Tom McDaniel. Brothers Bill (‘Bud’) and Tom McDaniel were captured and killed in 1874 and ’75, respectively. Gang member Oll Shepard was killed in 1868 at Lee’s Summit. In such a dangerous line of work, the old gang could not last forever. Others, though, turned against the boys - not only those people who could no longer see them simply as ‘victims’ of Northern aggression and big business, but also personal acquaintances and even some new gang members. A network of friends showed sympathy and support for Frank and Jesse even after the famous fiasco at Northfield. After meeting and marrying in Kentucky, they had moved to Missouri in the early 1840s.įrom February 13, 1866, through the September 7, 1876, Northfield raid in Minnesota, the James-Younger Gang reportedly robbed 12 banks, five trains, five stagecoaches and the gate cash box of the ticket booth at the Kansas City Exposition. Their mother, Zerelada Cole James Samuels, was born at Midway. The James boys’ father, Robert, was born in Logan County and graduated from Georgetown College near Midway, Woodford County. Hite, at Adairville, in Kentucky’s Logan County, 10 miles from Russellville, scene of an 1868 bank robbery. The gang’s base, where the leaders recruited and planned, was the farm of Frank and Jesse’s wealthy uncle, George W. These men were not only known in Missouri but also in a wide area across the South from Kentucky to Texas. Edwards’ printed words provided alibis and excuses for the James-Younger Gang, which was seen by him and many other Southerners as a collection of well-liked former guerrillas forced into living outside the law by a repressive Republican Reconstruction federal government.Īfter the Civil War, other ex-guerrillas - who had ridden with the notorious William Quantrill and ‘Bloody Bill’ Anderson - were as well known as the Jameses and Youngers. Among the most outspoken was Virginia-born newspaper editor John Newman Edwards, who had been Confederate General Joseph O. Included in those supporters were such prominent and influential families as the Hudspeths, who raised stock and bred horses on their vast landholdings in JacksonCounty, Missouri. All were expert horsemen, always paying careful attention to their animals, which were essential tools of their ‘business.’ Also essential to the West’s most famous outlaw brothers’ success was the support of a circle of trusted friends. Jesse James was killed by one of his own gang members.ĭuring their outlaw careers, the James brothers and the Younger brothers dealt in fine-blooded stock, raced thoroughbreds and rode beautiful American Saddlebreds. Eventually, the Younger brothers were sentenced to life in prison. One bullet killed Pitts and others caught the Younger brothers but not killing them. After this failure, they decided to go their separate ways to elude the police.Įventually, a gun battle ensued between the James Gang and the police. All the gang got from their robbery attempt was a bag full of nickels. The assistant cashier inside the bank would not open the vault for the gang and was shot for his refusal. While the gang was in Northfield, Minnesota, a Swedish immigrant farmer was killed by a bullet as the gang was trying to rob the bank. While they were not very organized at first, some of them drifting together by chance, they soon became a gang that had grown and learned from their mistakes. They took to robbing banks to support themselves. ![]() ![]() When the war was over, these were among the men who seemed not to fit into society any longer. This notorious gang was the outgrowth of men who had known each other the bushwhackers of the Civil War. These included John Jarrette who was Jesse James’ brother-in-law, Clel Miller, Arthur McCoy, Matthew Nelson, Charlie Pitts, and Bill Chadwell. Other members would be part of the gang at one time or another. Sometimes the Younger brothers, Jim, John, Bob and Cole Younger would join the gang temporarily. The gang consisted of the James brothers, Jesse James and his older brother Alexander Franklin “Frank” James. Most of their unlawfulness centered on robberies. James Younger Gang summary: The James-Younger Gang was notorious in the latter part of the 1860’s. Facts, information and articles about the James Younger Gang, famous outlaws from the Wild West
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