Did Jesse James Sleep Here?

 

Over the Back Fence

Volume 11

By Vicki L Bishop

Did Jesse James Sleep Here?

 

Does anyone remember when we were growing up, how everyone who lived in Missouri was related to Jesse James?  It seemed like every classmate and neighbor was certain that they were kin.  My mother told me that we were from the Frank James line, and she was a master genealogist.  I ultimately believed her because she was always right about those things, but somehow since everyone was related, it really didn’t seem that special.

A few years after her death, I became a little more curious about the James family and other rumors within the family I had heard.  Could it be true that Jesse James visited Dixon?

Pulaski County has over 365 caves and a railroad line that traverses the northern portion of the county.   Dixon, at any given time, has had a large population of their own outlaws.  This seems like a place that someone like Jesse James might like to explore.

One rumor in my family was that Jesse James liked to hop the train in the railroad tracks area behind Birmingham Martin.  In this spot, the Dixon Hill finally levels out a bit and then there is a small area where the mounding slopes that flank the tracks become similar to the height of the train.  With a slow-moving train, this could make jumping on a train a little more inviting to bandits.  Outside of my family, I have never heard of this happening, but you must remember that my family only lived a couple hundred yards away from this spot.  So, did someone in my family really know this, or was it just a rumor or story for a rainy day?

Researching Jesse James is fascinating—there is just so much information out there about him.  For someone who is supposed to be related to him, I knew very little.

I did find a story of Jesse James staying the night at a farm outside of Dixon.  This came from written accounts of Minnie Perry Johnson, mother of Walter (Big Train) Johnson, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals who later went on to have an incredible baseball career.  Minnie was a child about eight years old, living with her family outside of Dixon in Maries County on the Perry farm.  One day, a small group of men rode up and asked if they could stay in the barn that night.  Her father, John Perry, agreed but stayed awake all night to make sure the men did not steal his horses.  The next morning, while her mother, Lucinda, was cooking breakfast, Minnie chatted with the men on her front porch.  One of the men saw a jay bird at 20 yards and twirled his pistol, then took out the bird to showcase his shooting skills.  After breakfast, the men thanked the Perry’s for their hospitality and rode away.  A few hours later, a posse arrived and informed the Perry’s that the men had been none other than Frank and Jesse James.

When I first found this story, I was amazed—but not entirely surprised.  I continued looking for more information, and it occurred to me that, while I was in Tuscumbia researching the Iberia Academy, that there was some information available in the Miller County Historical Society about Jesse James being near Crocker.

Reading through this information, I discovered that Jesse and Frank James had a first cousin, Mildred James Wall, who was married to “Black Jim” Wall, and they lived in the community of Faith, between Crocker and Brumley in southern Miller County somewhere near Madden Church.  The James’ boys made several trips to this area to visit family, and there are similar written accounts from several other residents. 

One account told of a gentleman meeting Frank on a backwoods trail and how spectacular his horse was and that Frank had a large diamond.  Another account talked of Frank playing hill music on his fiddle under a large tree and how gentle of a person he was.  Another story is about Jesse giving gifts to yet another farmer near Mount Pleasant who fed his horses and let him stay in the hay loft for the night.  The gifts consisted of a key watch with rubies, a silver hunting case and a straight razor.  The recipient kept these gifts all his life, and his grandson spoke of his inheritance of these items many years later.

In my research, I learned many things I did not know, as follows:

·       He was only 34 when he was shot and killed.

·       He was killed for a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty by two gentlemen that he took in and were living with him, as they were also skirting the law.

·       Jesse had cleaned up his act and was attempting to live a normal and crime-free life.

·       He was the son of a Baptist Minister.

·       He fought as a Confederate “guerrilla” in the Civil War.

·       He married his first cousin, Zerelda, after nine years of courtship.

·       After Jesse’s death, his widow worked hard so that her son, Jesse Jr., would not fall into the same troubles that his father did.  Jesse Jr. also worked hard at this in his own right.

·       Jesse James Jr. eventually became an attorney and relocated to California.

·       Jesse and Zerelda had an aversion to photographs; Zerelda never had her photograph taken.  They believed that the press would exploit the photos if they were able to obtain them.

·       As a part of being an outlaw, Jesse learned how to ride a horse at full gallop with the reigns in his teeth and pistols in each hand and could also shoot at full speed with accuracy.

·       Jesse, his wife Zerelda, and his mother (also named Zerelda), always maintained that the press is who made them more notorious than any other bandits have ever been.

It is apparent that Jesse James visited rural Dixon and rural Crocker.  I personally feel that they rode into town and scoped out the train.  How could they not?  However, there are no reports of train robberies or other crimes locally that are attributed to James’ or their gang members, at least reports that have survived the test of time.

The legend of Jesse James will live on throughout our lifetimes.  His life has been romanticized in print and film.  One hundred forty-three years after his death, he is still famous and an every-day name, not just in Missouri, but all over the country, as well as the world.  Once upon a time, he was here.

 

Jesse James

Robert (Big Train) Johnson (center), his mother, Minnie Olive Perry (left), his wife (right)

“Black Jim” and Mildred Wall