Hide Article Text (OCR)
Feke JfcsseJames Visited Mexico?—Authoritative Records at St Joe Go To Prove Bandit Was KilledAccording to the Encyclopaedia Bntannica, .at . least 20 persons have, claimed to .be the ‘Teal Jesse James.^ J?asn* been .so many years ago that someone visited Mexico claiming to. be Jesse James and to have escaped the lethal lire of Ford, who. history ‘ says' shotthe Missouri . bandit in the back While hanging a picture in his farm home. Only recently, - ir. Eawton, Okla.,’ a fellow making the same claim, made his appearance.In St Joseph, Missouri, they say the revival of the legend of a living Jesse James is almost an annual event.Jesse James was shot in the back of the head, with fatal results, during the period he was holing up at St. Joseph, Mo., under the name of Mr. Howard. a was on the morning of April 3, 1882. It was the day of the liveliest city electioh St. Joseph ever had, but hardly anybody bothered to vote after it was learned that the nice “Mr. Howard who had been everybody’s friend was really the outlaw, and that he had been slain for a reward.Identity Established ThenThe numerous- claimants to the name of Jesse James in the last generation always have, had to contend with the fact that since Jesse Was shot, for a reward, every legal effort was made to establish the identity of the dead man. .,, For about fifty years’ t;he idem, tity never was questioned, so' thorough was the proof at the time. About 1930 the hew Jesse Jameses appeared. First,’was a stoiy from Florence, Col., to the effect that a man who died there was believed to have been the real Jesse James. His body was exhumed and photographed.The story was enough, to cause The St. Joseph Gazette to. go to a great deal of trouble to hunt down the fdcts. Judge T.*F. Ryan who was an assistant pfpsecutor at the time of the slaying,' was interviewed Dec.- :13, l$3l£ He was convinced that the - man slain in 1882 was Jesse James. He described the events of the fateful day, including the'tearful visit of the widow, asking , for custody of the . body.On June 22; 1932, a man appeared at the newspaper- office and calmly announced he was the original Jesse-James; To prove it he wanted reporters—and a' photographer—to go with hitn to the old James house on Lafayette Street, where he'would; submit convincing proof,, he. said. :The newspaper men went and the .new Jesse James told his story. He said it was true a.man was killed -in-the. home, but the man wasn’t .Jesse James. He said he. and his' brother^ Frank were riding toward • the house when they- heard- the--shot-that killed the man later identified as Jesse. -He took $50 in gold from the .body, of the dead man, ran outside, buried, a gun and fled.“Now, to prove to you I am Jesse James I am going to' dig lip that gun, provided it alreadyhasn't been found. That gun will have the initial ‘B’ carved wtih a penknife on the black handle.”This much said, the man known as Jesse James picked up a grubbing hoe, started digging in a clump of currant bushes and in practically no time had dug up a gun. “Gentleman, does that convince you I am the original Jesse James?”. A lot of persons were not convinced. The widow, of -Jesse James, Jr., made a denial. The controversy raged until July 5, 1934, when Lfenry Bauman, now dead, went to the newspaper office with a photograph. He was a grading contractor in 1895, and as part of the improvement of LaFayette Street the whole top of the big hill had been cut off. The house where Jesse James was killed had been placed on a crib and the lot was reduced in height by 12 to 15 feet. A gun buried by Jesse James in 1882 would have been at least 14 feet under ground in order to be within reach of a grubbing hoe in 1932.That was the last St. Joseph heard of the Jesse James of 1932. But there have been others.In July, 1934, the Electric Theatre brought in a man who put bn a thirty-minute show every night, claiming he was the original Jesse James. He also appeared in the Rex Theatre at Mexico. He discussed incidents of “my life’’ while he paced back and forth on the stage. He had ■one principal line of talk as theatre patrons heckled him. If I’m not Jesse James, who am I?” he would ask over and over again. One patron, after sitting through the Jesse James show twice and an “It” girl film, once shouted “If he is Jesse James, Pm Clara Bow.”About that time every circus and carnival company had an original Jesse James. Out in California a fellow was arrested on charges of obtaining money by false pretenses—the false pretenses being that he claimed to be Jesse James. To win exoneration he had to'prove he was a train robber and a. bank robber. It wound up in a sanity hearing at Lob Angeles. Superior Judge Thomas Gould ended the ease by dismissing the proceedings but remarking: “You're sane but you are either a great bandit or a great liar, and I think you are a mighty good impostor.”• St. Joseph has been trying to forget Jesse James for sixty-six years. The rest of the country won't forget, and the old-timers won’t forget.Peat bogs have a peculiar ability to maintain a uniform temperature throughout all seasons of.-the year.,. The home sewing enthusiast prefers white to any color during the summer months.When a female hornbill is ready to lay her eggs, her mate walls her Inside the nest, bull* inside a hallow tree.
Newspaper Details
Mexico Evening Ledger
Mexico, Missouri, US
Thu, Jul 01, 1948
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Joplin P.
MO, USA 03 Aug 2024
Other Publications Near Mexico, Missouri
Mexico Weekly Ledger
Mexico Missouri Message
Mexico School News Roundup
Mexico Ledger
Mexico Evening Ledger
