James, Jesse (1847-1882), became one of the most famous bank and train robbers in the history of the United States. James led about 25 robberies in Missouri and several other states. The James gang also killed a number of people. Some writers described Jesse James as a hero who robbed only the rich. However, James really was a vicious murderer and thief.
Jesse Woodson James was born on Sept. 5, 1847, in Clay County, Missouri, and was the son of a Baptist minister. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he and his older brother, Frank, joined bands of killers and thieves led by Confederate sympathizers. After the war, Jesse and Frank James formed a new band with their cousins, the Youngers, and began to hold up trains, stagecoaches, and banks. In 1871, bank officials hired the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to capture Jesse. In 1875, a bomb thrown into his mother’s house killed his stepbrother Archie Samuel and injured his mother. Some people believed detectives hurled the bomb, and that James was being unjustly persecuted.
In 1881, Governor Thomas Crittenden of Missouri offered a $5,000 reward for the arrest of Frank or Jesse. Gang member Robert Ford believed he could collect the reward if he killed either brother, and shot Jesse in the head. Jesse died the same day, April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Missouri.
