JAMES, JESSE WOODSON (1847-1882), American out law, was born Sept. 5, 1847, in Clay county, Mo., U.S.A. In the early months of the Civil War the family was partisan to the Southern cause, and as a result suffered greatly at the hands of the Union forces. By way of retaliation, Jesse turned informer and later, when only 15 years of age, joined the guerrilla forces of C. W. Quantrell. Here he soon established a reputation for marksmanship and daring. At the conclusion of the war, he, with other members of the band, surrendered, but soon afterward was treacherously shot and severely wounded. In the following year he was declared an outlaw, and thereafter until his death, he was a fugitive from the law. In 1867 he became the leader of the "James band" of bank and train robbers, and during the following years attained a wide repute for crimes of the most daring and cold-blooded type. As the result of a reward of
$10,000 offered by Governor Crittenden of Missouri for the capture of Jesse James, dead or alive, two members of his own band, Robert and Charles Ford, turned traitors and shot and instantly killed him in his home at St. Joseph, Mo., April 3, 1882. Jesse's brother, Frank (1843-1915), was a partner in crime in most of the exploits of the James band. He surrendered soon after the death of his brother, but was never brought to trial. The closing years of his life were spent quietly on a farm in Missouri.