This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3AC.2ACE/1540 Message Board Post: Did you know that outlaws Frank and Jesse James were in this area?? http://www.aconews.com/articles/2005/02/16/caswell_messenger/news/a-story.txt Jesse James exhibit to show local ties raise funds for the Caswell Historical Association By Gordon Bendall/Caswell Messenger Editor Talk of Jesse James is alive and well in Caswell...and talk is about to become action. A team of researchers lead by historian Ralph P. Ganis have found conclusive evidence that Jesse James was in Caswell County during his outlaw years. To present the history of Jesse James in North Carolina, Ganis is coordinating with collectors around the country to bring in an exhibit to help raise funds for the Caswell County Historical Association. The publicity would raise awareness of the incredible Jesse James/North Carolina story and for Ganis, the more local interest that's generated, the more pre-existing oral histories might seep out of the woodwork. "The exhibit will fully document the Jesse James/Caswell County connection," Ganis said, "And if anyone has anything to share from the oral histories in their families, they should let it be known." Jesse's brother Frank It was already well documented that Jesse's brother Frank James retreated to Greensboro in 1881 when the gang was forced to leave their safehaven in Nashville, Tennessee. Frank stated later that he "intended to go North Carolina somewhere and remain there." As it turned out, Frank left the area when an outbreak of small pox in nearby Winston Salem made him fear for the life of his wife and son who were traveling with him. Frank then went to Virginia and was living in Lynchburg when he first heard of Jesse James's death which occurred in St. Joseph, Missouri on April 3, 1882. Jesse was killed by gang member Robert Ford. Now, new evidence has revealed that Jesse and his band actually visited this area several times during the outlaw years. Carolina-Missouri ties The new findings about Jesse's activities in North Carolina center around the fact that a large number of Piedmont families from this area migrated before the Civil War to Clay County, Missouri. Incredibly, these families were Frank and Jesse's immediate neighbors. Some of the family names of those who moved to Missouri include Albright, Holt, Cummins, Crossett, Schoolfield, Denny, Ross, Taylor, Moore, Finley, Wharton and others. Jesse's first cousin, Sarah Cole married Joel Albright of Alamance County therefore, Jesse was related to families in the Piedmont through marriage. The Albright farm was located next to the James farm in Clay County. Ganis and his fellow researchers, including his cousin, Jay Shouse of Burlington, have found new evidence that there was an exclusive network of family and friends around the Williamsburg community who assisted Jesse and Frank James when in the area. There was a faction of the James Gang in Union County, North Carolina. That network wa! s the subject of the book "Uncommon Men, A Secret Network of Jesse James Revealed" written by Ganis. It is now believed that the activities in this area are related to the ones in the southern part of the state. A key to the research has been examining details in family genealogies including census records, marriages, businesses, military associations, court records, and other data. The research team has been aided greatly by the efforts of genealogist and James Gang researcher Julie Hampton Ganis. Julie's family reports will be available for families in this area who have oral histories about Jesse that they would like to verify. Local oral histories There have been many local Jesse James stories handed down about how he came through Caswell County. But you have to dig around to hear the tales. It was back anywhere from 1869 to 1880 when Jesse came through the Piedmont. Ganis recently met Charlie Chilton, 85, outside Chilton's Store on NC 150. Old-timers hold court in the chairs outside the store. It's a local tradition. Old man Chilton told Ganis he knew all about Jesse James coming through Caswell. He repeated the story last Friday for The Caswell Messenger. "Jesse James came through here after he spent the night down in Camp Springs," Chilton said, looking quite debonair for his age. "Jesse James also spent the night up on the Park Springs Road in a two-story house. I guess he paid someone to let him stay there." Other stories of Jesse coming through here were recorded in the 1940s. They relate that Jesse James talked to Caswell County Judge Jake Long in the courthouse in Yanceyville in 1879 or 1880. The Old Courthous! e on Yanceyville's Court Square was completed in 1861 when the Civil War was coming to an end. Ganis has also been working with Mr. Billy White about Jesse's stay at Locust Hill where there is evidence the gang hid-out. Other oral histories put Jesse staying for short periods of time in Shady Grove, Yanceyville and the Mayfield community of Rockingham County located just south of Pelham which borders the City of Danville. History of the James Gang The James brothers were in Nashville from 1878-1881. Jesse eventually fled to St. Joseph, Missouri were he was shot in the back of the head, unarmed, with his son and daughter in the next room, by Robert Ford, a fellow gang member who conspired with the Governor of Missouri to have Jesse assassinated. It was a controversial murder that immortalized Jesse James for sympathizers. "We know Ford had a conference with the Governor," Ganis said. "And this is truly the great moral of this story. What is worse? Bank robbery or state sponsored murder? Yes, Jesse James robbed banks. But every man has the right to due process of law. Jesse James never got due process of law. The Governor of a state conspired to kill him. That is state sponsored murder and in any man's book worse than robbery. No citizen can rest in bed at night if he thinks the government can pay somebody to kill them. That's why Jesse is a hero to this day. Had Bob Ford arrested him and lawmen descended on the house, ! Jesse would probably still be a hero, but not as big a one. But when he was murdered by the state, that secured his place in history. The James Gang was not a bunch of bloodthirsty killers like Bonnie and Clyde or Al Capone's mob. True, innocent bystanders and those who resisted were killed. That's all documented heavily. They robbed banks all across the country. They robbed stage coaches. They robbed railroads. There were dozens killed but actually there were more James gang members killed than the other way around. They were tough guys, there's no doubt about it. Cole Younger, a member of the James Gang was asked if they were bad men and he said, 'We were rough men. We were used to rough ways. But I will tell you this. We never violated the sanctity of a man's home. We never robbed the honest poor. We always treated ladies with respect. And when we came into a town, every man knew our business.' So yes, they were rough guys but they weren't common thugs. They were articul! ate. They had some schooling. They fought as soldiers. Their homes and farms in Missouri had been burned by the Union Redlegs coming out of Kansas. A lot of men were killed during the War Between the States. It was brutal out there. It wasn't like the eastern armies with General Robert E. Lee and Grant. It was neighbor against neighbor. It was terrible. And these guys were the product of all that. Jesse James grew up in the years that led up to the Civil War, one of darkest of times in American history." An American icon "Jesse James operated a network," Ganis said, "In the beginning there were more of them because they had just come out of the war. They had all fought as Missouri guerillas. So they were very well seasoned soldiers. Not just punks off the street going out robbing banks. These were ex-Confederate soldiers, well seasoned in warfare. When they went in to rob a bank, it was a quasi-military operation." On being an American Robin Hood, Ganis said, "There was an organization called The Grange, not generally discussed, and called the Patriots of Husbandry today. It was a fraternal organization started after the Civil War. At that time, the government, through eminent domain, allowed the railroad to take possession of private property. It upset the farmers. To protect themselves, the farmers banded together in an organization called The Grange of which Frank and Jesse James were members. They fought the railroads tooth and nail so it was no myth that Jesse James was the champion of the farmer. And the farmers joined The Grange by the thousands. In 1875, there were thousands of members nationwide with strong membership in the South. Jesse James became the hero of the farmers. The story of Jesse fighting the trains and banks comes down from this Grange movement. Jesse James did not invent striking back at the railroad that was a common feeling among many folks. He just happened ! to be articulating it with arms. That's why to this day, Jesse James is a hero to the common man. The average American can identify with Jesse James and we always say he was a Robin Hood. But the fact of the matter is that he's more than a Robin Hood. Jesse James embodies the things that Americans treasure most... individuality... and the boldness to be brave, daring, to stand up for what you believe. People don't really see the bank robberies they see that part of Jesse James that's in all Americans. He's the quintessential American outlaw. People love that and they always will."