The Life and Times of Missouri Outlaw Jesse James

When Kentucky born pioneers Robert and Zerelda (Zee) James built their log cabin on the Missouri frontier, neither dreamed that their sons would one day rank among the nation's most infamous outlaws. When son Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847 at their home near Kearny, Missouri, he was welcomed into the growing family. 

The James' log home was like that of their neighbors - simple and unadorned. Robert James was a Baptist minister with a church near Kearny. Unlike many of his neigbors, Robert James was an educated man with enough book learning to read and to preach. When Jesse was just two years old, however, he left home in the hopes that he would make his fortune in the California Gold Rush of '49. He planned to send for his family but never panned any gold. He died of pneumonia before he could even try.

His widow remarried twice by the time that young Jesse was eight. With his siblings - two brothers, a sister, two stepbrothers and two stepsisters - Jesse learned early to perform the many chores necessary to rural life in those years. His second stepfather, Mr. Samuels, reared the boy as his own. The family prospered in the years leading up to the Civil War and owned four slaves at one time. 

The small farm grew but when the nation entered the years of the Civil War, everything changed. Because Missouri was a border state - one that neither declared for the Union or the Confederacy - tempers soared. Neighbors turned against neighbors as factions pitted one against another. For Kentucky born Zee, Jesse's mother, the choice was clear - the family's allegiance was Southern.

In the spring of 1863, mounted Union troops arrived on the farm. Because the Samuels were known to be Southern sympathizers, the Union soldiers were harsh and threatened to burn their home. Sixteen year old Jesse objected and tried to fight the soldiers. He was beaten into unconciousness and by the time he roused, their home and everything of value had been burned.