This chronology reveals important dates during the life and times of outlaws Frank and Jesse James, starting with a marriage of their parents, to 1995 when the body of Jesse James was exhumed for DNA testing which verified his remains and ended various speculations:
- Dec. 28, 1841 — Robert James and Zerelda Cole married in Logan County, KY
- Jan 10, 1843 — Alexander Franklin James born
- 1845 — Robert James purchased the James Farm
- July 7, 1845 — Robert R. James born
- Aug. 21, 1845 — Robert R. James died
- Sept. 5, 1847 — Jesse Woodson James born on James Farm
- Nov. 25, 1847 — Susan Lavenia James born
- Aug. 18, 1850 — Robert James dies of cholera
- Sept. 30, 1852 — Zerelda Cole James married Benjamin Simms; marriage lasted around nine months, and Simms died after they separated
- Sept. 25, 1855 — Zerelda Cole James Simms married Dr. Reuben Samuel
- Dec. 26, 1858 — Sarah (Sallie) Louisa Samuel was born
The James family was among the many slave-owning families with ties to the South in the Little Dixie region of Missouri. While Jesse, born 1847, was too young to serve as the Civil War began, by August 1861 Frank James, four years older, joined the pro-secession regiment of Col. John Hughes, participating in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. The following year Frank joined William C. Quantrill’s raiders, and was in on Quantrill’s massacre at Lawrence, KS.
- May 4, 1861 — Frank James joined the Confederate army
- Dec. 25, 1861– John Thomas Samuel was born
- April 1862 — After being captured by Union troops, Frank James took the loyalty oath and gave a $1,000 bond
- Fall of 1862 — Frank James joins Quantrill’s guerillas after being jailed for not joining the Union army
- Summer 1863 — A regiment of Federal militia came to the James Farm looking for the whereabouts of Quantrill’s guerillas; they hang Dr. Samuel and severely beat Jesse. A few weeks later, Zerelda and their children are jailed in St. Joseph
- Oct. 18, 1863 — Fannie Quantrill Samuel is born
Charles Fletcher Taylor, left, is shown with brothers Frank and Jesse James. When the Civil War erupted, martial law was declared because of the state of unrest. As Jayhawkers from Kansas began to invade Missouri to burn, loot, and in many cases, shoot or hang the pro-Southern farmers, William Clarke Quantrill took charge of a 15-man posse formed to pursue Jayhawkers. Charles Fletcher Taylor was one of these men which developed into the notorious Quantrill’s Raiders.
- 1863 of 1864 — Jesse James joins Quantrill’s guerillas
- May 15, 1865 — Jesse James shot in the chest while surrendering in Lexington, MO
- May 21, 1865 — Jesse James surrenders
- July 26, 1865 — Frank James is paroled in Kentucky
- Feb. 13, 1866 — Bank robbery in Liberty (MO) done by ex-guerillas ($62,000 from Clay County Savings Association)
- July 26,1866 — Archie Payton Samuel is born
- Oct. 30, 1866 — Lexington (MO) bank robbery ($2,000 from Alexander Mitchell & Co. Bank)
- March 2, 1867 — Savannah (MO) bank robbery (no record on loss, Judge John McClain Banking House)
- Feb. 18, 1867 — Five militia men come to James Farm after Jesse because he has served as a guerilla during the war
- May 22, 1867 — Richmond (MO) bank ($4,000 from Hughes an Wasson Bank)
- June 1867 — Jesse James in Nashville (TN) under the care of Dr. Paul Eve for a lung wound he received at the end of the war
- March 20, 1868 — Russellville (KY) bank robbery ( $14,000 from Nimrod Long Banking Co.)
- 1868-69 — Frank and Jesse James in California
Daviess County Savings Association, on the southwest corner of the square in 1903, standing from left: Robert Foster, Allen Place, John Roney, John Leopard, A.M. Irving, James Hunter, Wm Sheets (brother of Capt. John Sheets), J.T. Day, Jacob Mettle (in doorway), Wm Yeisley, Wm Pendleton, James Vandyke, Thomas J. Crain, Arch Cope, Joseph Koger, J.B. (Pole) Brown, Samuel McDonald, E.M. Mann, Charles McCoy, Thomas Hemry; seated from left: Wm Fisher, Mathew R. Mann, S.P. Cox, Benton Miller, D. Harfield Davis.
- Dec. 7, 1869 — Gallatin (MO) bank robbery (estimated $700 from Daviess County Savings Association)
- June 3, 1871 — Corydon (IA) bank robbery ($6,000 from Ocobock Brothers’ Bank)
- April 29, 1872 –Columbia (KY) bank ($600 from Bank of Columbia)
- Sept. 26, 1872 — Kansas City (MO) Fair robbery ($10,000 from fair office)
- Sept. 27, 1873 — St. Genevieve (MO) bank robbery ($4,100 from Ste. Genevieve Savings Bank)
- July 21, 1873 — Adair (IA) train robbery ($6,000 from Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad)
- Jan. 1874 — Hot Springs (AR) stagecoach robbery ($3,000)
- Jan. 31, 1874 — Gad’s Hill (MO) train robbery ($12,000 from Iron Mountain Railroad)
- April, 1874 — Austin (TX) stagecoach robbery ($3,000)
- April 24, 1874 — Jesse James marries Zerelda (Zee) Amanda Mimms in Kearney (MO)
- Spring 1874 — Frank James marries Anna Ralston
- Aug. 30, 1874 — Waverly (MO) and Carrollton (MO) stagecoach robbery (unconfirmed involvement by James)
- Aug. 30, 1874 — Lexington (MO) stage robbery
- Dec. 7, 1874 — Corinth (MS) bank robbery (unconfirmed involvement by James at Tishomingo Savings Bank)
- Dec. 8, 1874 — Muncie (KS) train robbery ($55,000 from Kansas Pacific Railroad)
Zerelda James Samuel, the mother of Frank and Jesse James, lost her right arm to a Pinkerton bomb explosion as the detectives sought to capture the outlaws at the family farm home east of Kearney, MO. Zerelda ardently defended the innosense of her sons. She was described as a hard woman living in hard times, a slave owner and unabashed supporter of the Southern Cause.
- Jan. 26, 1875 — Pinkerton raid at James farm; detectives throw a bomb through the kitchen window killing 8-year-old Archie and mangling Zerelda’s (Jesse’s mother) right hand so badly it had to be amputated
- Aug. 31, 1875 — Jesse James Jr. born in Nashville (TN)
- Sept. 5, 1875 — Huntington (WV) bank robbery ($10,000 from Huntington Bank)
- July 7, 1876 — Blue Cut (Otterville, MO) train robbery ($15,000 from Missouri Pacific Railroad)
- Sept. 5, 1876 — Northfield (MN) bank robbery attempt
- 1878 — Zee James gives birth to twin sons, Gould and Montgomery; they lived about a month before they died
- Feb. 6, 1878 — Frank’s son, Robert Franklin James, was born
- June 17, 1879 — Jesse’s daughter, Mary Susan James, is born
- Oct. 8, 1879 — Glendale (MO) train robbery ($40,000 from Chicago & Alton Railroad)
- Sept. 1880 — Mammoth Cave (MO) stagecoach robbery $1,800)
- March 11, 1881 — Muscle Shaols (AL) robbery of federal paymaster
One of the scenes painted by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) featured in the Missouri State Capitol at Jefferson City features outlaw Jesse James in a mythical train/bank robbery. Benton’s work adorns the House Lounge on the third floor of the Capitol. The murals were commissioned by the legislature in early 1935 for $16,000 and completed in December 1936.
- July 15, 1881 — Winston (MO) train robbery ($2,000 from Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad)
- Sept. 7, 1881 — Glendale (MO) train robbery ($15,000 from Chicago & Alton Railroad)
- April 3, 1882 — Jesse James is shot and killed by Bob Ford at his rented home in St. Joseph; Jesse was unarmed and was shot in the back of the head
- April 6, 1882 — Jesse James funeral held at the Baptist Church in Kearney (MO); burial at the family farm
- Oct. 5, 1882 — Frank James surrenders to Gov. Crittenden at the governor’s office in Jefferson City
- Aug. 21 – Sept. 6, 1883 — Frank James stands trial at Gallatin, MO, for the murder of train passenger McMillan during the 1881 robbery at Winston, MO; he is found not guilty
- April 17-25, 1864 — Frank James stands trial in Huntsville, AL, for the robbery of federal paymaster Alexander Smith; he is found not guilty
- Nov. 13, 190 — Zee James dies
- June 29, 1902 — Jesse James body is moved from the family farm to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, MO; Zee’s body was moved from a vault at Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City to Mt. Olivet
- 1903 — Frank James and Cole Younger travel with the James-Younger Wild West Show
This is the farm home of the James family, where Frank & Jesse James grew up east of Kearney, MO, and later a place of refuge as the boys became wanted outlaws. Today the James Farm is a historic site and museum maintained by Clay County.
- 1903-08 — Frank James makes his home on the James Farm in Kearney (MO)
- March 1, 1908 — Dr. Reuben Samuel dies
- Feb. 10, 1911 — Zerelda Simms James Samuel dies
- Feb. 15, 1915 — Frank James dies on the James Farm following a stroke
- Sept. 15, 1915 — Sallie Samuel Nicholson dies
- May 30, 1932 — Fannie Quantrill Samuel Hall dies
- March 15, 1935 — John T. Samuel dies
- Oct. 11, 1935 — Mary James Barr dies
- July 6, 1944 — Anna Ralston James dies
- March 26, 1951 — Jesse James Jr. dies
- Nov. 18, 1959 — Robert James dies
- March 1978 — Clay County buys the James Farm
- 1979 — Jesse’s original grave site is excavated
- July 19, 1995 — Corpse exhumed from the grave in Mt. Olivet Cemetery to identify remains using DNA testing
Interest in Old West outlaws Frank and Jesse James never seems to wane. This postcard presents points of interest on a map entitled “Jesse James Country” enticing visitors to various locations throughout Northwest Missouri.
