Meet the James?

UNCLE FRANK   &  UNCLE FRANK

The first image is Frank C. Carter, documented as Jesse's uncle on his penitentiary letter log and WWII draft card.  The second image is Frank James, brother to Jesse James. 

A photograph of Frank James as a younger man shows a more similar hairline and smaller, more "youthful" earlobes. 

Jesse Edward James 

31 Aug 1875 - 26 Mar 1951

Robert Ellison Lynch

1887-1929
Robert Ellison Lynch appears to have the same granulated eye condition as Jesse James. 

did jessE james live to 100?

As the story goes, Jesse James was killed in his home in 1883.  Many others believe that he faked his death, and lived another 60 years, according to the death certificate issued by Clay County.  Perhaps he learned the move from his father, Robert Salle James, a Baptist minister that headed west in 1850 in search of gold and to preach to the miners. He is said to have died within a week or two after arriving, buried in an unmarked grave in Placerville, California.  I would imagine his first destination after such a journey would be to the welcoming home of a family member. His brother Drury was a wealthy spa owner in Pasa Robles and the family were pioneers who settled the Placerville region. As a religious man, why would his family not claim the body for a proper burial?

DEATH  CERTIFICATE  FOR  JESSIE W JAMES:  Parents are listed as Robert James & Zerelda Cole and a death date of Dec. 25, 1947. 

A screen shot from google shows that Betty Jean Barr (3GG child of Jesse James), is the daugther of Fred L and Bessie Lynch

Could there be a familial relationship between Jesse Linch and Jesse James, or assumed identity?


There is the stereotype joke that everyone says they're related to Jesse James.  Perhaps more so where I live in Northern California, as his family settled the region.  The school my children go to, and all the surrounding street names are all named after Jame's family surnames. Even my in-laws live off a street named Saunders, and Robert Salle James is said to have been buried in the same county I currently live in.   


While researching my genealogy, I struggled to find information about Jesse Lynch. Knowing he "made the papers" sometimes, I googled his name and outlaw/bank robber etc... and almost all the search results were related to Jesse James. As I researched and learned more about Dossie and Edna's outlaw lives, I learned more about the James and associated families and once I figured out GEDMATCH and sorted my DNA matches by the chromosome, I realized I had many of the surnames associated with his direct line....and not a single Lynch/Linch.  


I would be extremely surprised to find out if Jesse Lynch was the son (or a son) of Jesse James. As I continue my research, I keep finding more and similarities, that I have to wonder, is this more than just a coincidence?

 

SimilarIties of JESSE & BELLE LYNCH and JESSE EDWARD JAMES & ESTELLE:

THEY SEEM TO ALSO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS AND TIES TO THE SAME PEOPLE....

Alexander Broughton is someone with who Jesse corresponded while incarcerated. His daughter married Rufus Kye Smith (his parents are James Smith and Mary Garland). I noticed Rufus' brother had a son, Gyles with an altered record, showing that he was a girl, and the spelling was changed to Jiles. Her Find-A-Grave shows that she died at the age of 15.  Gyles Smith, the boy, grew up to be a man, and his draft card shows that his employer was Tim Edwards, at the Muscogee company.  Jesse Edward James continued to use the name Tim Edwards after he found out who his dad was and only used Jesse James Jr. for public events.  

gyles smith draft card

Note: his employer is listed at Tim Edwards, which is the well know alias/name of Jesse Edward Jame's Jr. He continued to go by Tim Edwards throughout his life after he found out that his dad was Jesse James, and that they were living under an alias. 

1930 census

This record shows a J.E.  James living in the same household as Dossie and her son, but are grouped as a separate family. It's unclear what their relation is at this time. 

public records tell a different story...

This 1850 Census is the only census record documenting the famous outlaw's parents and his siblings, on an official public record, however, this record cast more doubt on the 'official narrative' of the James family history.
1).  The famous outlaw's middle name is Woodson. The census record shows his middle initial as R. 
2). History records Jesse's mothers' name as Zurilda Cole, or Zee for short.  Phonetically, Zurilda and Sarelda may sound similar, but the spelling is not. This is more than a minor misspelling, it's hardly the same at all. 
3) Based on the census record Sarelda, was 28 in 1850, making her birth year around 1822.  The marriage record between Sarelda and Robert James also documents a 3 year age gap between the couple.Zurilda Cole was born in 1825, which would be a 5 year age difference.

Tim Edwards (or Jesse Jr) and Estelle were married in Jan. 1900

...and so were Belle and Jesse. 

Carrie Esabelle Garland:     Birth Certificate: born April 1, 1882

According to one James family historian, there is a "giveaway in the ear formation of the James is the flattened part of the ear’s perimeter, and the deep peninsula canal located inside the ear at the bottom."   Although he refused to comment on my ears from the pictures I sent until I proved to him my ancestry, I do think I have ears very similar to Mary James, as well as other features. 

JESSE JAMES LINEAGE

Every know surname associated with the James Clan, I have a DNA match with.  I am certain that Bell is related to these families, and Jesse may be as well. To be determined....

Paternal Great-Grandparents

William James (1754-1805) is believed to have been born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and settled in Goochland County, Virginia. Married Mary Hines, July 15, 1774. Their children were:   

-          John

-          Nancy Ann

-          Mary

-          William, Jr.

-          Richard

-          Thomas

-          Martin


Paternal Grandparents

John James (1775-1827) was born in Goochland County, Virginia. Settled, Logan County, Kentucky in 1811. Baptist preacher and farmer. He married Mary Poor on March 26, 1807. Their children are: 

-          Mary

-          William

-          John R.

-          Elizabeth

-          Robert Sallee

-          Nancy Gardner

-          Thomas Martin

-          Drury Woodson

-          Mary Elizabeth

 

Maternal Great-Great-Grandparents

Richard Cole, Sr (1729-1814). Born in Pennsylvania, settled near Woodford County, Kentucky. American Revolutionary War Veteran. farmer and owner of Cole’s Bad Inn. Married Ann Hubbard in 1762; Emsey Margaret James in 1795. His children are: 

-          John

-          Richard, Jr.

-          Jesse

-          Rachael

-          Betsey

-          Agnes

-          Sallie

-          Alsey Alice

-          Lucy

 

Maternal Great-Grandparents

Richard Cole, Jr. (1763-1839). Born in Culpepper County, Virginia. Farmer and owner of Black Horse Tavern. Woodford County constable. Married Sally Yates. Their children are: 

-          William Yates

-          Mary “Polly”

-          Elizabeth

-          Sally

-          Jesse

-          Amos

-          James


Maternal Grandparents

James Cole (1804-1827). Married Sallie Lindsay 1822. Their children are: 

-          Zerelda Elizabeth

-          Jesse Richard

 

Parents

Robert Salle James (1818-1850). Born Logan County, Kentucky July 17, 1818. Baptist minister.  Georgetown, Kentucky. Died August 1850. He married Zerelda Elizabeth Cole on December 28, 1841. She was born in Woodford County, Kentucky January 29, 1825, and died on February 10, 1911.

Children:

-          Alexander Franklin

-          Robert

-          Jesse Woodson James, the Outlaw

-          Susan Lavenia

RESEARCH NOTES


 Names changes:

-          Dollie Lynch – SSN shows she is Baker.

-          Surname Howard is used by Edna.

-          John (Moody/Mooney), spouse of Dollie and maybe the John Kennedy who robbed a train with Jesse James Jr., a charge that he was later acquitted.

-          Jesse James is said to have worked on his uncle's ranch, and spent time at J. W. Lynch’s farm. Frank James later worked with J. W. Lynch's track horses as well. 

-           No birth or death records for Isabelle Garland. (Per LA county records)


Perhaps not relevant, but notable:

-          Isabelle’s second husband’s name is Andrew Woodson Russell.

-          Theodore Cole and Roe were said to have lived in South American; and Dossie reportedly accompanied Theodore Cole there. Have a copy of a South American passport application for Dossie's half-brother, William Russell.  

-          Records Altered: Inmate 6955, Page 14 altered number, altered alias name? Possible inmate number was for George Smith?

JAMES FAMILY HISTORY

Jesse Edward James Jr:

He became acquainted with unsavory characters, such as John F. Kennedy (married to Dollie Mae??). Kennedy was born in 1868 in the Crackerneck, moved to Houston around 1886. Jesse Edward James is said to have joined him in the September 1898 robbery of a Missouri Pacific passenger train near Leeds, Missouri. Jesse James Jr. was attended almost every day of Mr. Kennedy's trial and was later acquitted of the charges related to the robbery in March 1899.

PERSONAL LIFE

Jesse Edward James graduated from Kansas City Law School in June 1907. Sold his tobacco shop and practiced law. Domestic problems with wife Stella in 1910. Stella sued for divorce around Nov. 1909. He was frequently away from home, gone late, and refused to inform her of his whereabouts. She withdrew her suit, but problems festered. They could not reconcile, and Jesse Edward James took the youngest Ethel Rose, and would not reveal where she was. It’s been alleged he was having an affair with the wife of a neighbor. In the divorce the followed, Stella was granted custody, however, they reunited one year later. Stella became ill and was hospitalized in 1911.  Jesse Edward James is buried  at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. 


JESSE AND FRANK:

Freda Cruse Hardison, 58, a respected historian of the Ozark Region in Arkansas and Missouri. He didn't know that Hardison, who holds a PhD from the University of California, was preparing to publish her new historical novel: "Frank and Jesse James Friends and Family," which details the extended community of the famed outlaw brothers. 

 "But I faced a serious problem as I researched the book: The evidence I found contradicted much of what historians have written about that context." - T. J. Stiles, author of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War

In 1875, Zee gave birth to Jesse Edward James, publicly known as "Tim Howard"; he would answer to the nickname "Tim" all his life. (Yeatman, p. 161). There seems to be some dispute about the exact date; Settle, p. 129, says December 31; Yeatman, p. 161, has August 31. 

Frank apparently settled in Nashville. He seems to have used the name Ben J. Woodson. He reportedly worked very hard as a sharecropper, except perhaps for a brief time when he suffered from malaria (Yeatman, p. 202).

Jesse, still using the name "John Davis Howard," chose a more rural setting, in Humphries County some distance to the west. He didn't draw much attention except for owning a very fast horse, occasionally showing great skill with a pistol, and sometimes acting a little paranoid (Yeatman, pp. 196-197). Around this time, Zee gave birth to twin boys, Gould and Montgomery, who however died soon afterward (Yeatman, p. 201; Settle, p. 132). On February 8, 1878, Frank's wife Annie bore Robert Franklin James. In one of the strangest twists of the James saga, he was apparently called "Mary" as a baby (Yeatman, p. 203). Settle, p. 132, reports that Zee nursed Robert when Annie proved unable to produce enough milk.

In early 1881, Frank and Jesse were again briefly scared out of their homes; they went briefly to Alabama (Yeatman, pp. 229-230). This was fateful, because Jesse became aware of the large crew working on the Muscle Shoals canal. In March, he took Bill Ryan and Wood Hite and robbed the man carrying the workers' pay (Yeatman, pp. 233-234). 

This is another vague period in the history of the James Boys; Jesse ended up in Kansas City using the name J. T. Jackson (Yeatman, p. 248), but witnesses disagree about where Frank was; he said he never went that far west and stayed clean in this period (Yeatman, p. 260), but others claim he was part of the gang that, on July 16, 1881, attacked a train near Gallatin. Jesse, Dick Liddil, and Clarence and Wood Hite were very likely present. Two men including the conductor were killed; the total haul was about $700 (Yeatman, p. 249).  

                

PERSONAL RESEARCH NOTES:  

- Frank James had one son with Ann Ralston, Robert F. James

Estella McGown is the daughter of Alfred M McGown and Martha A. Wood. She is the sister to Myrtle, Luther, Ellday, Alice, John, and Edith McGown. She is the wife of the outlaw Jesse James, Jesse Edwards James (1875 - 1951). They married on January 24, 1900 in Kansas City, Missouri.  They were the parents to four daughters: 


OTHER CLAIM:

John Isenbarger Jr., Mary's grandfather, was the second son of John Isenbarger Sr. and Catherine Shoemaker and was born Aug. 7, 1868, in Kosciusko County, Ind.    He married Cora Shanafelt on March 24, 1894, and had three sons - Paul, Bland (Mary's father) and Lawrence. He died Feb. 5, 1949, and is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in North Manchester, Indiana. Mary Isenbarger is the only child born to Bland and Dorothy (Wolfe) Isenbarger.    https://www.swoknews.com/styles/old-photo-of-outlaw-frank-james-surfaces/article_a88502e5-6491-51f5-a9ae-20cc7fa8ab0d.html

cited sources

"Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPT3-8PWG : 21 April 2021), Jesse R James and Serilda Cunningham, 21 Sep 1865; citing Marriage, Webster, Missouri, United States, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; FHL microfilm 007067152.