AMERICAN HEROES

JESSE JAMES WOODSON (1847-1882):

Civil War guerrilla and post-war robber who has frequently been cast as an American Robin Hood. Jesse was raised amidst the border conflict between Union and Confederate Forces. In 1864, Jesse James followed his older brother Frank into the ranks of 'Bloody Bill' , Anderson's Irregular Cavalry. The James brothers became linked with bank robberies as early as 1866. They even carried a price on their heads after the 1869 plunder of a Missouri bank. Over the next dozen years, the James brothers were implicated in bank and train robberies not only in Missouri but throughout the Midwest. In 1882, living under the name of Mr. Howard in Saint Joseph, Missouri, Jesse James was fatally shot in the back of the head by a cousin, Robert Ford. Several ballads soon circulated, the most popular of which recounted notable robberies, lauded Jesse's courage, pitied his family and condemned Robert Ford as the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard.

Jesse James And The Poor Widow:

The James brothers and their pals were traveling on horseback somewhere in northern Missouri. It was noon, they were hungry. They pulled off the main road and found a lone woman in charge of a small farmhouse. They asked her if she could supply them with something to eat. At first, the woman hesitated. The men displayed money and assured her they would be glad to pay for what they ate. She then proceeded to prepare such scant food as she had on hand. As she was making preparations, the James crowd sat around the room. They noticed that she was weeping. Jesse was so tender-hearted that he couldn't stand a woman's tears. He asked her why she was crying. She tried to smile it off, and said that seeing the men around the house reminded her of the happy time when her husband was living; she was just thinking how sadly things had changed since her husband's death, and that was what made her cry. Jesse kept on asking questions. The woman said she had seven children at school, some miles down the road; there was a mortgage on her farm for 1,400 dollars; it was overdue, and this was the last day of grace. The weeping widow added that very afternoon, the man who held the mortgage was coming out from town to demand his money. She said he was a hardhearted miser and she didn't have a dollar to apply on the debt. The man would be sure to foreclose and turn her helpless little ones out. Jesse said the woman that she would not lose her farm. The widow looked rather puzzled. After having finished eating, Jesse produced a sack and counted out 1,400 dollars. Jesse said her to take the money and pay off her mortgage. The lady was amazed. She said she could not ever pay Jesse back and so she would not borrow it. Jesse said it was not a loan; just a gift. The widow said she could not believe it was anything but a dream, Jesse assured her  it was no dream; the money was good and for her use. Jesse then sat down and wrote out a form of receipt, which he had the woman copy in her own hand-writing. Jesse instructed the woman to pay the mortgage-holder the money and have him sign the receipt- in ink. He then handed her a handful of cash for her immediate needs. Jesse asked the grateful the widow to describe the man who held the mortgage. She did so, telling the kind of rig he drove and about what hour she expected him, and the road by which he would come out from town. The James crowd bade her good day and her mounted their horses. The widow was still weeping, but weeping for joy. They road some distance from the house and hid in the bushes beside the road along which the mortgage man was to come in his buggy. When he was driving back from the widow's house, they stepped out into the road, held him up and recovered the whole money.