Sometime had passed, and a strange man came to town and delivered a letter to Mary Turner. This letter was from Jim Brown. It stated he wasn't coming back and James Brown was not his real name....legend tells he may be Jesse James. The stranger did not give Mary Turner his name nor did he tell her the real identity of Jim Brown. But was he Jesse James, or another outlaw...Jim Burrows?
Some family tales passed down contribute more to the mystery of Jim Brown. . One story has it that Jim Brown had a foot locker or trunk and that it was filled with suits and personal effects, and underneath of those items was a good supply of silver dollars. Another story is that Jim Brown did not want to be in any family portraits. It was customary at that time to have a wedding portrait done; however, the realistic issue is that portrait studios were rare and most likey expensive. There is another story that Jim Brown would only farm at night with laterns for light. But in Arkansas, the summers can be very hot. Also it is a possibility that Jim Brown handled some of the Turner family affairs, such as the executor of an estate. Another story is that he carried around a fiddle. That seemed to have stayed in the Brown genes, as some members in our family carry a talent.
Now there enters another minor outlaw, Jim Burrow, who resembles our family, he was in Arkansas / Missouri in the early 1880's, and he died in an Arkansas prison in the late 1880's. Jim Burrows is the brother of the more outlandish outlaw Rube Burrows. Now, all these tales are a legend; in that , if Jesse James did not get ambushed as history has it, it is a possibility. We do not have any history of Jim Burrows ever being married or having a gal...but outlaws hid in areas. History does possibly link Jim Burrow and Jesse Jamse to the same hideouts, but that is about all. There were members of the James family in the area that the Turners' lived in. So...we are investigating this "urban legend".....more information will be added as we can document it.
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