Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri

Blood on the Border

Blood on the Border The parents of Jesse and Frank James came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1842. The father, Robert James, was a well~ educated, soft~spoken Baptist minister. The mother, Zerelda, was a tall, strong woman who was not afraid to speak her mind. Robert and Zerelda James owned a few slaves and bought a small farm near Kearney (then called Centerville) in Clay County. Clay County is a Missouri county' that touches the Kansas border. Robert and Zerelda raised sheep and cattle. Frank, their first child, was born in 1843. Jesse, their second child, was born in 1847. Susan, their third child, was born in 1849. Robert James went to California in 1850, along with many other Missourians, to seek his fortune in the Gold Rush. But soon after he got to California, he got sick and died. Zerelda then married a man named Benjamin Simms, but they sepa~ rated a few months later. Shortly after that he died, and in 1855 Zerelda married a doctor named Reuben Samuel. She stayed with him for the rest of her life. The children liked Dr. Samuel, and he raised them as if they were his own. In 1856, when the Border War between Kansas and Mis~ souri began, Frank was thirteen and Jesse was nine. They grew up hearing their neighbors talking angrily about being raided by gangs of anti~slavery "Jayhawkers" and "Redlegs" from Kan~ sas. These gangs of men would ride up to a pro~slavery farm, 11 12 Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri beat and sometimes kill the owner, steal his livestock, take any slaves he had, and often burn his house and barns. The name layhawker came from a kind of bird that killed another bird by "playing" with it as a cat plays with a mouse until it is dead. The most dangerous Jayhawker band was led by Jim Lane. He was also a u.s. senator and a powerful politician in Kansas. The other name commonly used for the gangs from Kansas was Redlegs. This name came from the fact that some gang members, especially those who rode with a man named Jim Montgomery, wore red leggings over the tops of their boots. But the most hated of all the anti,slavery gang leaders was a wild,eyed, Bible,quoting Abolitionist named John Brown. Stories were told about John Brown and his sons hacking pro' slavery farmers to death with swords. Frank and Jesse James, along with other children of pro, slavery families, played a game called Old John Brown. Some, one would take the part of John Brown and someone else would be his victim. The other children would come to the rescue of the victim, and together they would drive John Brown back into Kansas, swearing to get revenge on him some day. • Some Missourians actually did form gangs to get revenge for the raids by the Jayhawkers and Redlegs. People in Kansas called these Missouri pro,slavery gangs "Border Ruffians." A ruffian is a rough and tough person. The anti,slavery people in Kansas used this word to give the pro,slavery people a bad name. One of these Border Ruffians was a strange young blue' eyed man named William Clarke Quantrill. Quantrill came to Kansas from Ohio in 1857 as a school, teacher. At first he was on the side of the anti,slavery people in Kansas, but something caused him to change his mind. He told people later that he changed his mind after a group of anti,slavery men killed his brother and almost killed him. This story was not true, but at the time everyone believed it. Quantrill changed sides in December 1860. He was with Blood on the Border 13 Abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859) moved from Ohio to Kansas in 1855. He believed he had been sent by God to destroy pro-slavery settlers. (State Historical Society of Missouri) 14 Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri William Clarke Quantrill (1837-1865) became a "bushwacker" and guerrilla. (State Historical Society of Missouri) some anti-slavery men from Kansas who were planning a raid on a pro-slavery farm owned by Morgan Walker near Blue Springs, Missouri. Before the raid began, Quantrill went to the Walkers' farm and told them what was about to happen. He agreed to lead the anti-slavery men into a trap set by the...