The Many Faces of Jesse James

By Phillip W. Steele and George Warfel

"Not only does this new book record a factual story of my great-grandfather Jesse James in print, but also helps the reader get to know Jesse's true personality and appearance. A great contribution toward separating facts from folklore and provides a guide for any future photo identification work." --James R. Ross, Superior Court Judge of the State of California, great-grandson of Jesse James

A name well known to most Americans, Jesse James was a veteran of the Civil War, a bankrobber, and a very romanticized popular hero. Although James has been the subject of countless biographies and historical novels, as well as the theatre and cinema, new light can still be shed on his life.

In The Many Faces of Jesse James, author, the late Phillip W. Steele, with George Warfel, presented a fascinating study of James' life using his many portraits as a frame of reference. Steele took each documented photograph of James and examined it closely, showing how the dress, demeanor, and physical well-being of James relate to what scholars believe him to have been doing at the time.

Since the possibility of more actual portraits and photographs of James exists, Steele explained the process George Warfel has devised to accurately identify Jesse James, even including a group of "false photos" of James to illustrate his point.

Fans of James-Younger gang lore will appreciate this fresh, yet practical approach to understanding this enigmatic historical figure. Readers for whom Jesse James is only a name will no doubt become more knowledgeable about the complex circumstances that led the outlaw to lead the life he did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 30, 1995
• ISBN: 9781455608331

Book preview

Preface

Those who share your authors' sincere interest in exploring the true story of Jesse James will hopefully find this text helpful in separating the facts of his life from the volumes of fiction created about him by early newspaper and dime novel writers. The real and only Jesse Woodson James, robber of banks, trains, and stagecoaches without ever being arrested, died more than 112 years ago, yet his story remains fresh and new to millions around the world. One might assume that after all of this time and his story having been told in thousands of articles and books, little else is left to write about. Yet, new facts, photographs, and details about the life and times of Jesse James are still emerging and will most likely continue to do so.

The simple fact that the name Jesse James is perhaps the most recognized of any individual in American history is in itself phenomenal. Numerous reasons for his popularity as an American folk hero exist, but the main reason seems to be that he stood for a cause and resisted the tyranny and injustices that were brought to bear against those who had supported the South during the Civil War. Not only had their life-style and homes been destroyed, those who had ridden with the Quantrill guerilla forces during the war were stripped of all their rights as American citizens. No longer could such men ever vote in elections, borrow money from banking institutions, hold public office, or even serve in leadership positions within their churches. A victim of the social environment in which he lived, Jesse James fought back and, in doing so, became a national celebrity. Had Jesse James never existed, Americans would have created him out of a desperate need for a rebellious hero, a champion who would resist the injustices of a corrupt government. It is a tendency for most people to support the innocent underdog when they regard him as a victim of tyranny. Medieval society demanded a Robin Hood, and at that point in our nation's history, we required a Jesse James.

Certainly his name is a romantic one. Certainly a nation's folk hero would have been created had Jesse James not lived. But one wonders if so much literature would have been inspired and new works such as this would continue to be published had his name been Bob Jones or Bill Smith. James R. Ross, Superior Court Judge of Orange County, California, and the great-grandson of Jesse James, once commented, Considering the destruction of a way of life the Civil War caused the James family and the flagrant discrimination federal authority placed on ex-guerilla members, I might have been the same as Jesse.

Furthermore, it seems that those personalities most often written about in western literature are those who were shot in the back. America despises a coward. The fact Jesse James was shot in the back of the head for a meager $10,000 reward by a friend who was afraid to face him further created international sentiment for Jesse James. Belle Starr, John Wesley Hardin, Wild Bill Hickock, Billy the Kid, and other noted personalities have enjoyed literary appeal as a result of their being shot from behind. Jesse James by far excels all others in American history in popularity. We are, therefore, hereby presenting still another volume dealing with this man.

As a result of the international popularity enjoyed by Jesse James, thousands of family researchers continue to go to great lengths to prove a relationship to Jesse's family. Also, it appears that the first and second generations of Jesse James' descendants were somewhat reserved in admitting their relationship, while the third expresses pride in their ancestor and openly contributes family information important to the story.

Just as family researchers seek to find a genealogy connection, hundreds also seek to prove old family album photograph images are those of Jesse James. Confusing history just as much as the hundreds of fiction novels have done are the dozens of photos that have appeared over the years that are purported to be Jesse James when, in fact, they are not.

Being a wanted man with large rewards offered for your capture dead or alive would normally suppress any desire to be photographed. Such was not, however, the case with Jesse James. As this text will show, Jesse was apparently quite proud of his appearance and, after the Civil War, had photos made almost annually. Care was used to make sure copies of such photos were only given to family members who kept them carefully hidden from any lawman or newspaper reporter.

We first met at the 1981 James family reunion. Thereafter, we have served together on the board of directors of Friends of the James Farm and currently serve together on the James-Younger Gang board of directors, of which Phillip currently serves as president. We have shared our James family research and have worked closely together for more than fifteen years.

We were also close friends of Dr. William A. Settle of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who spent a lifetime researching the JamesYounger story. Settle's book Jesse James Was His Name, published by the University of Nebraska Press, is recognized as the most accurate and complete story of the James brothers and the era represented by them in American history. We have also known and shared research with Marley Brant for many years. Her book The Outlaw Youngers: A Confederate Brotherhood, by Madison Books, is recognized as the best and most accurate account of the Younger brothers. We are greatly indebted for research provided by these two authors in the preparation of this material.

It is not our intent to discredit any individual or publication that disagrees with the determinations and opinions regarding accurate and nonaccurate photographs being presented here. After several years of in-depth study and application as well as the techniques used to determine photograph accuracy as explained in the following chapters, it is our intent to preserve such photographic history here. Based on