Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1882-04-15
THE sILLrsG OF JEssE JAMES.
A Talk with City Marshal Craig, Of
II. Joseph. Mo.

btpu, Mo-, WnO Is III NOW IOIk Clty
looking after the bond robbers Of that
city, has told o New York Tribune re-
porter what he knows of the killing Of
Jesse James.
"When o tall man, with a long thin
beard, rented the house on the hill on
November s." said the marshal, "no-
body paid much attention to It. He
kept himself indoors all the time. IT
was within two blocks of where lived,
and used to zee his wife and little
children nearly every day moving about
the yard, but don't remember ever
seeing James at all When some peO-
pie came running past my house the
day he was killed, April 3, crying
Jesse James Is shot, Ilaughea at them.
BY aud by went up on the hill to see
what was the matter. l foupd about
one hundred persons around the house,
talking excitedly about jesse James.
l went inside, and in the largest room
found the outlaw, lying on the floor ami
his wife holding his head in her lap,
while the carpet and her dress were
saturated with blood. Mrs. james
wa, wild-frantic. She was abusing
the traitors and swearing vengeance
against them calling on her husband to
speak to her and moaning all at the
same time.
There was sea. p wound.. over James
eye where his head had struck the
floor, and hoe over and back Of his
right ear where the bullet had entered
1t did not quite come through his
skull. He heard the click of a pistol,
and, knowing what 1t meant, started
to turn his head, when the ball struck
him. | took Mrs. James to one side
and asked her what her name was. She
said at first that it was Howard. Then
| told her not to deceive me; chat
knew all. She flushed a look on me
and said: "You d.n't know anything y
said: Madame, your name il lanes,
and that man lying there IS Jesse
James, your husband After this she
gave in and said IL is no use deny
ing it.; it is true, and we are all living
under an assumed name
I'll then made her go a,d bring me
pistol that woman toll, me she had
seen her take from under pillow and
hide in "a trunk. She went and brought
it, to me. She began again to lament
for her husband and upbraid the
traitors who had killed him after eat.
| ing his bread. tried to quiet the
woman and keep back the crowd when
somebody told me the two Ford boys
wanted to see me down at my office.
When the shooting was done they
ran down the h.ll at full speed, leaped
the fence and kept straight on to the
Hannibal and St. Joe freight Eoase,
where they sent a telegram to the Gov
ernor, saying thoy had their man,
Then they went to my office to give
themselves up, and when arrived
they still had their weapons on and
Bob's was smoking at the muzzle.
put them under arrest at once and had
them sent to the City Jail, where they
are at present confined, and where they
will probably remain until they have
been convicted and p2rdoned. I then
returned to the house aud gave direc.
tions concerning the body and took
charge also of the widow and children.
She has been . handsome woman in
her day and the little boy and girl are
as smart and bright as they can be.
Charles Edward is the little fellows
name. His mother used to send hiul
10 the Presbyterian Sunday School
every Sunday.
| "Ihe house Is one story frame
building, containing seven rooms. II
is commonly furnished, but it WAS nCl
Hong before the relic hunters were at
work upon it, and since the death Of
jesse everything within the house has
been seized upon and carried OFT, They
tore up the carpets into strips, cut out
d round piece where the head lay,
clipped off the twigs Of the trees in the
yard and were tearing up the weather
boarding when the widow, who owns
the property, sent word to me to pro
tect it. have here in my pocket q
relic-a oall from ono of james car
fridge belts.
The Marshal handed to the reporter a
two ounce ball used by six-shooter Of
forty five calibre.
"What is he feeling In regard to the
killing ?" was asked.
at is my opinion that jesse James
had more friends than he had enemies,
and if the Governor pardons the Ford
boys (Which there Is no doubt but he
will do) they had better leave that
country if they don't want to bite the
dust. We left ST. Joe on Sunday on
Saturday | talked with three men who
told me they had seen and talked with
Frank James, jesse's oldest brother, in
the streets OF st. Joe that day, that he
left town in the evening. think there
will be plenty more bloodshel in this
business. The Ford's say they don t
fe r anything, however. Bob, who did
the shooting, is Il tall slim, light com.
plexioned, beardless boy OF 2l years.
Don't you think they could have
managed jesse James when they caught
him unarmed without killing him?'
"They were afraid of his wife. She
would have shot them, and rescued hip
right on the spot or died in the attempt
and they feared her. You see there
were lying around the house double
barrelled shot gun, two pairs of pistols
and aWinche-ter rife.
Il Il also gathered.up in the buildings,
and have In my possession now, three
belts filled with pistol cartridges, a belt
OF rife cartridges with eight buckshot
in each one. The two Fords tell some
interesting things concerning their life
with the bandit. 1t was last fall that
the bargain was made between Govern
or Critenden, Police Commissioners
Craig. of Kansas City, and Sheriff Tim.
berlake, of Clay county, to compass the
death of James by means of the Fords.
Charlie FUr0, who knew James well. (.
they being raised within few miles Of
each other iu Ray county, Missouri,
aud having been with him on some Of
his raids, joined James on November 3
at Kansas City. They came together TO
Sc. Joseph a few days afterward. All
through the winter Charley watched
for chance TO kill him, and none cane.
They planned robberies together,
and j. sse was sort of tutor to the
boy; he took pride in him. They had
made several excursions together, and
young Ford's nerve pleased the robber.
They intended making a raid on the
Sc. Joe banks soon. About a week