The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-10-12

-Tenuers TO the Authorities and Asks Tor
Amnesty-He Wants Fair Trial and a
Chance to Reform.
va JEFFKRsox CRY, Oct. 5. 1852.
After living for some fodr years the life Of
peaceable, and to all appearances a res
pectabIei and law abiding citizen, Frank
James yielded to the persuasion of relatives
and friends, and in the hope that after all he
might not be convicted. or might be par
doned, and a deep seated feeling that unless
he did surrender his fate would be similar to
that of Jesse. wrote the following letter to
Gov. Crittendcn:
An APPEAL FOR AMNESTY.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, October 4, 1882.
Hon. y. n. Crittenden, Governor:
Your iExcellency, time has demonstrated
that however carefully may follow the path
of good citizenship, and however successful
may be in gaining the confidence and respect
OF those Who associate with me daily and
fanny the name " hich my children are to
many man years ss so % he reater a M ts he crime @hie3
startles the people of our Western states, the
70 my act on lnstlgatont however strange lt
may seem that man of the reputation bear
should assume to possess either pride or
sensibttty, have the hardihood TO lay claim
to some degree of both. For years the one
desire of my heart is and has been to regain
the citizenship which, lost IN the dark. days
when, in Western Missouri every mans hand
was against his neighbOr'sD and TO have an
opportunity to prove. by my submission to
the most II Sorous test, that am not unwOr-
thy of it. 1t would avail me nothing at this
dav to revert to the circumstances attending
my outlawry, which and thousands of 9TH
/ ers regarded as extenuating. Those who were
where they could observe the events in that
little page of history need no re-
capitulation of them from me, and
those who had no personal knowledge
against me by reports of my evil doings that
they would naturally give no consideration
large reason, ana reason logically that
where there is so much smoke there must be
some fire; that although some of the charges
made against me may be unjust, all are not
without foundation, and that an evasion of
the officers OF the law Is not the course of an
innocent man bow TO this logic and reply
that the man who is making this appeal does
not do so from the standpoint of a martyr.
ne comes 10 you, their representative, to say
that though his suffering has been a hundred
times greater than they have a knowledge of,
IncaSuraDly greater than the courts which
he evaded would have attached to his acts, he
recognizes that he has right to complain
Of4his lot. He comes as a man who, conscious
do what an earnest, law abiding citizen may
to remove from Missouri the odfum for which
his name is in part responsible. He comes as
innocent ones who cali him husband and
father, a love as strong, devoted and deep
Is found in men whose lives are DlamelesS
before the world. and as one who is anxious
to remove from their closet the skele-
ton which has so long been its hideOus occu-
pant. If it were not Tor the fear of response
for that which did, Governor Crittenden, you
should never have had to put q price upon
nant public is not discriminatiYe and when
man is stripped of the safeguard of presump-
tive innocence, with which the law virtually
surrounds him, as would be, he is put to the
dangerous necessity of proving q negative.
That fear Is still with me, and, as l write, it
prompts me to abandon my present purpose,
and having for nearly twenty years proved
my ability 10 eyade all attempts to capture me,
TO Ia ke my little family and 20 to some remote
section where l can live quiet life, free from
apprehension. THAT refuse to obey such an
impulse; that prefer to go back to my boy
disgrace /
to live it down; that am willing to place
my self under surveillance to which no man in
Missouri has ever yet been subjected, as must
naturally be the case should l return; that
choose this rough course when smoother. ones
that am not as bad as have
been pointed out, and that the ele-
liberated from my nature. Right terribly,
Governor Crfttenden, have the ofenses
against the james family been revenged.
God knows enough blood has been spilled,
enough hearts broken, enough lives blighted.
God knows that if it is the purpose OF the law
to prevent crime by making its punishment
~ aWItl 20 contemplate, that purpose mas been
served IN a large degree IN tlo-e ten years OF
terror and tragedy. Is its demand for ven
gcance insatiableF Is Justice tempered with
mercy mere pOeucal nOthlngE Must the
great State of Missouri indulge a spirit of re-
venge until it has secured the last ounce of
nesh! Or, laying all considerations of mercy
aside, can not your State-I would to God 1
could say my State-better afford, now that it
has V1ndIcated its laws as no State ever did
before, to say to it's suppIicants. Yes, come
In. We will convert your very nOtOriety into
q powerful instrument of gOOQ and order. we
VIII, purely as an unsentimental investment,
restore you to citizenship and give YOU an
opp0rtunIty to prove your eontrition and
you to use your experience and knowl-
edge OF wrong doing in the enforce
ment of the laws which you have in the past
been charged with violating, and when by
J ears of correct department. and honest in
those who now condemn you, we will point to
it all as proof of our wisdom" If / we're
certain that l would not be made a scrape-
goat would never have troubled you with
this petition, but would have long ago faced
your courts and met your charges, but once
in the tolls l would have had to accept all the
chances, and while none would have been in
terested in proving my innocence of what
ever might be alleged, many might ind 1t to
their advantage to assist in cOnvictng me.
Put yourself IN my place for one moment,
ana bhen ludge 0f my course IN Keeping out
of the laws clutches There is one considera-
ton other than already mentioned which has
weighed heavily in favor of my taking my
present step. For five months / have been
in constant dread that some rash friend of
mine or Jesse's, or some silly person seeking
notoriery, might carry out the threats of as
sassination which have been, according to
published reports, poured in upon you. Sup
had occurred, is there a man living who
would not have held me responsible for it?
And yet not only were the threats not mine,
as you will discover by comparing them with
my writing but the tlioupht of revcnge was
never one moment entertained by me. / have
now stated my case, and have, l trust, avoid
ed any savor OF mawkishness. 1 ask If you can
hope for amnesty under the condition / have
specified. 1t may strike on that modesty is
request, but it should be remembered that it
comes from man who is still at large and
the uncertainty of whose Whereabouts IS al
though 1t need not be, the cause of deal of
apprehension. do not appeal as man who,
having followed the wrong course until bis
head is whitening and he is tottering on the
verge of the grave, IS taught repentance
by his incapacity for further Ini,qnity. but
as one VINO IS vet young ana vigorous,
and has reasonable ground TO be-
lieve that there are more years yet left him
for active service within the pale OF society
than those which he has spent outside of It.
] submit that this is not an improper ques-
tion for your consideration, whether ii would
not be better to have Frank James a. ahunter Of
fugitives than a fugitive2 whether Frank
james, humbled. r'epentant and reformed De-
fore the world, will not be example more
fraught with good to the rising generation
than Frank James mysterious 'wanderer-o or
appeal though anOnymOusand possibly with
out "a complete precedent is not tBes result
of sudden whim, but IS born of a de-
termination which has been forming for wears
and which has already stood tire test of four
years of sober. industrious farm life, as / will
have no difficulty in satisfying YOU l am
prouder of the nerve which has enabled me
to take this step in behalf of my better nature
than any courageous act of ali my past life. /
write tais letter from st Louis. and leave it
care of my wife at independence, Mo-. will
reach me, and I need not say how fervent1y 4
pray that it viii not be the answer OF a
3ouIs, contr1tely and hopefully,
FRANK JAMES.
After writing the above letter Frank James
went tosJaelson County and remained in or
near Independence until the receipt of the
1ollowinEs
GOVERNOR cRITTENDEN's REPLY.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
JEFFERSON CITY. Mo, Oct. 5, 1852.
Frank james.
sIR-1our letter, dated ST. Louis, october ],
lss2; mas been received, in which you apply 70
me Tor an amnesty or a pardon. Under the
Constitution OF this state can not grant
pardon, even If inclined 70, before conviction
of some crime Whether you can be
victed of any violation OF The law II is not