The Washington herald., 1908-05-10
JESSE JAMES CAREER
Desperate Began Life with
Quantreli's GuerrillaS.
FEARLESS, CRUEL, vINDICTIvE
0utraxes Upon His Family Incited
Him tn Deeds of SIaniaeaI Fury.
His Hand Against Law and Order
Until TreacherOus Companion
Slew Him-His Grim Epitaph.

Within a few days of the death of DIR.
Reuben ssmuels, of Missouri, has been
announced in a line To the majority OF
readers this item conveyed no signif-
canoe. Yet Dr. Samuels was a figure in
the guerrilla warfare that made Of Mis-
souri, and Kansas settings for the bloOdi-
est and bitterest strife ever waged by
! banded assassins.
Samuels was. says Henry Jones, writ
ing in the Philadelphia Ledger. however.
a passive figure. the accidental center of
affairs in which he took no part Con
| flict waged about him. it's fiery billows
surging up to the threshold of his home
! For he was the husband of the mother
Of Jesse James, a woman with the heart
Of a lioness. loving her own with an in
tensity as fierce as the hatred she felt
for her. enemies.
OF Curious Paradoxes.
The death Of DR.. samueis recalls the
mad career Of Jesse, as intrepid a free
booter as ever murdered and robbed: a
man who for years. moving in a commu-
! nifty where everybody knew there was a
! presence Of danger.
James was a man of curious paradoxes.
He was strong In friendship. terrible. un-
relenting in battle, whether under the
black flag OF Quantrell or warning On the
society that hal made him an outlaw.
To his mother he was always kind and
affeCtiOnate: to his wife a model hus-
band. His children found in him, so far
as their tender senses could appreciate,
eveEy desirable element of fatherhood
For long time he assumed the name
of Howard. There was no better citizen
than MIR. Howard no more thoughtful
neighbor
Shortly before he was killed there had
been "a municipal procession in ST. Joseph
marking a local event. At the head Of
the parade was a platoon of police I'm
medately behind the police rode Jesse
James on blooded horse. his little boy
Jesse, held before him. Such were the
chances the bandit took.
His Movements Mysterious.
II was not strange that Jesse James
came TO be regarded by some as a myth.
That he could do the things he did do and
escape. not once. but scores OF times,
seemed impossible
Jesse James was blamed for much OF hts
hsndiwork and for much that was the
handiwork Of others; but who would
connect him With the quiet citizen living
in cottage on the hill overlooking St.
Joseph?
None but his intlmates knew that this
tina els L.
slender white fingers we're the quickest
ever felt by trigger, and that his eye
was the trucst that ever sighted a
weapon. Neither did they surmise that
in an umbrella he carried there was a
rife.
James was peculiarly secretive. For
long periods his mother, although seeing
him frequently, was not permitted to
know where he lived. His gOings and
comings were mysteries,
There have been attempts 10 exRlt Jesse
James. That he was driven into the hard
Schooling of QuantrelI must be admitted.
His mother was a native Of Kentucky.
and when the mutterings Of civil war
were first heard her sympsthies were
with the South. So were those Of DIR.
samuels. In these sympathies It was but
natural that the boy should share.
QuantrelTs guerrilla organization had
operated before the declaration of war.
II was a sinister group, wholly without
mercy. hideous in It's methods. its men,
bers made up OF social renegades steeped
In crime and bent upon revenge
QuantreT's GuerriIIas.
Quantrell had a grievance against some
of the marauders Of the border. Others
had sworn TO kill all the Federals they
could in reprisal against outrages COM
mitted by sympathizers with the cause Of
the North.
As Quantrell gained prestige some sol
diers deserted the Confederate ranks TO
join him. impelled by a blood lust not TO
be satisfied on the battlefield
They craved the Joy Of murder. They
gave no quarter. No prisoner was spared
AS fighters they were demons. They
relied upon skill as horsemen and with
revolvers. When they went into action
It was with a flendish zest that could not
be withstood.
It was the practice Of every Quantren
follower 70 take the reIns in his teeth.
guide the horse by pressure Of the knees
alone. and. with a revolver In each hand.
plunge at full speed into the heart OF the
enemy.
There was no preliminary order. "Trot.
gallopr' but the trained horses sprang to
the utmost gait on the instant. The rush
was a terrifying spectacle, pitiless, aw-
ful; veritabie swath Of death.
Basis of James Hatred.
Bad as was Quantrell. as monstrous his
cruelty. and measureless his passion. there
were bodies opposing him that lacked
none Of his malignity Of purpose. but did
lack his leadership.
One day the representatives Of one Of
these bodies rode up to the Samuels home.
They found DR.. Samuels at work with
Jesse in a cornfeld. With oaths they de-
manded the whereabouts of Quantrell
Samuels could not tell them.
They hanged him TO a tree and kept
him suspended until nearly dead. Thrice
did the doctor have TO submit to this tor
ture, and was left senseless and bleeding.
Jesse had been obliged to look on. Then
with whips he was scourged up and down
the corn rows. prOdded with bayOnets. /
Little wonder that there acrOse within |
him tumult of hatred.
UnWittingly the visitors were training /
him for place with Quantrell. that grim |
ilulNiuodt WHO VIII MS o"h Hdllu ndu 1
slain thirty out of a band OF thiTty-twe 1
that had killed a brother.
Leaving Samuels to suffer. the inter- |
lopers next demanded Of Mrs. Samuels |
that she betray QuantreH.
II am like Marion's wife" she respond /
ed; what I know I will die knowing"
They did not kill her. A little later she !
was taken to jail in Liberty. and there. /
with her daughter. subjected to hardship /
and grossest insults.
She was a Southern sympathizer. and. |
far from denying the fact, gloried in it. |
In a community aflame with excitement
and prejudice. growing accustomed 70 |
every expression Of violence, this was
enough.
Slaughter of Troops.
It was enough. too. to drive Jesse from