The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-02-25
LAST SURVIVOR OF JAMES BOYS
DIES
Frank, Hunted for II Years by Offic-
ers, Had Got Right" With
Society. S-

Society.
Kearney, MO, Feb. 1s.-Frank
James, 72 years old, died at 3:4O
o'clock this afternoon at his farm
home near here He suffered stroke
of apoplexy earlier in the day and
never regained consciousness. His
wife, and son, Robert, were at the
4 bedside.
James had been failing in health
since last fall.
Frank James, the elder of the
James Boys" once the most spec
tacular of all American bandits, APP
pealed to the imagination of the pub
lie as forcefully by the effects at up
right good citizenship of his later life
as by the lurid exploits OF his youth.
Look here, old man, this business
lof being crooked isn't paying. You've
got to get right" James said to him
self, he told friends in Kansas City
some years ago, when he decided to
depart from the career that had
made him one of Missouri's most
widely knOWn-althOugh not most
spected-citizens.
| Reform After Brother Died.
The hero of countless dime novels,
as leader of a gang that murdered
and pillaged through Missouri and
set the law by the ears, Mr.. James
was the son of preacher, and had
united with the Baptist church.
From the day in October, 1882,
closely following the death Of his
brother, Jesse, that Frank James
walked into the office of Governor
Crittenden in Jefferson City, and sur
rendered himself, he was one of the
most peaceful of law-abiding citi-
IZenS.
For seventeen years previous he
had been hunted continuously by Of
fcers of the law, while trains and
banks continued to lose their treas
ure Never before or since did an
outlaw get right" more dramatical-
ly when he discovered this crooked
business isn't paying
incidentally, whether the bandit
career paid or not, what became of
the fortune estimated at nearly
100000 that the James gang took
from trains and banks in Missouri
will always remain a mystery.
Ended Career Poor Man.
Frank James quit his career a
poor man. Confirmation of this
statement seemingly is found in the
fact that since he reformed he has
worked for a livelihood and has lived
within his means.
At the time the James boys were
making their. biggest hauls neither
ever bought an acre of land or other
wise made costly investments. Meth |
er spent much on drink and no wom-
an is known to have taken their
spols. Their mother, Mrs. Zerelda
James Samues, who died in 1911,
showed no especial evidence of pros
perity, even after her sons had made
one raid that brought in $4,000.
Speculation as to the probable
whereabouts of the James money
kept hidden treasure fiends busy
near the old Samuels homestead near
Kearney, Mo-, for years.
Long List of Crimes.
Among the notorious crimes of the
decade following the war which have
been laid at the door of the James,
Younger gang, of which Frank James
was said to be the brains, were:
The raid on the Commercial bank
at Liberty, Mo-, 1866; bank de-
fender killed and $4,000 stolen
Looting of the Russellville, KY,
bank, 1858; $1,000 stolen.
Bank robbery at Gallatin, Mo-,
1853 The cashier, Captain John w.
Sheets, murdered.
Robbery OF bank at Columbia,
KY, 1872. R. A. C. Martin, the
murdered.
Raid on a bank at Corydon, Iowa,
1878; $4,000 stolen
Wrecking and robbing of Chi
cago, Rock Island & Pacific train
near Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1878. En-
gineer slain, fireman wounded, sever
al passengers injured.
Box office in the fair grounds in
Kansas City robbed in daylight, 1873
and $4,000 stolen.
1t also was charged that in 1865
Frank James was suspected OF steal
ing horses. was surrounded at Bran
denburg, o., where he shot two OF
the posses and escaped.
Detectives surrounded the James
home near Kearney,. Mo-, on Jan.
rs, 1875, and threw lighted bomb
into the house, thinking to kill the
James brothers. 1t exploded, tear
ing an arm from their mother and
Killing their brother, Archie.
Never was Convicted.
Although the James boys partici-
)ated in hundreds of robberies, it is
low generally believed that there
we're also hundreds of robberies
charged up to them of which they
we're innocent. In 1882, after Jesse
James had been shot and killed in
lis home in St. Joe, Mo-, by Bob
Ford, also a bandit, for a reward OF
$4,000 offered by Governor Critten- 2
len, Frank James surrendered in
Jefferson City.
Contrary to the belief of many i
people, Frank James was never con- G
1icted of train robbery, or any crimes i
Herewith, and while he
spent some time in Jail awaiting trial
lie never saw the inside of peni- a
entiary as a felon. He was acquit- \
ed at Gallatin, Mo-, where, after his v
he was charged with the {
murder ORA stonemason named Nc
MILAN during the Winston, Mo-,
rain robbery.
Judge William H. Wallace, of Kan c