The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-04-06
COLE YOUNGER is DEAD.
Former Member of James Gang was
~ Years Old, and Died at
Lees Summit, Missouri.

.a tSOic 1OuuScI, one tIlIuc lduOuS Udl
dit and MEMBER of the Jesse Jame
gang, died at S:45 o'clock tonight a
the home Of his neice, Miss Nor;
Hail. He had resided here since hi!
return from Minnesota, after serving
term of twenty-five years in prison
for the participation in the. NOrthfielt
State Bank attempted robbery.
Younger was 70 years old, having
been born on his fathers farm, sever
miles south of here on January 5
1874. In the family were fourteen
children, of which only three are nov
alive: Mrs. Sallie Duncan, Kansa:
City, Kas.; Mrs. Martha Ann Jones
DenisOn, Tex, and Mrs. Helen Kelly
Amoret, Mo. None of these were
present during his sickness and are
not likely to attend the funeral, it is
said, because of their age and failing
health.
At the bedside when he died were
Miss Nora Hall, Mrs. Minnie FentOn
and Harry Y. Hall of Kansas City
and II. T. Hall and F. H. Hall of this
city.
Younger had been confined to his
home for year, suffering from drop
sy and heart disease, but his condi-
ton was not thought dangerous un-
til few days ago, when he suddenly
became weaker. Since then it had
been necessary to administer stimu-
lants and opiates. Only at intervals
was he conscious. Recently Jesse
James jr., son of the ex-bandit, visit
ed him, but Younger did not recog-
niZe him.
Virtually everyone in this commun-
ity was the former bandits friend.
Many children knew him as uncle
Cole" and he was never too busy or
too sick to greet them pleasantly.
Younger was a member of the
Christian church here, having been
converted during q revival meeting
held in the summer of 1913. He was
a regular attendant up to the time
he was confined to his home.
Funeral arrangements have not
been perfected, but the services prob
ably will be at the home and burial
by the side of his mother and two
brothers in the Lees Summit ceme-
terry.
Cole Younger was one of the last
of the members Of thu notorious rob-
Der bands that infested western Mis-
souri, during and after the Civil war.
He was a member of the Quantrell
band Of guerillas, and with his two
brothers took part with the James
Boys in bank and train robberies in
Missouri and neighboring states that
netted the looters more than a hun
.dred thousand dollars The Leading
members Of these bands are dead
some at the hands of the law, some
by suicide and others from natural
causes. Younger, after long term
in the penitentiary, became law
abiding Missouri citizen.
Cole ives the oldest of the three
Younger Boys.
The father, Col. Henry w. Young
er, came to Missouri from Kentucky
before the war He was strong
Union man, though Shareholder.
He settled near Lees Summit, twenty
miles from Kansas City, where Cole
was born in 1914. Colonel Younger
was murdered by one of the bands Of
lawless guerillas that infested the
Missouri-Kansas border in war times.
The sons said their father was slain
by Kansans for the purpose of rob-
berry. They Immediately took up
arms against the north. They joined
Quantrelps ruerillas and had their
part in the memorable sacking of
Lawrence, Kas.
When the war was over they and
the Jameses became outlaws. Among
the notorious robberies of the decade
following the war that were laid at
their door were:
The raid on the Liberty, Mo-, bank
in 1866. One bank defender was
shot dead and $4,000 stolen.
The looting of Russellville, KY,
bank in 1868 for $4,000.
The Gallatin, Mo-, bank robbery Of
1868, in which the cashier was shot
and killed.
Raids of Lexington and Savannah,
Mo-, banks in 1867.
$4,000 stolen from the Kansas
City Fair Association in 1871, while
1000 persons looked on.
The Corydon, Iowa, bank robbed of
$4,000 the same year.
A dozen other sensational robber-
les for which the Younger and James
boys were blamed We're carried out
successfully before the three Young
er brothers were captured in Mime
sofa, in 1876, in the course of which
cashier Haywood was killed. The
l. .
battles with a posse but were finally
taken alive after the battle at Shields
vile, Mimi
Cole and his brothers pleaded gull
ty and were sentenced to prison for
life. They entered the penitentiary
at Saltwater, Mimi, and became mod
ell prisoners Bob died in the peni-
tertiary in 1889. Cole and James
Younger were paroled in 1901. The
next year James shot himself, leav-
ing note ascribing his action to a
refusal of the parole board to permit
him to marry the girl he loved.
After Cole was paroled he was
forced by the Minnesota law to live
in that state for three years Then
he returned to Missouri and settled
down in vine-covered cottage which
he bought for neice in Lees Sum-
nit. the scene of his boyhood days.
For a time he was connected with
show and later went on the lecture
platform. He became good citizen.
In August, 1913, Younger was con-
verified to religion at revival meet
ing and became an active church |
xWOrkar e 4