Alexander Franklin James, Outlaw and Shoe Salesman

I suppose everyone reading this has heard of the outlaw Frank James, older brother of Jesse, he of Quantrill's Raiders fame. Many hurt and confused young men came out of bloody, bitterly divided pro-slavery Missouri. Frank was18 years old when the Civil War began and 22 when it ended.

And what an end it was, for those states of the Confederacy. The James brothers were thrust, with their friends, into Reconstruction. Frank had been captured by Union soldiers shortly after he joined the Confederate forces. After his stint in a federal prison, he joined guerrilla lead by William Quantrill. His best friend was Cole Younger, whom he met as part of the guerrilla operation.

After the close of the Civil War, the James brothers, along with the Younger brothers, vowed revenge on the North by robbing railroads and banks. Frank married Annie Ralston on 6 Jun 1874, and they had one son, Robert Franklin, who married May Sullivan. Frank was probably the gang member who killed cashier Joseph Heywood in the Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery in September of 1876, and Frank and Jesse were the only gang members who made it back to Missouri. The Youngers were caught, and Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts, and Bill Chadwell were all killed in Minnesota.

Frank and Jesse formed another gang and rode together until Jesse was killed by the Ford brothers 3 Apr 1882. After Jesse's death, Frank surrendered to Gov. Thomas T. Crittenden on 4 Oct 1882. Although he was indicted on several counts of robbery, all charges were either dropped or his was acquitted at the time of his trials.

Frank was described as being about 6 feet tall with a thin, large nose, a light complexion and light colored whiskers. He was thinly elegant, his stance an erect posture, and he is said to have walked with an easy gait. His eyebrows were deep and heavy; his mouth large with scars on both sides. He often quoted Shakespeare and the Bible.

After Cole Younger was released from jail, he and Frank traveled for a while in a Wild West Show.

Frank James died at the age of 72 in 18 Feb1915. He is buried in the Hill Park Cemetery in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri.

Frank and Jesse came to Texas many times. Sweetwater Creek in Wise County was once the site of Jesse and Frank's camp. The James's and Sam Bass hid from the law in Allison, Texas, in Wise County. Scyene, Texas, in east central Dallas County was the haunt of bloody Kansas ruffians such as Myra Shirley (Belle) Starr, Cole and Bob Younger, and Jessie and Frank James. Presidio County's first courthouse in Frio Town was completed in January of 1872. The same year a stone jail was constructed and in time it housed such famous personages as Sam Bass, Jesse and Frank James, and William Sydney Porter.

I had always believed that Frank James ended his days selling shoes at Leonard Brothers Department in Fort Worth. But the Handbook of Texas Online < http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ > and several other sources state that in his later years, Frank James was hired by Sanger Brothers department store in Dallas, Texas, as a shoe salesman. When the word got out, Sangers' was jammed with curiosity-seekers wanting to catch a glimpse of the famous ex-outlaw.

The Lady Riders at http://www.angelfire.com/ks/expressladies/frank.html tell this story: "One day, a big, gruff bully barged his was into the shoe department at Sangers'. Waiting on him was the well-dressed, soft-spoken Frank James. After boisterously ordering the salesman around, the bully threatened him, saying, 'Do you know who I am? I'm Bill Duggans and I've got a mind to bust you up-side the head if you don't find me in the boots I want.'

"'Mr. Duggans, do you know who I am?'

"'No, who are you?'

"'I'm Frank James. Perhaps you've heard of me and my brother, Jesse.'

"With that the bully's face grew pale, his knees began to tremble, and through clenched teeth and a forced smile he said meekly, 'I like these here boots 'jes fine, and if it's all right with you, I'll take 'em,' and with that he left the store in a big hurry."

It's had to imagine the robber/killer turned shoe salesman, but there it is. And there is one thing for sure, Frank James led an interesting and varied life.