Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver opens with Isaiah 59:12-15, highlighting the fall of truth and justice, and briefly reviews the previous messages on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and border wars.

Well, let's open our Bibles to Isaiah 59 again today. I'm going to be bringing the third and the final message on the world and times of Jesse James. I want you to notice Isaiah 59, and we'll be reading verses 12 through 13. For those of you who have missed the two previous messages, I encourage you to listen to them. There's no way that I can give a thorough review of them. Please listen to them and I'll give you just a short review before we get started. Isaiah 59, beginning with verse 12.

"For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment." Note if you would please, once again, when he says that truth is fallen in the street, then equity cannot enter. And of course when the Lord sees there is no judgment or justice, it displeases him.

We begin this study by talking to you about the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It was this act that actually stimulated more what you and I would call the border wars between Kansas and Missouri because everyone just kind of assumed that Kansas would be a slave state and Nebraska would be a free state, just kind of maintaining the balance of power, so to speak. But yet then along came the abolitionists—and come right on in, sir—along came the abolitionists and lo and behold they tried to settle Kansas and they were creating more and more problems for the Missourians. In fact they were raiding into Missouri as early as 1854. And they viewed any slaveholder or anyone who was sympathetic with slavery as simply a good target.

Background of the James-Younger Gang's Actions

The James brothers were driven to outlawry by federal atrocities during and after the Civil War, including the abuse of their family and the ironclad oath that prevented them from working.

And of course, they were indeed burning, raping, looting, stealing, killing, over and over. It's just unbelievable what happened. And so when Jesse James was 15 years of age, he was caught in the field by the federal soldiers. He was dragged with a rope. He was beaten with the flat edge of their sabers. His stepfather, Dr. Samuel, was hanged three or four times. And not unto death, but just enough to help him pass out.

And before he died, they would put him down and then rehang him. And from that condition, by the way, he had a diminished capacity for the rest of his life. Jesse's mother was so mishandled and so abused by the federal soldiers. She was pregnant at the time. She miscarried and lost the baby. She and their sister were thrown into prison under the most abject circumstances. When you begin to think any or all of these things happening to a young man would certainly be enough to drive a man to seek vengeance, especially when the very government that is supposed to protect is the instigator of the atrocities. Well, when Jesse and Frank came back after the war and tried to surrender and tried to settle down and live peaceably, they were not allowed to do so. I told you in the last message how Jesse tried to surrender and he and his men were attacked by federal soldiers, how he was wounded in the right lung.

It took him basically three years to recover. In fact, while he was at home recovering, once again, five more soldiers came out to kill him. Thankfully, he got four of them, and the fifth one ran away. But this was even while he was wounded and sick. When Frank came in to surrender, four soldiers once again provoked the attack there, so he killed two, wounded another, and the fourth one shot him in the hip.

But I mean, here were men that were trying to settle down and live a peaceful life. And let me just point this out again, and I gave you this statistic from last week, just to let you know that in 1866—now, this is a year after the war was over—in 1866, there were 4,000 murders just in southwest Missouri of Confederate people, of Southern people. That's just in southwest Missouri, 4,000. So after the war was over, these radical Republicans who were in charge now were trying to settle old scores.

So Jesse and Frank, of course, were not allowed then to work honestly. Then they issued what is known as the ironclad oath. You'll have to listen to last week's message because you had to take an oath. Without this oath, you could not work in any public job. You could not work in any professional job. You couldn't even preach. Multitudes of preachers were arrested just for simply preaching the gospel without taking that loyalty oath to the union.

Then they passed the ousting ordinance where all of those lawfully—many of them elected—individuals were kicked out of office and replaced by people who were good-hearted abolitionists and sympathetic to the cause of the Radical Republicans. So I mean there was all kinds of individuals and all kinds of circumstances that made it almost unbearable during that particular time. So those who were in charge of politics in Missouri, many of them had gained their wealth by looting, stealing, and pillaging from hard-working Southerners. So when the James boys began to rob the banks of these Northerners and the trains of the railroad magnates—and I will tell you a little bit more about this in a moment—their attitude was simply this. Most Southern people's attitude was the James boys were just simply taking back what had been stolen from them and from many other Southerners as well. Now, the James gang did indeed help other southern refugees with their stolen loot. However, they probably would not refer to their loot as stolen. They would probably refer to it as simply as reclaimed.

Jesse James Helps a Widow

A humorous story illustrates Jesse's Robin Hood-like reputation: he gave a widow money to pay off her mortgage, then robbed the banker to reclaim the funds.

I suppose one of the most humorous stories that I read concerning Jesse is when he helped a widow woman. He came upon a widow woman who was weeping almost uncontrollably and he asked her what the matter was and she said, "My husband is dead." She said, "I have no family." And she said, "My property, my home, is going to be foreclosed upon by the day by the banks." "And I'll have absolutely no place to live. And I'll be kicked out of my home." And Jesse just simply asked her. He said, "Well, how much do you owe on your home? What is it going to take to pay it off?" And she told him some amount, $500 or $600. I don't remember what it was. And he said, "Don't worry about it. Here's the money." And he counted up the money.

He said, "Now let me give you some very serious instructions. You listen carefully. When the banker comes out to foreclose on your property, you tell him you have the money to pay off the loan. There's no need to foreclose." And he said, "You make sure that you get a written receipt that it is paid in full." And she said, "Yes." And so Jesse gave her the money. The banker came out that afternoon to foreclose. Jesse had already left. And she told him that she had the money to pay the loan. The banker gladly took the money, wrote her a receipt, paid in full, canceled the debt, and then the banker rode off. And just a couple miles away from the farm, Jesse James was waiting in the woods. And he stepped out and held up the banker and got his money back. Well, Jesse got his money back, the woman's farm was saved, and the banker was thankful to escape with his life.

Public Sympathy for the Outlaws

The general populace viewed the James-Younger gang as striking back against Northern carpetbaggers, and a Missouri newspaper defended them against Kansas criticism.

So rather humorous, but they did indeed help a lot of southern people. But bankers, railroaders, and politicians were particularly despised by the general populace, and they were counted as notorious thieves. One radical newspaper in Kansas attacked the state of Missouri, and they called it the Outlaw State. You remember I told you that was the nickname of Missouri, the Outlaw State. And in response to this attack by the Kansas newspaper, the Missouri newspaper countered and said this, quote, "Robbers in Democratic Missouri are outlaws with prices on their heads, while robbers in radical Kansas are elected to the highest offices in the state. Democrats may not be good at catching fugitive thieves, but they can be counted on not to elevate such cattle to the highest offices in the state." So they said, at least our outlaws are common people and they've got a price on their heads. Your outlaws are in control of politics.

Another illustration that really demonstrates the cruelty and the viciousness and the unconcern for life on the part of the powers that be occurred on January 26, 1875. The Pinkerton detective agency, an arm of the railroad and of the federal government, attacked the James home about midnight.

The Pinkerton Raid on the James Home

In 1875, Pinkerton agents firebombed the James home, killing Jesse's half-brother Archie and maiming his mother, an act widely condemned as lawless revenge.

Now let me just tell you that the Pinkertons came to notoriety when Alan Pinkerton uncovered a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. It was Alan Pinkerton who founded the Secret Service and served as its head for a while. So Alan Pinkerton then and his detective agency planned a raid on the James farm. Dr. and Mrs. Samuel were awakened about midnight and their house was on fire and they discovered a large ball saturated with a flammable liquid burning in their kitchen. And so Dr. Samuel and Mrs. Samuel took a poker and tried to get the ball into the fireplace.

Of course, everyone was up and everyone was screaming. But the problem is, it was not just simply a ball of fire, it was a bomb. And the bomb exploded with horrible results. Let me give you a letter that was written by Alan Pinkerton before I tell you the results. You see, for a long time, the government and the Pinkerton agency denied any involvement in the raid on the James' home. But a letter was discovered that was written by Alan Pinkerton himself to the Chief Special Agent of the United States Post Office Department, Patrick Henry Woodward. This letter is on display in the James' home in Kearney, Missouri today.

I have a picture of it. You can also get copies of the letter. But here is what Alan Pinkerton wrote with his own hand, and I'm quoting, "On Monday night everything was ready. We were well supplied with Greek fire, balls of cotton well saturated with combustible material. About half past 12, that is midnight, we commenced firing the building. Our men battered in the window, then flung in the fireballs into the house. Wild cries of dismay were heard from the inside, and soon the residents ran from the house, which was lit up bright as the day."

"Mrs. Samuel was bitter and used anything but polite language. I had given the order that no harm was to be done to the woman and Dr. Samuel. The men we were in search of must have left." When they tried to rake the ball of fire into the fireplace, the bomb exploded. It killed nine-year-old Archie Samuel, blew a hole into his side. It mangled Mrs. Samuel's right hand so much so that it had to be amputated.

It wounded a Negro servant. Now I want to ask you a question. How polite did Alan Pinkerton think Mrs. Samuel should be with her baby child murdered, her arm blown off, her house set on fire, and in danger of losing everything? I might add that all of this was done under the color of law. Do you realize that legalities are often used to cover a multitude of crimes? Alan Pinkerton had stated that it was his intention to burn the house down. In a letter to Samuel Hardwick of Clay County, who was an operative, he wrote, and I'm quoting, "Above everything, destroy the house to the fringe of the earth."

"Let the men take no risk. Burn the house down." By the way, the bomb materials came from the federal government's Rock Island arsenal. The federal government was also complicit in the act. Evidently Pinkerton was not seeking justice, he was seeking revenge. Since Jesse and Frank were not at home the Samuel family could not be guilty of harboring criminals, therefore everything the detectives did were outside of the law and made them nothing more than arsonists and murderers. People were outraged at the railroads. They were outraged at the Pinkertons and they were outraged at the government. Their attitude was this, regardless as to whether or not the James boys were guilty of the crimes they were charged with, there could be absolutely no excuse for the killing of an innocent child and the maiming of a mother. Could be no excuse for it. The Kansas City Times wrote this, "There is no crime, however dastardly, which merits a retribution as savage and fiendish as the one which these men, acting under the semblance of law, have perpetrated." Here are men who were under the color of law burning a home, murdering a child, and maiming a mother. Again, the Kansas City Times wrote this.

"Pretending to hunt the Jameses brought renown to the detectives. Instead of trusting local officers, the higher authorities had employed common thief catchers who outrage farmhouses, carry off peaceable citizens, kill 12-year-old boys, blow off the arms of old women, and so on." Actually, Archie was only nine years old when he was killed. He was born on July the 6th, 1866, and he was murdered January the 26th, 1875. He would have been 10 his next birthday. By the way, the bomb blew a large hole in his side; he died within the hour. Peterson in his book on Quantrill and those who rode with him cites this on page 426, he says the crimes the James-Younger gang committed were considered—that is by the general populace now—they were considered a fair blow at the northern carpetbaggers who were enriching themselves in the economic turmoil after the war. In other words, no one despised, basically, what the James-Younger gang was doing. And the same sympathizers who helped the James and the Youngers and the guerrillas during the war were the same sympathizers who were helping them now that they were still, quote unquote, fighting against their northern enemies. In other words, they basically viewed the war as still going on.

The Northfield Raid and Its Motivation

The gang's end came at Northfield, Minnesota, where they targeted a bank holding money of despised Union General Benjamin Butler, known as 'The Beast' and 'Spoons'.

Now, the gang's end basically came in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876. Everyone knows there was a targeted bank. This is where the Younger brothers were captured. Now, during this raid in Northfield, Minnesota, two of the gang escaped. Most people claim it was Jesse and Frank. No one knows. They have never ever been stated to have been there, but two members did escape. Now, why in the world would they rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota?

Let me tell you why. Because the bank in Northfield, Minnesota had a great deal of money belonging to Union General Benjamin F. Butler. Now, according to Cole Younger's own words, and I have his book, his autobiography, according to his own words, he says that the bank was specifically selected for that very reason. Butler's son-in-law, J.T. Ames, had been the carpetbagger governor of Mississippi during the war, and he also had a great deal of money in that bank.

Now, Benjamin Butler had two nicknames. First of all, he had the nickname, The Beast. He was called Benjamin the Beast Butler because of his own stupidity, his own wickedness, and his lack of integrity during the war. Everyone despised Benjamin the Beast Butler. In fact, you're going to hear a little bit more about him later. But he had another nickname. His other nickname was Spoons because he habitually stole silverware. He was a thief. So he was not only called Beast, he was also called Spoons. There's an excellent book that has been written exposing Benjamin Butler and the title of it is When the Devil Came Down to Dixie written by Chester Hearn and certainly he was a devil and he was a wicked, wicked man.

So that is why that bank was selected. Now in order to illustrate the support that the James gang enjoyed there was a conversation that was overheard and recorded between two ladies in St. Paul, Minnesota, and they were talking about Missouri and the James gang, and one asked the other, quote, "Do all the people there sympathize with them?" To which the other answered, "No, only about two-thirds of them."

Amnesty Efforts and the Betrayal of Jesse James

An amnesty bill for the James-Younger gang failed, but the Ford brothers conspired with Governor Crittenden to assassinate Jesse for a $10,000 reward.

And that was really the general consensus. Most people sympathized with the James-Younger gang. Let me show you how sympathetic they were. In March of 1875, remember this is after the house has been bombed by the government. In March of 1875, an amnesty bill was proposed by Representative Jefferson Jones seeking amnesty for the outlaws. Now the bill failed, but it does demonstrate the support that James-Younger gang possessed. I want to give you three paragraphs of this proposed bill. Now remember, this is a bill for amnesty, and actually pardon, for the Jameses, Jesse and Frank, for the Youngers, and those who rode with them. Listen to this proposed bill. "Whereas, under the outlawry pronounced against Jesse W.

James, Frank James, Coleman Younger, James Younger, and others, who gallantly periled their lives and their all in defense of their principles, they are of necessity made desperate, driven as they are from their fields of honest industry, from their friends, their families, their homes, and their country, they can know no law but the law of self-preservation, nor can have no respect for and feel no allegiance to a government which forces them to the very acts it professes to deprecate and then offers a bounty for their apprehension and arms foreign mercenaries with the power to capture and kill them. And whereas, believing these men to be too brave to be mean, too generous to be revengeful, too gallant and honorable to betray a friend or break a promise, and believing further that most, if not all, the offenses with which they have been charged have been committed by others, and perhaps by those pretending

to hurt them, or by their confederates that their names are and have been used to divert suspicion from and thereby relieve the actual perpetrators, that the return of these men to their homes and friends would have the effect of greatly lessening crime in our state by turning public attention to the real criminals, and that common justice, sound policy, and true statesmanship alike demand that amnesty should be extended to all alike of both parties for all acts done or charged to have been done during the war. Therefore, be it resolved, that the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein, that the Governor of the State be, and he is thereby requested to issue his proclamation, notifying the said Jesse W. James, Frank James, Cole Younger, James Younger, and others, that a full and complete amnesty and pardon will be granted them for all acts charged or committed by them during the late Civil War, and inviting them peacefully to return to their respective homes in this state, and there quietly to remain, submitting themselves to such proceedings as may be instituted against them by the courts, for all offenses charged to have been committed since said war, promising and guaranteeing to each of them the full protection and a fair trial therein, and that full protection shall be given them from the time of their entrance into this state and

his notice thereof under said proclamation, an invitation." Do you realize that that bill introduced was basically a defense of the James-Younger gang? Now the bill failed but efforts still continued not only on behalf of the Jameses but also on behalf of the Youngers and by the way later on Frank James was allowed to surrender quietly, peaceably. And by the way, he did have his trials. And by the way, he was found innocent on all counts at every trial.

Now, it looked as if the James gang could not be stopped. And it looked as if they could not be caught. They had been on the outlaw trail for what you and I would say 16 years. There had been many predictions made concerning their capture but it turned out to be merely predictions because they were not captured. In order to demonstrate how many felt about Jesse James let me give you some of the titles of books and articles that were written. I have one book that is still available today titled The Crimes Against Jesse James, which demonstrates how the governments harried, persecuted, and assassinated Jesse. John Newman Edwards, who was a contemporary, who knew Jesse and Frank very closely and personally, he wrote an article entitled The Murder of Jesse James, which I'm going to quote from in just a moment. Then Frank Triplett wrote a book titled The Life, Times, and Treacherous Death of Jesse James. Do you realize that many people were absolutely horrified at the method and the way that Jesse met his death?

Jesse and his wife, Zerelda, who was better known as Z, had moved to St. Joseph, Missouri. In fact, they resided at 1318 Lafayette Street. The house was sitting on a hill which gave them a very excellent view.

Now Jesse had a number of assumed names and one that he used quite frequently was J.D. Howard or John Davis or Dave Howard. But however when he was in St. Joe he had rented the house and was using the name Thomas Howard. Two brothers, Charlie and Bob Ford, had hooked up with Jesse. The boys had visited the James home place just a few weeks really before Jesse's death. Mrs. Samuel, Jesse's mother, told Jesse that she did not like the looks of them, that is the Fords, and to be careful.

Well she had judged rightly. Now Jesse did not particularly care for Bob, but he continued to put up with him for Charlie's sake. Now as Jesse left home, he offhandedly said to his mother as he kissed her goodbye, "Ma, if we don't meet again, we'll meet in heaven." Charlie had come to Jesse earlier and said that he needed food and shelter. Jesse James took both Charlie and Bob Ford into his home. He fed them. He provided a place for them to stay. He gave them money. Little did Jesse James know that Bob Ford had previously been involved in the murder of his cousin, Wood Hite.

And that's a different story in itself. But Bob Ford had murdered Wood Hite, who was a cousin to Jesse. Also unknown to Jesse, was that the Fords had conspired with the authorities to slay him. You see Bob Ford had secretly met with Governor Crittenden and Clay County Sheriff Henry Timberlake. He met with Governor Crittenden on January the 13th, 1882 at the St. James Hotel. The governor asked Ford to assist him and Ford agreed to do so. The governor promised Bob Ford $10,000 each for the deaths of Jesse and Frank James. Specifically, and more particularly, Jesse.

And he said he would give him the money dead or alive. Moreover, he promised a pardon for them. Now later on when there was a coroner's inquest and all of this came out public, Governor Crittenden said that he only promised a $10,000 reward for their capture. But Bob said no. It was stated dead or alive. So Bob was to stay in touch with Sheriff Timberlake and Police Commissioner Henry H. Craig of Kansas City. So plans were made then by the Fords to betray Jesse and Frank and especially Jesse. Bob Ford met again with Governor Crittenden on February the 22nd, 1882 in Kansas City where the governor endorsed his plan.

Now I want you to understand something. Neither Charlie nor Bob Ford were officers of the law. Neither of them had ever been deputized. Here two men meeting with a sheriff, a police commissioner, and the governor of the state. And the governor of the state is offering them $10,000 to assassinate a man.

Now for the Fords, the last week in March was a time of unrelenting stress. And the reason being Dick Liddil, who had also been with Jesse, Jesse found out he had been captured and Jesse was afraid that Dick was going to turn on him and it was Bob Ford who had helped Dick Liddil murder Jesse's cousin Wood Hite. So they knew they had to act fast because if Jesse discovered the connection then they too would be in danger.

The Assassination of Jesse James

On April 3, 1882, Bob Ford shot an unarmed Jesse James in the back of the head while he dusted a sampler; his wife Z remarked it was done on purpose.

I want you to listen as I read to you the Fords' own words concerning Jesse James. Here's what Charlie said. "My brother and I made it up to kill him. I knew he was quicker than I and that I would not try it when he had his arms on. He was so watchful no man could get the drop on him." Bob agreed and here's what Bob said. "We waited a long time to catch Jesse without his revolvers," he noted, "knowing that unless he put them off we could not fetch it." Thus, according to their own words, the Fords had agreed to shoot down an unsuspecting, unarmed man. At the instigation of the governor, I might add, on April 3, 1882, Jesse and Bob and Charlie had gone out and groomed and fed their horses. They came back into the house and Jesse complained of being warm. And at that he pulled his coat off and threw it on the bed. Well when he pulled his coat off then of course his pistols were exposed and since his house was on the hill he did not want anyone walking by to see how well armed he was and so he decided he might as well pull his pistol belt off as well and he did so

and he threw it across the bed. Then he pulled up a chair in order to dust a sampler that was hanging on the wall. The sampler said, "God bless our home." And as he turned his back to dust the sampler, Charlie and Bob pulled their revolvers. Bob was a little quicker. He fired one shot that went through the back of Jesse's head. Jesse fell instantly to the floor. When Z, his wife, came out, Charlie said that a pistol had accidentally gone off, to which Z replied, "Yes, I know. It went off on purpose."

Well, the Ford brothers went to the telegraph office very quickly, where they telegraphed Governor Crittenden, Sheriff Timberlake, and Commissioner Craig that they had gotten their man. After the autopsy was done, after the coroner's inquest was held, Jesse's body was sent to the same Baptist church where he'd been baptized in 1866. The day of the funeral, schools were closed, business ceased, trains stopped so that people might attend and witness the funeral. The service was begun with Jesse's favorite hymn, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." The funeral messages were delivered by Pastor J.P. Martin, pastor of the church, and R.H. Jones of Lathrop, Missouri. Pastor Martin's text was Matthew 24 and verse 44, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." About two hours later, the service was closed with another hymn, and the body was conveyed to the family home for burial.

Funeral and Public Reaction

Jesse's funeral drew over 2,000 people; his tombstone called his killer a traitor and coward. John Newman Edwards wrote a scathing condemnation of the murder.

Now, according to T.J. Stiles, in his book, Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War, on page 377, he says that there were over 2,000 people that attended the funeral of Jesse James. Jesse was originally buried beneath a coffee bean tree in the side yard. There's a tombstone, and I'm going to show it to you in just a moment. There's a tombstone which reads, thusly: "Devoted husband and father Jesse Woodson James September the 5th 1847 murdered April the 3rd 1882 by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here." Now I want you to listen very carefully because I'm going to bring this to a close in just a moment. I'm going to read some from John Newman Edwards, "The Killing" or "The Murder of Jesse James." I want you to listen what John Newman Edwards wrote. It is prophetic.

It also is full of scripture whether he knew it or not. John Newman Edwards, you remember, was the adjutant. He was a major for General Sterling Price. He was a newspaper editor. And I want you to listen to what he said. He begins, of course, with a quote. "Let not Caesar's servile minions mock the lion thus laid low. 'Twas no foeman's hand that slew him. 'Twas his own that struck the blow." And then he begins thusly. Listen carefully.

"No one among all the hired cowards hard on the hunt for blood money dared face this wonderful outlaw, one even against 20, until he had disarmed himself and turned his back to his assassins, the first and only time in a career which has passed from the realms of an almost fabulous romance into that of history." "Now listen, we called him outlaw, and so he was, but fate made him so. When the war came, he had just turned 15. The border was aflame with steel and fire and ambushes and slaughter. He flung himself into a band which had a black flag for a banner and devils for riders. What he did, he did, and it was fearful, but it was war. It was Missouri against Kansas."

"It was Jim Lane and Jennison against Quantrill, Anderson, and Todd. When the war closed, Jesse James had no home. Proscribed, hunted, shot, driven away from among his people, a price put upon his head, what else could the man do with such a nature except what he did do? He had to live. It was his country. The graves of his kindred were there. He refused to be banished from his birthright. And when he was hunted, he turned savagely about and hunted his hunters."

"Listen to what he says. Would to God he were alive today to make a righteous butchery of a few more of them. There never was a more cowardly and unnecessary murder committed in all America than the murder of Jesse James. It was done for money. It was done that a few might get all the money. He had been living in St. Joseph for months. The Fords were with him."

"He was in the toils, for they meant to betray him. He was in the heart of a large city. One word would have summoned 500 armed men for his capture or extermination. Not a single one of the attacking party need to have been hurt. If, when his house had been surrounded, he had refused to surrender, he could have been killed on the inside of it or at long range. The chances for him to escape were as one to 10,000 and not even that." "But it was never intended that he should be captured. It was his blood the bloody wretches were after. Blood that would bring money in the official market of Missouri. And this great commonwealth, leagued with a lot of self-confessed robbers, highwaymen, and prostitutes, to have one of its citizens assassinated before it was positively known that he had ever committed a single crime worthy of death. Of course, everything that can be said about the dead man to justify the manner of his slaying will be said."

"But who is saying it? Those with the blood of Jesse James on their guilty souls? Those who conspired to murder him, those who wanted the reward and would invent any lie or concoct any diabolical story to get it, they have succeeded. But such a cry of horror and indignation at the infernal deed is even now thundering over the land that if a single one of the miserable assassins had either manhood, conscience, or courage, he would go as another Judas and hang himself. But so sure as God reigns, there never was a dollar of blood money obtained, yet which did not bring with it perdition." "Sooner or later, there comes a day of vengeance. Some among the murderers are mere beasts of prey. These, of course, can only suffer through cold or hunger or thirst. But whatever they dread most, that thing will happen. Others, again, among the murderers are sanctimonious devils who plead the honor of the state, the value of the law and order, the splendid courage required to shoot an unarmed man in the back of the head."

"And these will be stripped of their skin of all their pretensions and made to shiver and freeze, splotched as they are and spotted and piebald with blood in the pitiless storm of public contempt and condemnation. This to the leaders will be worse than death. Nor is the end yet. If Jesse James had been hunted down as any other criminal and killed while trying to escape or in resisting arrest, not a word would have been said to the contrary." "He had sinned and he had suffered. In his death, the majesty of the law would have been vindicated. But here, the law itself becomes a murderer. It leagues with murderers. It hires murderers. It aids and abets murderers. It borrows money to pay and reward murderers. It promises immunity and protection to murderers. It is itself a murderer. The most abject, the most infamous, and the most cowardly ever known to history. Therefore, this so-called law is an outlaw. And these so-called executors of the law are outlaws. Therefore let Jesse James's comrades, and he has a few remaining, worth all the Fords and Littles that could be packed together between St. Louis and Joe, do unto them as they did unto him."

"Yes, the end is not yet, nor should it be. The man had no trial. What right had any officer of this state to put a price upon his head and hire a band of cutthroats and highwaymen to murder him for money?" He didn't pull any punches, did he? On April the 17th, 1882, Charlie and Bob Ford were indicted for first-degree murder. They were found guilty and sentenced to death.

Fates of the Ford Brothers

Charlie Ford committed suicide in 1884; Bob Ford was killed by Ed O'Kelley in 1892, who said he killed rats like Bob Ford.

They will be taken, according to the judge, to some convenient place and hanged by the neck until they were dead. Within a short period of time, some of the authors say the same day, some say the next day, but within a short period of time Governor Crittenden issued an unconditional pardon for both men. Bob Ford was then later arrested for the murder of Wood Hite and after another trial he was acquitted. Now you're going to ask, well, did the Fords escape the consequences of their actions? And the answer is no, a thousand times no. After their release, the Ford brothers were banded as traitors by the public. Traitors, cowards, treacherous individuals. It was too much for Charlie, who in 1884, two years later, unable to bear the stigma, killed himself with his own pistol. He committed suicide in Richmond, Virginia. Bob, the one who shot Jesse, lived only 10 years more. Bob Ford was found in the town of Creede, Colorado in 1890. And by the way, Bob Ford never received the full $10,000 promised to him. But he was still doing pretty well because he was running a saloon and a gambling hall and he was also kind of hitting up a greater part of the crime in that town. The outlaw Soapy Smith described Bob as somewhat of a character; he said more pompous than dangerous who banked heavily upon his reputation as the killer of the notorious Jesse James. He said Bob Ford was tall and slim, weighing about 140 pounds.

He had an unhealthy pale skin and drank too much. He said Bob always sat facing the door of his saloon with a drawn revolver on the table. Soapy Smith said he may have been a dangerous man, but he died a thousand deaths. On June the 6th, 1892, a strange cowboy appeared in Creede, Colorado and stopped at Ford's saloon. He just simply inquired, "Where's the boss?" "Not in" was the answer. "What do you want?" "Oh, just tell him Ed O'Kelley is in town. I'll catch him later." When Bob was told Ed O'Kelley was in town, he did not know Ed O'Kelley. He could not figure who Ed O'Kelley was.

That night, in all probability, was a sleepless night. Who in the world is Ed O'Kelley? The next morning, he and his wife opened the saloon a little later than usual. As he went through the saloon doors, a man riding a horse down the street picked up the gait, rode right on up to the saloon, stopped his horse, unstrapped his shotgun, stuck it through the saloon doors and said, "You've been waiting for this ain't you Bob?" As Bob turned around and tried to draw his pistol, the shotgun blew his face off. The man meekly surrendered to the sheriff. He refused to divulge any information concerning his background or for his motive. All he said was this, "I don't rob and I don't insult women, but I kill rats like Bob Ford." It was his only comment. Consequently, he was sentenced to a jail term. Incidentally, during the research of the case, thousands of letters were received asking clemency for Ed O'Kelley. They were all postmarked from Missouri. I want to close this message with two things. I want to give you an interview between J.A.

Dacus and Mrs. Samuel, Jesse's mother. Remember J.A. Dacus was alive. He was a personal friend of the family. And he interviews Mrs. Samuel. And here are her words. Listen carefully. Mr. Dacus asks, "To whom do you ascribe the killing? That is, who incited it?" "Oh, to Crittenden and Sheriff Timberlake. Timberlake and Commissioner Craig of Kansas City also have been working together in pursuit of my boy for over a year."

Interview with Mrs. Samuel and Applications

Jesse's mother blamed the government for his murder and trusted God's vengeance. Weaver applies lessons on divine justice, bad government, and historical awareness.

He refused to divulge any information concerning his background or for his motive. All he said was this, "I don't rob and I don't insult women, but I kill rats like Bob Ford." It was his only comment. Consequently, he was sentenced to a jail term. Incidentally, during the research of the case, thousands of letters were received asking clemency for Ed O'Kelley. They were all postmarked from Missouri. I want to close this message with two things. I want to give you an interview between J.A.

Dacus and Mrs. Samuel, Jesse's mother. Remember J.A. Dacus was alive. He was a personal friend of the family. And he interviews Mrs. Samuel. And here are her words. Listen carefully. Mr. Dacus asks, "To whom do you ascribe the killing? That is, who incited it?" "Oh, to Crittenden and Sheriff Timberlake. Timberlake and Commissioner Craig of Kansas City also have been working together in pursuit of my boy for over a year."

"That traitor Ford was only a tool in their cunning hands. He is only a boy and they molded his nature until he was ready to undertake an assassination none of the others dared attempt." Dacus, "Do you believe that Jesse ever suspected him?" Mrs. Samuel, "Well, he didn't have too much confidence in Bob, but he trusted him for Charlie's sake. Why Jesse sheltered and fed and clothed both of them." "He gave them money and was more than a brother in kindness to them. Oh, the miserable traitors. It was only three weeks ago today that Charlie Ford was here. I cooked for him with this one hand. I did all I could for him. And when he went away, I went out the gate with him and said, 'Charlie, something tells my heart there's danger lurking around Jesse. You will always be true to him, won't you?' He would not look me in the eyes, but raised his hand to heaven and said, 'I call on God to witness that I will protect him with the last drop of my blood.'"

"And then he rode off, and the next thing I heard from him was that he had murdered my poor, sainted boy." Mrs. Samuel, Mr. Dacus asked, "Was there, in your opinion, any motive of revenge in the killing of Jesse?" Mrs. Samuel, "What makes you call it killing? Why don't you say murder as it is? No, I don't think there was any such motive. Money was all they wanted. Blood money it is."

"And it will stain their hands as this crime has stained their treacherous souls. May God Almighty judge them and my poor boy. I'd rather be in his place than in theirs." Dacus, "Has Jesse ever been accused of crimes he did not commit?" Mrs. Samuel, "Accused of them? Oh my God. He has never been guilty one third of the charges laid at his door. Every time a bank was robbed or a train was stopped, they said, 'Oh, that's Jesse James, that's Jesse James,' when often he was hundreds of miles away and knew nothing about the matter until afterwards. Jesse was driven to do what he did."

"They forced it on him by hunting him down like a dog and refusing him mercy. He would have been a good man if they had left him alone." Mr. Dacus, "What do you believe of Jesse's hereafter, Mrs. Samuel?" Mrs. Samuel, "Jesse's heart was all right. The last time he was here, only a little over three weeks ago, he kissed me as he went away and said, 'Goodbye, mother.'" "'If I don't see you again on earth, I will meet you in heaven.' And I believe that we will surely see each other there." Mr. Dacus, "Had you ever looked for such an end as this for your son, Mrs. Samuel?" "Naturally, I had expected that someday he would die from a bullet. But I thought it would be fighting like a brave man." "So he would if it hadn't been for this vile treachery which shot him from behind when he was unarmed."

"They did not even dare fire at his back when he had his revolvers by his side. They were cowards as well as traitors. No three men that ever lived could have captured my Jesse face to face. He was too quick for them. He never missed a shot since he was a boy." Mr. Dacus, "Will Frank seek to avenge Jesse's death?" Mrs. Samuel, "That's not for me to say."

"I would not take away the vengeance of God. But Frank is a man who knows no fear and who loved his brother. What he will do, I do not know. But I do know I would not choose to be in the places of the men who instigated this foul assassination." And after these words, Mrs. Samuel turned and walked away.

Now let me make some applications. Mrs. Samuel will certainly write on one point, vengeance belongs to God, and God will execute it in His time. One of the things that I have to keep reminding myself of is this simple truth. There is no perfect justice in time and history. Perfect justice only comes at the end of the world. When God, the judge of all the earth, renders to every man according to his deeds, I can assure you that his judgment will be absolutely perfect. All wrongs will be righted by God at that particular time.

Secondly, I want to challenge each of you to study the lives of some of these notorious outlaws. Because as you study their lives, you're going to come to an interesting position. You're going to find that most of these notorious outlaws were made outlaws by bad government. A lack of justice in the times in which they lived. You remember the famous Dalton gang? Many of you did not know the Dalton boys were formerly Deputy US Marshals. There's a reason as to why they took the outlaw trail. There's a reason why Jesse and Frank James were made outlaws. There's a reason why the Younger brothers were made outlaws. And you're going to find as you study their lives, it was the government that murdered their families, stole their property, drove them from their homes, tried to hunt them down and murder them, and forced them to seek justice on their terms. Interestingly enough, bad government always produces bad citizens. It makes bad citizens.

Now here's a third application. Listen carefully. If you have been observant and attentive and considerate during these three messages, I believe you should have already compared the world and times of Jesse James to our day and time. It appears that lawlessness in government is becoming more and more rampant each day. There are indeed outlaws, traitors, and notorious thieves in our land today. However, they protect themselves by legalities and politics. Do you realize? We could not have the drug problem we have in America without the involvement of our government in drugs. We could not have the foreign wars in our land today without the involvement of our own government. We could not have the socialism and the destruction of private property and unconstitutional money and a tax upon biblical Christianity without bad government and its political correctness.

The Ballad of Jesse James and Closing

Weaver recites the original ballad of Jesse James, shares anecdotes about Frank James and Mrs. Samuel, and urges study of history to avoid repeating mistakes.

God was displeased when there was no justice. And when there is no justice, society disintegrates. You cannot have a society, you cannot have a civilization without justice. Either the criminal dies and society lives, or society dies and the criminal lives. Let me close with the ballad of Jesse James. There have been numerous versions and numerous verses added to this afterwards, but this is the original one. And immediately after Jesse's death, there was a ballad wrote and sung concerning his death. Here's the ballad. "Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man.

He robbed the Danville train. But that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in the grave. Poor Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, three children. They were brave. But the dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in the grave. It was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward. I wonder how he did feel. For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed. Then he laid poor Jesse in the grave. Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor. He never would see a man suffer pain. And with his brother, Frank, he robbed the Chicago bank and stopped the Glendale train. It was his brother, Frank, that robbed the Gallatin bank and carried the money from the town. It was in this very place that they had a little race, for they shot Captain Sheets to the ground. They went to the crossing not very far from there, and there they did the same. With the agent on his knees, he delivered the keys to the outlaws, Frank and Jesse James."

"It was Wednesday night. The moon was shining bright. They robbed the Glendale train. The people they did say were many miles away. It was robbed by Frank and Jesse James. It was Saturday night. Jesse was at home talking with his family brave. Robert Ford came along like a thief in the night and laid poor Jesse in the grave. The people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death and wondered how he came to die. It was one of the gang called Little Robert Ford. He shot poor Jesse on the sly. Jesse went to his rest with his hand on his breast."

"The devil will be upon his knee. He was born one day in the county of Clay and came from a solitary race. This song was made by Billy Gashade as soon as the news did arrive. He said there was no man with the law in his hand who could take Jesse James while he was alive." The Ballad of Jesse James. Two quick stories. Dacus in his book, I believe it is, tells of 21 men who came to arrest Frank James at one particular time. Frank stepped out on the porch and they said, "Frank, we don't want any problems, but we have come to arrest you." And Frank said, "I'm not going to be arrested." They said, "Frank, there's 21 of us and only one of you. And you only have two pistols." Frank said, "Yes, that is correct. But the question is, which 12 of you are going to die before the others take me in?" The men thought about it, backed up, got on their horses and left. Humorous, I've got to tell you this in closing.

Jesse robbed the trains. The trains of course were, the railroad was responsible partly for the bombing of their home. And Jesse robbed the trains. And the interesting thing, after the house was bombed, by the way, Pinkerton and his men was brought near to Kearney, Missouri by a special train. After the raid, they were picked up by the same train and taken back. And after the bombing, one of the railroads gave Mrs. Samuel a lifetime pass for herself, her family, and her friends. And she used it. She got everyone she could to ride the train and burn their money. And the interesting thing, when she and her daughter were coming back from visiting some relatives, Mrs. Samuel died on the train. So the trains carried Mrs. Samuel then to her final resting place.

Folks, let me tell you, you cannot begin to see what's going on in this country if we don't know our history. And I'm going to tell you, I do not believe in cyclical history. I don't believe that history repeats itself. That is, I don't believe it goes around in circles, but I do believe this. If we do not profit from our mistakes and if we do not learn the past and know what happened in the past, we are doomed to repeat it over because of our own stupidity. I have two pictures. I'm just going to hold them up.

And evidently my printer went crazy. The color is going out. But here is the tombstone that is behind Jesse's house. Jesse is not buried there now. He was moved to the cemetery in Kearney, there with Dr. and Mrs. Samuel, there with his wife Z, there with little Archie. The stones are marked there, but this says once again, "Devoted husband and father Jesse Woodson James, September 3, 1847, murdered April 3, 1882 by a traitor and coward whose name is not worthy to appear here." And here is the back part of the house and it has been—this back part, the log cabin part has been left as it was. That is the window in which they threw the bombs in that killed little Archie and blew off Mrs. Samuel's hand.

So you're welcome to look at these. I've got scads of pictures on the computer if you're interested. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your love. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Help us to live for thee. Give us wisdom and understanding and discernment. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.