Jesse james - biography

Of all the worlds' legendary characters, few have attracted world-wide fascination like the outlaw, Jesse James. Some call him America's Robin Hood, while others see him as a cold-blooded killer. Perhaps he was all of these things.

His Beginning

Jesse Woodson James was born in Kearney, Missouri on September 5, His father, the Rev. Robert James, was a Baptist minister who helped found William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Some people say it was the cruel treatment from Union soldiers that turned Frank and Jesse to a life of crime during the Civil War. Certainly during the war years they learned to kill while riding with William Quantrill and Bloody Bill Anderson.

After the war, Jesse was wounded while surrendering. Within a year, Frank and Jesse are believe to have pulled off the first daylight bank robbery in peace time. They made off with $60, from the Liberty, Missouri bank not far from their home, and one man was killed.

For the next 15 years, the James boys roamed throughout the U.S. robbing trains and banks of their gold, building a legend that was to live more than a century after Jesse's death.

After the Civil War

Jesse married his own first cousin after a nine year courtship. She was named for his own mother, Zerelda, and he called her Zee for short. They had two children, Jesse Edwards and Mary.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency was called in to help catch the famous desperadoes. Once during a nighttime raid on the family home outside Kearney, Missouri, a firebomb was tossed into the log cabin. When it exploded, it tore off the hand of Jesse's mother, and led to the death of his half brother Archie.

Jesse reached his Waterloo in September of , when his gang, including the Younger brothers, took on the bank at Northfield, Minnesota. Within minutes the town people returned fire. All except Frank and Jesse were either killed or were wounded and captured.

If you read the title and description of this blog post and have no idea who Jesse James is, or his relevance to Carleton College, don&#;t worry. I was just in your shoes a few weeks ago.

When I first got to Carleton, I saw flyers, buttons, and advertisements about Jesse James Parade. Upon asking around Carleton (and some Wikipedia), I managed to piece together most of the history and story of Jesse James. In this blog post, I&#;ll share the history of Jesse James as well as explain some of the traditions that occur in honor of the citizens who defeated him.

Who was Jesse James?

In short, Jesse James was an American outlaw, and leader of the James–Younger Gang, who lived in the late 19th century. With this gang, he traveled around America robbing various banks and trains. He also was a part of a pro-Confederate group during the Civil War. He became immensely famous after the Civil War, due to his many gruesome and violent crimes — many of which left cashiers, jailers, and sometimes innocent people dead. Because of his crimes, a $5, bounty was put upon him by Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden, only further increasing his notoriety.

What does he have to do with Northfield?

Jesse James&#;s story connects with Northfield&#;s history on September 7th, On this day, the James–Younger gang tried to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, a plan that quickly backfired. Thanks to the bravery of acting cashier Joseph Lee Heywood and Northfield citizens who initiated a shootout with the gang&#;s lookouts, only $26 of the $12, dollars in the vault were taken by the robbers. This event has gone down in history as the beginning of the downfall of Jesse James, as this left his gang smaller and weaker. James&#;s story came to an end when he was shot by a former gang member on April 3rd,

How is the defeat of Jesse James celebrated today?

In today&#;s Northfield, the defeat of Jesse James is celebrated on the weekend after Labor Day

American entrepreneur, automotive mechanic and television personality (born )

Jesse Gregory James (born April 19, , Long Beach, California) is an American entrepreneur, automotive mechanic, and television personality. He is the founder of West Coast Choppers and former partner of Austin Speed Shop and current CEO of Jesse James Firearms Unlimited, both based in Austin, Texas.

James rose to fame as the host of the reality TV shows Monster Garage on the Discovery Channel and Jesse James Is a Dead Man on Spike TV. He also appeared in the skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.

Career

James played as an outside linebacker at Riverside City College in Riverside, but two injuries forced him to end his playing career.

At age 19, he became a bouncer and then a bodyguard, notably for Slayer, Glenn Danzig, and Soundgarden.

In , James founded West Coast Choppers in his mother's garage. In addition to his work with the company, he has built and is actively racing both an off-road Trophy Truck and a Figure-8 race car.

James was the owner of the Cisco Burger restaurant, which opened on April 28, , across the street from West Coast Choppers which has officially closed. James also had partial ownership in Austin Speed Shop in Austin, Texas, which he left in

American outlaw (–)

For other uses, see Jesse James (disambiguation).

Jesse Woodson James (September 5, &#;&#; April 3, ) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, they were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists, including the Centralia Massacre in

After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the Midwest, gaining national fame and often popular sympathy despite the brutality of their crimes. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about until , when as a result of their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, several members of the gang were captured or killed. They continued in crime for several years afterward, recruiting new members, but came under increasing pressure from law enforcement seeking to bring them to justice. On April 3, , Jesse James was shot and killed by Robert Ford, a new recruit to the gang who hoped to collect a reward on James's head and a promised amnesty for his previous crimes. Already a celebrity in life, James became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.

Popular portrayals of James as an embodiment of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, are a case of romantic revisionism as there is no evidence his gang shared any loot from their robberies with anyone outside their network. Scholars and historians have characterized James as one of many criminals inspired by the regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates following the Civil War, rather