Robert Franklin James

Robert married Mae A. Sandboth [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mary Sullivan. Mary was born in 1874/1894; died in 1895/1968. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 15, Ed. 1, Tree #1589
Frank and his wife, Anna, lived in St. Louis at the time of Jesse's wedding and later moved to Fletcher, Oklahoma, until the time of his mother's death. He then moved back to Kearney, Mo. to take over the family farm that Zerelda had maintained all those years. Jesse Jr. knew Frank as "Ben Woodson" just as Jesse's name was "Tim Woodson", as a child.

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #4693
When the Civil War broke out 18 year old Frank enlisted in the MO State Guards on 4 May 1861. The Confederate force was commanded by Gen. Sterling Price (1809-1867) and was in the fierce battle on Wilson's Creek near Springfield, MO on 10 Aug 1867. Defeated Union forces also had a noted gun fighter, Wild Bill Hickock, captured and released on oath. He joined the infamous band headed by William Clark Quantrell, 1837-1865. Future partners, Cole and Jim Younger also rode with Quantrell. Was aquitted of all charges in three states and spent 28 months in jail between 1885 and 1892. He sold shoes for a living latter.

Alexander married Anna Ralston on 6 Jun 1874. Anna was born on 25 Jan 1853 in Independence, Jackson County, MO; died on 6 Jul 1944 in James Farm, Clay County, MO; was buried after 6 Jul 1944 in Hill Park Cemetery, Independence, Jackson County, MO. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0789
Anna Ralston, with a B.A. in Science and Literature, was working as a school teacher when she met Frank James. They eloped and had only one child, Robert. She spent the remainder of her life at the James' farm, was cremated and buried beside her beloved Frank.

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 15, Ed. 1, Tree #1589
Anna graduated from the Independence Female College in 1872 with a B.A. in Science and Literature and became a school teacher. She was a "magnificent" horse woman and a "superb" pistol shot. Anna never let herself be interviewed or photographed. One day in June 1874, she told her father she wanted to visit her brother-in-law in Kansas City. He took her to the train and she sat with a family friend, who thought she seemed "rather excited". They were greeted at the station and Anna said she had to speak to a friend on the train and that she would take a hack to their home. That was the last they ever saw of her. Several days later her parents received a letter that she was married and was going west, signed, Anna Reynolds. She was 21 and Frank was 31. They tried to trace her, but to no avail. Later, Reynolds son was in Frank's fathers import business and said that his son "Frank" had married his sister. After telling her father, he disowned her. After the wedding they joined Jesse, "Zee" and Susie in Texas. Several years later Frank visited his father-in-law and was not a pleasant occasion. They lived under aliases in Texas, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, as well as other places. In the summer of 1882, they arranged for Frank's surrender to the Governor of MO, T.T. Crittenden. There were letters written from jails in Independence and Gallatin, Mo. and Huntsville, Ala. while awaiting trial. They shared their long life after his acquittal, when he worked as a shoe clerk, theatre doorman, race starter and farmer. Frank liked literature as did Anna. He would recite Shakespeare. They went to the theatres in all the large cities. She seemed happy and never appeared to regret her decisions. She continued to live at the old farm with her son and his wife. Her ashes are buried beside Frank's in Hill Cem., Independence, Mo.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 28 Sep 1850, Platte, Clay, Missouri; Census

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 15, Ed. 1, Tree #1589]
After Robert and Mary married they moved to Kentucky and settled near Adairville, Logan County. They bought a 275-acre farm and this is where Jesse was born as well as Susan. Robert graduated from Georgetown College in Kentucky in June 1843 and received a Master of Arts Degree in 1847. He was an ordained Baptist minister in 1839. Two years before he graduated, he met and married Zerelda Cole, who was a student in a Catholic convent in Lexington, Kentucky. Robert worked his farm during the week with seven faithful Negro servants and served God on Sunday as a preacher, but was never paid for preaching. Two of the churches he founded are still inexistence today. They are the Providence Baptist Church in Clay Co. and the Pisgah Baptist Church near Excelsior Springs, Mo. Robert was also one of the founders of the William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. His wife, Zerelda, told she saw her husband baptize as many as 65 people on one occasion. Jesse was baptized near the same place years later after returning from the Civil War. It was said by Zerelda, that had not Robert gone to the gold fields of California in 1850 to preach to the miners for a year that Frank and Jesse would not have had their violent history. Jesse pleaded with his father not to go. It took four months to get there and just three weeks later Robert died.

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 5, Ed. 1, Tree #2180]
Graduated from Georgetown College, Kentucky, and became a Baptist preacher. Moved to Clay Co., MO, and became pastor of New Hope Baptist Church there. Was a co-founder and trustee of William Jewell College. Went to California to look for gold in 1850 and died shortly thereafter. Was buried in an unmarked grave in California. (K. G. Lindsay)

Robert married Zerelda Elizabeth Cole on 28 Dec 1841 in Stamping Ground, Scott County, KY. Zerelda (daughter of James Cole and Sallie Lindsay) was born on 29 Jan 1825 in Black Horse Tavern, Woodford County, KY; died on 10 Feb 1911 in Oklahoma City, Cleveland County, OK; was buried after 10 Feb 1911 in Mt Olivet Cemetery, Kearney, Clay County, MO. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 15, Ed. 1, Tree #1589]
After Robert died in 1850 Zerelda Cole James remarried to a Dr. Reuben Samuel. She had four children by Reuben, but before she married Reuben she had married Benjamin Simms.
Zeralda had died while returning from a visit to Frank in Oklahoma. They took her off the train in OK City and later transferred to Kearney.
The James farm is located near Excelsior Springs, Clay, MO.
From this marriage came several notes of interest. Frances Peters Inskeep, niece of Simms, married Coleman Purcell Younger of Clay County and moved to San Jose, California. A nephew, named for the Younger, was the outlaw Cole Younger. Mary, the younger sister of Frances married Martin Ringo and also went to California. Their son, John Peters, was the "Johnny Ringo" of Tombstone, Arizona fame. Zerelda was therefore, by marriage, the great aunt of the Youngers and Ringo and hers sons cousins, but only by marriage. Also, another strange marriage was another distant relationship. Adaline Younger, who married James Lewis Dalton, became the mother of Bob, Grant and Emmett, the core of the famous Dalton Gang, was the half-sister of Coleman Purcell Younger. This made the James boys, the Youngers, Ringo and the Daltons distant cousins. And further coincidence is revealed that Bruce Younger, half-brother of Coleman, married Maybelle Reed, better known as Belle Starr.
Zerelda's hand was blown off and her youngest child (Archie-8 years old)was killed by a bomb that was thrown into her home at night by Pinkerton detectives who were seeking to kill or capture her "outlaw" sons. For this cowardly deed, Zerelda and her family were given a lifetime pass on the railroad. She made good use of the pass. When she couldn't find enough of her family she would "adopt" neighbors as family. They said she had a comic spirit always at hand. She had attended St. Catherine's Academy in Lexington, Kentucky and met Robert James there.

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0789]
At the age of fourteen (1839) Zerelda entered St. Catherine's Academy for women in Lexington, Ky. She met her husband, Robert, at a religious revival. Strong, domineering, outspoken, and fiercely protective of her surviving children (4 of eight), Zerelda had the size to back it up--5'8" and over 200 lbs. She married and buried three husbands to boot!

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 15, Ed. 1, Tree #1589]
After John and Mary married they moved to Kentucky and settled in Adarville, Logan Co.

John married Mary Poor on 26 Mar 1807 in Goochland County, Virginia, USA. Mary (daughter of Robert Cornet Poor and Elizabeth Woodson Mimms) was born in 1790 in Goochland County, Virginia, USA; died in Feb 1827 in Logan County, KY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Sallie Lindsay in 1816/1826 in Scott County, KY. Sallie (daughter of III Anthony Lindsay and Alice Cole) was born on 15 Apr 1803 in Scott County, KY; died in 1829/1897 in Clay County, MO. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: [Broderbund WFT Vol. 5, Ed. 1, Tree #2180
Shortly after her second marriage, to Robert Thomason, the family moved from Woodford Co., Kentucky to Clay Co., MO.