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Anna Ralston

Anna Ralston

Female 1853 - 1944  (91 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Anna Ralston 
    Birth 25 Jan 1853  Independence, Jackson County, MO Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Female 
    Death 6 Jul 1944  James Farm, Clay County, MO Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Burial Aft 6 Jul 1944  Hill Park Cemetery, Independence, Jackson County, MO Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I19171  Bob Juch's Tree
    Last Modified 31 Dec 2022 

    Family Alexander Franklin James,   b. 10 Jan 1843, Kearney, Clay County, MO Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 15 Feb 1915, Fletcher, OK Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years) 
    Marriage 6 Jun 1874  [3
    Children 
     1. Robert Franklin James,   b. 6 Feb 1878, Nashville, Davidson County, TN Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Nov 1959, James Farm, Clay County, MO Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 81 years)  [natural]
    Family ID F7267  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 31 Dec 2022 

  • 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.

  • Sources 
    1. [S893] The James Family by Phillip W. Steele.

    2. [S869] Broderbund Software, Inc., World Family Tree Vol. 19, Ed. 1, (Name: Release date: March 13, 1998;), Tree #1417.

    3. [S853] Broderbund Software, Inc., World Family Tree Vol. 5, Ed. 1, (Name: Release date: August 22, 1996;), Tree #2180.