Jesse James fake death and buried in Granbury, TX
Oct 16, 2020 15:49:01 #
The headstone has a Confederate battle flag at the top, with "C.S.A." The inscription is:
Jesse WoodsonJames
Sept. 5, 1847
Aug. 15, 1951
Supposedly Killed in 1882
-----
There are signs in the Granbury Cemetery pointing towards the grave site, which is in view of the Harris Mausoleum at the east side of the cemetery. The presence of those signs indicates that someone is really playing this up, but whether folks in Granbury really believe this or whether they just play along is best left to them. There is also a tale around town that John Wilkes Booth wasn't the guy in the barn who was shot by Boston Corbett, and that he came here afterwards to spend the rest of his life, but that's another strange tale. "St. Helen's" on the courthouse square in Granbury is a nod to that story.
The long and short is that, in the last years of his life, an area resident by the name of J. Frank Dalton came forward and publicly claimed that he was outlaw Jesse James. Dalton indicated that the man in the grave in St. Joseph, MO was Charlie Bigelow, a James lookalike who had run afoul of Jesse James by carrying out robberies and claiming to be Jesse James, thus putting the blame on James himself (much like members of the Barrow Gang were blamed for crimes they could not possibly have committed). The response was to murder Bigelow, let him -- as Jesse James, six feet under -- take the blame for James's crimes, and then allow the "real" Jesse James to walk off to start a new life.
A little problem in this story is that "J. Frank Dalton" was also an alias, possibly for a man by the name of Orvus Lee Howk. "Dalton' had spent some time in Arkansas, where he alternately claimed to be Jesse James or lawman, John Franklin Dalton. When he was exposed for not being the real Dalton, who had died in 1887, he settled on taking up the mantle of Jesse James instead. While Dalton had some scars and injuries similar to those of Jesse James, and he knew some things that "only" Jesse Jones would have known, one need but look at the long, convoluted story of Anna Anderson, who was exposed as not being Anastasia Romanova by some DNA she left behind after her death.
In 1995, in an attempt to discredit Dalton's story, the body of Jesse James, murdered by Bob Ford in 1882, was exhumed in Missouri, and its DNA was compared with that of known James descendants. The mitochondrial DNA matched, thus ruling out that Charlie Bigelow was in the grave. The Dalton camp, which included some of James's own family members, still argue that the wrong DNA was used, and they were involved with an exhumation of Dalton's remains in 2000. Unfortunately, the remains of William Henry Holland, whose headstone is next to that of "Jesse Woodson James", were exhumed: Holland had one arm -- it is buried with his family elsewhere in Granbury Cemetery for yet another strange tale -- and it was known that Dalton had both. Since then, interest in further digging has waned, as it's unlikely that the Dalton camp would get permission to dig up the entire area, but this particular legend lives on.
Price of Admission: 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Roadside Attractions Website: [Web Link]
Location Website: [Web Link]
Weekday Hours: Not listed
Weekend Hours: Not listed
For further mis-information read my story: The Ballad of Ken Lay (see Search)
Jesse WoodsonJames
Sept. 5, 1847
Aug. 15, 1951
Supposedly Killed in 1882
-----
There are signs in the Granbury Cemetery pointing towards the grave site, which is in view of the Harris Mausoleum at the east side of the cemetery. The presence of those signs indicates that someone is really playing this up, but whether folks in Granbury really believe this or whether they just play along is best left to them. There is also a tale around town that John Wilkes Booth wasn't the guy in the barn who was shot by Boston Corbett, and that he came here afterwards to spend the rest of his life, but that's another strange tale. "St. Helen's" on the courthouse square in Granbury is a nod to that story.
The long and short is that, in the last years of his life, an area resident by the name of J. Frank Dalton came forward and publicly claimed that he was outlaw Jesse James. Dalton indicated that the man in the grave in St. Joseph, MO was Charlie Bigelow, a James lookalike who had run afoul of Jesse James by carrying out robberies and claiming to be Jesse James, thus putting the blame on James himself (much like members of the Barrow Gang were blamed for crimes they could not possibly have committed). The response was to murder Bigelow, let him -- as Jesse James, six feet under -- take the blame for James's crimes, and then allow the "real" Jesse James to walk off to start a new life.
A little problem in this story is that "J. Frank Dalton" was also an alias, possibly for a man by the name of Orvus Lee Howk. "Dalton' had spent some time in Arkansas, where he alternately claimed to be Jesse James or lawman, John Franklin Dalton. When he was exposed for not being the real Dalton, who had died in 1887, he settled on taking up the mantle of Jesse James instead. While Dalton had some scars and injuries similar to those of Jesse James, and he knew some things that "only" Jesse Jones would have known, one need but look at the long, convoluted story of Anna Anderson, who was exposed as not being Anastasia Romanova by some DNA she left behind after her death.
In 1995, in an attempt to discredit Dalton's story, the body of Jesse James, murdered by Bob Ford in 1882, was exhumed in Missouri, and its DNA was compared with that of known James descendants. The mitochondrial DNA matched, thus ruling out that Charlie Bigelow was in the grave. The Dalton camp, which included some of James's own family members, still argue that the wrong DNA was used, and they were involved with an exhumation of Dalton's remains in 2000. Unfortunately, the remains of William Henry Holland, whose headstone is next to that of "Jesse Woodson James", were exhumed: Holland had one arm -- it is buried with his family elsewhere in Granbury Cemetery for yet another strange tale -- and it was known that Dalton had both. Since then, interest in further digging has waned, as it's unlikely that the Dalton camp would get permission to dig up the entire area, but this particular legend lives on.
Price of Admission: 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Roadside Attractions Website: [Web Link]
Location Website: [Web Link]
Weekday Hours: Not listed
Weekend Hours: Not listed
For further mis-information read my story: The Ballad of Ken Lay (see Search)
Oct 16, 2020 16:29:54 #
A nice read Bob...James would have been 104 at death. That was a lot of hard living to make it to that ripe of age. I have no dog in this fight. I believe he was killed at the OK Coral. LOL
Oct 16, 2020 19:03:01 #
Oct 16, 2020 19:57:58 #
Yes, and you should read my story in the files under Search, titled The Ballad of Ken Lay! Just Sayin...RJS
Oct 17, 2020 14:34:30 #
fishrmans
Loc: Waushara Cnty Wisconsin and Port Charlotte Fl
Reel hip wrote:
A nice read Bob...James would have been 104 at death. That was a lot of hard living to make it to that ripe of age. I have no dog in this fight. I believe he was killed at the OK Coral. LOL
I didn’t think Jesse James was at the OK Correl.
Oct 17, 2020 14:47:26 #
fishrmans wrote:
I didn’t think Jesse James was at the OK Correl.
Wyatt Earp & bros with Doc Holiday?
Oct 17, 2020 16:22:14 #
fishrmans
Loc: Waushara Cnty Wisconsin and Port Charlotte Fl
Huntm22 wrote:
Wyatt Earp & bros with Doc Holiday?
Against the Claibornes and Clinton’s. The Cowboys...
Oct 17, 2020 17:22:57 #
Mauwehu
Loc: Norwalk Ct
As always, interesting reading. I hate to discredit any of it, but when I visited my Aunt Clara in Houston last month I saw him working in the cafeteria at the retirement home she’s in. He even fanned the spatula like it was a six shooter.
Oct 17, 2020 19:06:13 #
Ha! He would relly be old, perhaps over 160 IF that was Jesse!~ Just Sayin...RJS
Oct 17, 2020 23:52:06 #
Oct 18, 2020 00:24:44 #
You must go back and read an old post of mine titled “The Ballad of Ken Lay” I thing you will get a chuckle 🤭 send me a critique! Just Sayin...RJS
Oct 18, 2020 00:24:52 #
You must go back and read an old post of mine titled “The Ballad of Ken Lay” I thing you will get a chuckle 🤭 send me a critique! Just Sayin...RJS
Oct 18, 2020 15:09:22 #
Mauwehu
Loc: Norwalk Ct
You truly are gifted in telling a story!
Very interesting! I’ve always had a slight interest in the Jesse James story. You fanned the spark that’s still in me.
The fact that Ford was charged with murder was new to me. It smacks of a government cover up. Jesse must have been an embarrassment to the feds Was he executed? That might be further proof.
Love the tie to Enron. I had a friend in church ( Bible church in Darien Ct that had a mixture of ethnicity and economic status) who was pretty high up in Enron
He was in and out of court for several years. He owned three houses. One in Texas, Colorado and Darien. He sold his house in Darien and moved away. I think he was found not guilty.
In reading your story I’m reminded that money isn’t the source of all evil but the love of money is the source of all evil. So Ken could have had some moral fiber but was led away from it by his love for money.
Yes funny in a sense.
Two questions remain.
Was Ford executed?
Were any government officials indicted in the Enron scam? That one is more topical. To quote a great story teller
Just sayin!
Very interesting! I’ve always had a slight interest in the Jesse James story. You fanned the spark that’s still in me.
The fact that Ford was charged with murder was new to me. It smacks of a government cover up. Jesse must have been an embarrassment to the feds Was he executed? That might be further proof.
Love the tie to Enron. I had a friend in church ( Bible church in Darien Ct that had a mixture of ethnicity and economic status) who was pretty high up in Enron
He was in and out of court for several years. He owned three houses. One in Texas, Colorado and Darien. He sold his house in Darien and moved away. I think he was found not guilty.
In reading your story I’m reminded that money isn’t the source of all evil but the love of money is the source of all evil. So Ken could have had some moral fiber but was led away from it by his love for money.
Yes funny in a sense.
Two questions remain.
Was Ford executed?
Were any government officials indicted in the Enron scam? That one is more topical. To quote a great story teller
Just sayin!
Oct 18, 2020 15:33:35 #
fishrmans
Loc: Waushara Cnty Wisconsin and Port Charlotte Fl
Mauwehu wrote:
You truly are gifted in telling a story! br Very ... (show quote)
He was charged with the murder but given a full pardon. He was shot to death 10 years later.
Oct 18, 2020 15:49:07 #
Gentlemen: And anyone else who have read "The Ballad of Ken Lay" please remember this story is my fictional creation, pure and simple. I have no clue that Ken Lay and Jesse James were related.
However, Jesse James was familair with NorthTexas, in that he had a hideout in the area just north of Decatur, TX. so he would have had to have ridden thru a large part of North Texas to get from Missouri to Decatur. Just Sayin...RJS
However, Jesse James was familair with NorthTexas, in that he had a hideout in the area just north of Decatur, TX. so he would have had to have ridden thru a large part of North Texas to get from Missouri to Decatur. Just Sayin...RJS
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