Frank James

Much sought after and seldom seen autograph of Frank James, one of the most notorious outlaws of the Old West. Signed "Frank James", in bold fountain pen clipped from a document, 1.25 x 4.5 in fine condition.

Frank James (1843-1915) was the desperado elder brother of Jesse James. Frank and Jesse were the only children of Zeralda James, the strong-willed woman who raised the boys after their father gave up preaching to hunt for gold in California (and shortly thereafter died). From 1866 to 1882, Jesse and Frank perpetrated over 20 robberies on trains, banks, and stagecoaches all over the west. Jesse was shot in the back of the head in 1882 and his legendary status was assured. Frank, however, lurched back into respectability after his brother's death.

He was tried for only two of the robberies/murders - one in Gallatin, Missouri for the July 15, 1881 robbery of the Rock Island Line train at Winston, Missouri, in which the train engineer and a passenger were killed, and the other in Huntsville, Alabama for the March 11, 1881 robbery of a United States Army Corps of Engineers payroll at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Among others, former Confederate General Joseph Orville Shelby testified on James' behalf in the Missouri trial. He was acquitted in both Missouri and Alabama. Missouri accepted legal jurisdiction over him for other charges, but they never came to trial. He was never extradited to Minnesota for his connection with the Northfield Raid.

In the last thirty years of his life, James worked a variety of jobs, including as a shoe salesman and then as a burlesque theater ticket taker in St. Louis. One of the theater's spins to attract patrons was their use of the phrase "Come get your ticket punched by the legendary Frank James." He also served as an AT&T telegraph operator in St. Joseph, Missouri. James took up the lecture circuit, while residing in Sherman, Texas. In 1902, former Missourian Sam Hildreth, a leading thoroughbred horse trainer and owner, hired James as the betting commissioner at the Fair Grounds Race Track in New Orleans. He returned to the North Texas area where he was a shoe salesman at Sanger Brothers in Dallas.

In his final years, James returned to the James Farm, giving tours for the sum of 25 cents. He died there on February 18, 1915, aged 72 years, survived by his wife Annie Ralston James and one son.

 

All Vintage Memorabilia autographs are unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine. This guarantee applies to refund of the purchase price, and is without time limit to the original purchaser. A written and signed Guarantee to that effect accompanies each item we sell.