![]() However, it was the attempted robbery in Northfield, Minnesota would spell the death of the James-Younger Gang, though a later gang would be formed simply called the James Gang.Īfter taking the train to Minneapolis in early September 1876, the group split up, with one party going to Mankato and the other to Red Wing, on either side of Northfield. Lull were killed, but Jim managed to escape. Clair County Deputy Edwin Daniels and Pinkerton Agent Louis J. When the smoke cleared, John Younger, St. In the meantime, in March 1874, Jim and John were involved in a shoot-out near Roscoe, Missouri with Pinkerton Agents. ![]() The Younger brothers took part in an estimated 12 bank robberies, seven train robbers, and four stagecoach robberies, leaving behind at least 11 dead citizens. The large, loosely organized group of former guerrillas carried out robberies and hold-ups throughout the South and Midwest. Claiming to be taking revenge against Yankee capitalist banks and railroads, the James-Younger Gang made its first robbery on February 13, 1866, when the men stormed the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri taking over $60,000 in cash and bonds.įor the next several years, the gang, which included such notorious men as Jesse and Frank James, Clell Miller, Bill Chadwell, and Charlie Pitts, also added James, John and Bob Younger to their ranks. The first bank to be robbed by the James-Younger Gang was in Liberty, Missouri on February 13, 1866, by Kathy Weiser-Alexander.Īn embittered Cole continued to associate with his old war comrades and in the midst of the tumultuous Reconstruction in Missouri, some former soldiers turned outlaws. Though brothers John and Bob had done their best to maintain the farm, the ravages of war had taken their toll. He was then sent to Alton prison until the end of the war.Ĭole and James returned to the family farm to find it in ruins and the once profitable business long gone. In the meantime, James had been captured by Union troops in the same ambush that resulted in William Quantrill’s death. He was soon made captain and led his men into Louisiana and later into California, where he remained until the close of the war. In 1864, Cole’s brother, James, also joined up with Quantrill’s band and Cole moved on to serve in the regular Confederate Army. On August 21, 1863, he participated in the notorious raid against Lawrence, Kansas where some 200 men and boys were killed and the town was ransacked and burned. When his father was killed by a detachment of Union militiamen in July 1862, Cole’s anger was fired even further against the Union and the Kansas Jayhawkers. After watching the violence for years, Cole Younger went against his father’s beliefs and sided with the Confederates, becoming a guerilla himself, under William Quantrill. These actions began to turn his sons against the Union and more specifically, against the Kansas guerillas. His beliefs however, would not stop raids on his farm by Kansas guerillas, which were referred to as “ Jayhawkers.” During these raids, his stock and wagons would be stolen and his property destroyed. Despite the fact that Henry owned a couple of slaves, he was a Union sympathizer, believing that the union should be preserved and that slavery should be abolished. Kansas, established as a “ free-state,” was in constant conflict with its neighbor of Missouri, which was primarily populated with slave-owning families. The many children of the prosperous Henry Younger were well-educated and lived a good life up until the time that major strife began to break out in the area during what would become known as the Kansas-Missouri Border War. Henry was quickly successful in his farming endeavors and began to accumulate quite a bit of land, as well as expanding into business ventures, which included earning a contract as a “mail agent” with the federal government. The two soon married, settled on a farm, and began to have children. Henry came to the Kansas City, Missouri area from Kentucky where he met Busheba Leighton Fristoe, the daughter of a prominent area farmer. The four brothers - Thomas Coleman, James Hardin, John Harrison, and Robert Ewing, were from a large family of 14 children born to Henry Washington and Busheba Fristoe Younger. The infamous Younger Brothers of Jackson County, Missouri, sons of a prosperous slave-owning farmer, would grow up to become some of the most well-known Civil War guerrillas and outlaws in history when they joined up with Frank and Jesse James to form the James-Younger Gang. Excerpt from a ballad written by Cotton Davis Woodville, 1941 The James-Younger Gang – Left to right: Cole” Younger, Jesse Woodson James, Bob Younger, and Frank James.
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