REVIEW: Jesse James Birthplace [History Tour]

I’ve mentioned before that I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Jesse James, or I suppose more specifically, all the mythology built up around him. On one hand, he is definitely an undeniably large part of history in this area for many reasons, but on the other hand, the fact that he is somewhat worshipped by people irks me a bit. Obviously brought on by Hollywood films, the story of the real Jesse James is usually at odds with how he is portrayed, and lets not forget the political undercurrent from sympathizers of the Confederacy somewhat muddying the waters as well. With that said, I have been visiting a handful of the sites related to this controversial historical figure, and for the most part it has been very interesting.

Jesse James Bank Museum

Frank James Grave

Battle of Independence

1859 Jail Museum

Jesse James Birthplace; Kearney, MO

Today I am looking at a trip to Kearney, Missouri that I went on late last year. It’s a bit out of the way, but if you are in the area, considering checking out the original farmhouse that Jesse James and his family lived on for a large portion of his relatively short life. He was born there, and for a bit, was even buried there. The site is split into two parts, an interpretive center full of artifacts and exhibits, and a nature trail that leads to the original farmhouse with signs designed for a self-guided tour. if you are lucky, like I was, volunteers will likely be on-hand to give more information on the life of Jesse and his mother than you would ever bargain for at a typical museum.

Background:

From the museum’s website HERE:

“The James log cabin farmhouse, built-in 1822, has witnessed many generations of James family history. It was to this isolated cabin that the Reverend Robert James brought his young wife Zerelda and infant son Frank in 1845. This is where Jesse was born in 1847, and years later, Union soldiers seeking the whereabouts of Frank James, beat Jesse and tortured his stepfather Dr. Reuben Samuel by repeatedly hanging him from a tree in the front yard.

In 1875, a Pinkerton bomb killed their half-brother Archie and severed Zerelda’s right arm. Zerelda began giving tours of the birthplace after her son, Jesse died. Frank continued the tradition charging 50 cents for tours. His son, Robert also gave tours and after he passed Jesse’s grandsons kept the house open to the public until it was sold to Clay County in 1978.”

Reading(s):

For my reading, I have still yet to get around to a full-on book about Jesse James and his numerous run-ins with the law, but one book that I did read was Terry C. Treadwell’s Outlaws of the Wild West (2021) Click there for a link to my review. I’m sure there are better books out there, but it was an interesting look at some of the more notorious outlaws of the Wild West. This book is mostly not about the so-called “James Gang”, but a good bit of real estate definitely talks about he and his crew and their daring daylight robbery of some Missouri banks.

“The ‘Wild West’, or American Frontier as it is also known, developed in the years following the American Civil War. However, this period of myth-making cowboys, infamous gunslingers, not always law-abiding lawmen, and saloon madams, is as much the product of fiction writers and film makers as reality. The outlaw came into his, or indeed her, own in the mid to late 19th century. Some of these individuals, men such as Billy the Kid, William Clarke Quantrill, Butch Cassidy or Harry Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid, became household names. Many of those who roamed America’s West in the period between 1850 and 1900 often appear as colourful, romanticised, legendary characters. This includes the likes of Frank and Jesse James, who had stepped outside the law due to the harshness of life after the Civil War or under circumstances beyond their control. The majority of outlaws, though, were anonymous common criminals. In 1877, for example, the State Adjutant General of Texas, published ‘wanted posters’ for some 5,000 outlaws and bandits in the Rio Grande district alone, almost all of whom have since vanished into the mists of time.”

The Trip:

The Jesse James Birthplace Museum is located just north of Kearney, MO on a fairly windy country road. Once you get close to it, there are signs pointing you in the right direction, but I’d recommend using a GPS if you can. The museum is operated by the same people that run the Jesse James Bank Museum, and has a lot of the same trinkets in the gift shop as well as some of the same staff. When one walks in, they end up in the giftshop and a paid admission grants one access to the indoor portion of the museum. After going through all of that, a door leads outside and all one has to do is follow some signs to find the actual farmhouse.

When I was there nobody was allowed into the farmhouse because restoration work needed to be done on the inside (this may always be the case, I have no idea), however one could look into any window and see how everything was set up and take in the overall appearance of the actual interior. I mentioned before that very knowledgeable tour guides were there and I couldn’t have picked a better day than the one I chose. There was an older gentleman, that I believe was in his 80’s, with a mind as sharp as a tack that was an absolute expert on the farmstead and the history around it. I was able to sit with him for a half hour and hear what basically amounted to a “tour” just in a more stationary form. Hopefully that man is doing well, as he was an absolute asset to the museum – and at the very least, somebody should record some of his conversations as he definitely knew his stuff.

One of my above pictures shows a grave that was once the final resting place of Jesse James. His internment there did not last long as fears over graverobbers possibly attempting to sell his remains to the circus (as was a fate for a handful of outlaws), led to his mother having the grave moved in 1902. James has been buried three times now in two different places.

Family plot after he was assassinated by Bob Ford in 1882
Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri
Re-buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Missouri in 1995

After the aforementioned Pinkerton bomb severed Zerelda’s right arm, she had to try to make ends meet somehow. She was not above using her son’s notoriety to survive, landing on a business of doing tours of her property and selling stones from her son’s grave for 25 cents a pop. This crushed river stone has likely bene replaced hundreds of times since 1882, but it’s still an interesting souvenir to have, and one that the museum still does to this day.

Conclusion:

Overall, this is a well put together museum. Despite the controversial nature of Jesse James himself, the museum never goes out of it’s way to glamorize the notorious outlaw, and instead concentrates more on the history of the house, Zerelda James, and what happened after the Pinkerton Raid. The staff was awesome, and I really hope that older volunteer is still around, he made the trip well worth it. Make sure to stop in and buy a couple of pebbles from the grave as Zerelda would have wanted, and soak in the wild history of this area. Sometime I plan to visit one of the other James sites in Kearney, MO, so stay tuned if this is something in your wheelhouse!