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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Mar 1, 2015 20:11:12 GMT -5
Some Fake Jesse Woodson James: James Lafayette Courtney - 3 books by Betty Dorsett Duke J. Frank Dalton - "Jesse James and the Lost Cause", 1961, Jesse Lee James (aka Jesse James III, Orvus Lee Howk) "Jesse James Was One of His Names - The Greatest Cover Up in History by the Famous Outlaw Who Lived 73 Incredible Lives", 1975, Del Schraeder and Jesse James II (Orvus Lee Howk) "I Knew Jesse James", Rudy Turilli, 1997 William John James "Jesse James - Though Officially Dead Lived On for 65 Years," 1981, Rev. Highley Jacob Benjamin Gerlt - "Jesse James, the Real Story,", 1994, by Vincel Simmons, Jeremiah James - "Jesse James Secret", 2010, by Ron Pastore,
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jun 23, 2015 17:09:44 GMT -5
J. Frank Dalton's Tall Tales. Note that he was at least 64 when he volunteered for the Canadian Army in WWI.
Excerpts, THE LAWTON (OKLA.) CONSTITUTION Wednesday Evening, May 19, 1948
~~Jesse's real life began when the ornery little coward shot Mr. Howard and laid Jesse James in his grave." It was then, a mere lad of 35, he decided to acquire some of the world's culture. He departed for parts unknown, namely Texas. There he joined the Texas rangers for a period until he was convinced by his colonel that he should obtain an education. He accepted the colonel's recomendation, went to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he first completed his elementary education before taking up the study of medicine. Soon he realized that his was not the temperament for a doctor and switched to the study of law. In near record time he completed the degree, although he never practiced the profession in the normal manner.~~
~~That in itself, the colorful leader explains, was enough to send he and Frank on the trail of vengeance. But Jesse isn't looking for sympathy. From the time of his official demise in 1882, Jesse James was on any frontier where there was excitement. He is intimate with the old cattle trails from Texas to Abilene, Kansa. Every foot of the trail he knows like a book. Even modern highways, he is far more accurate than his companions as to location. I changed my name as often as I changed my shirt,", he recalls today. "It wasn't healthy in those days for anyone to ask too many questions." The Lincoln county war of New Mexico, staged before the turn of this century, is a familiar event of history to the elder James. He doesn't admit his role, but knowing him it is easy to imagine that he wore one of the names familiar to historians. He served Oklahoma, then the Indian territory, as a United States Marshal under the name of J. Frank Dalton. Later he went to Dodge City, Kansas, where he served as marshall of that wild and wooly cattle town. Bat Masterson, another famous gunman, succeeded him as marshall. These two men were close friends for many years thereafter. Under the name of Frank Dalton, Jesse served as a fence officer in many towns in the days of the first oil boom in Texas. He was a familiar figure at Burkburnett. The lure of adventure claimed him at the outbreak of the Spanish American war. He had been a close aquaintence of Pancho Villa, the Mexican leader. The Boer war found him fighting on the side of the British as an army colonel. Later he went on another expedition to Africa where he engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Hottentots, the only assailants he fled from. Their methods of combat were not those of the white man, lacking the code of the gentleman. Colonel Dalton returned to the states. But with him came a collection os shrunken heads, treated by the headhunters until they were the size of apples. Some of them may be viewed today in the Smithsonian institute. Not content with fighting in more wars than is common to the average man, Colonel Dalton was still vigorous with life when World War I caught his country napping. Because of some of his doubtful relations with the United States army as a result of the War Between the States, the confirmed old rebel declined to discuss the issue. When Britain become entangled, thus drawing Canada into the conflict, he volunteered for duty in the Canadian Army. Because of his educational background, he was quickly accepted as an officer. He concluded his duty as a major and not long ago the Canadian government attempted to locate the old soldier to decorate him. Of interest to Lawtonians and the many servicemen who have served at historic Fort Sill, the outlaw leader was a field artilleryman. To him the term "bracket" means just as much toward hitting the target as the quick draw of the sixgun meant toward health and safety when he was on the rugged trail which crisscrossed the Wichitas. World War I was four years of "hell". Part of the time he served as an interpreter. During his lifetime he had become fluent in several languages. Among them are French, Spanish, Portugese, German and the Indian sign language. Adding insult to his injured feet, he suffered mustard gas burns which made them even more tender. He protects them today with much care. In addition to the affidavit which old Jesse has signed, he offers as evidence the many scars on his body that he is the outlaw leader. Realizing that many will be skeptical, he is willing to submit to a physicians examination to determine the location of scars. One in particular, which is known to the world, is a damaged left forefinger. It was injured when he was small when accidentally his older brother, Frank, caused an object to drop on it. The nail all those years has grown crooked.~~
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Post by Wayne Land on Jun 23, 2015 17:46:38 GMT -5
Really? Well, that was interesting. I'm sure if Dalton told a whopper ever once in his life, that would mean he never ever told the truth about anything. Of course, the more whoppers, the more difficult to believe anything was true, but you never know. There might have been a couple of truths thrown in there. You think?
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jun 23, 2015 21:46:47 GMT -5
"Really? Well, that was interesting. I'm sure if Dalton told a whopper ever once in his life, that would mean he never ever told the truth about anything. Of course, the more whoppers, the more difficult to believe anything was true, but you never know. There might have been a couple of truths thrown in there. You think?"
Nope. Not even accidentally. Just like Brushy Bill, none of J. Frank Dalton's claims have been proven to be true. Several of Dalton's statements have been proven to be false, i. e., Charles Hart was not the real name of William Clarke Quantrill; William Clarke Quantrill did not teach school in Texas after the Civil War; William Clarke Quantrill did not have an older brother named Nathaniel Hart; Bloody Bill Anderson did not survive the Civil War and move to Brown County, Texas.
Dodge City history: Bassett was elected November 11, 1873 and reelected on November 5, 1875. William B. 'Bat' Masterson was elected sheriff on November 9, 1877, since the state constitution would not allow Bassett to run for a third term.
So much for J. Frank Dalton's claim that Bat Masterson succeeded him.
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Post by Wayne Land on Jun 23, 2015 23:46:43 GMT -5
OK. He told some whoppers and nothing he said has been proven to be true. So tell me, has "everything" he said been proven false?
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jun 24, 2015 12:02:00 GMT -5
"OK. He told some whoppers and nothing he said has been proven to be true. So tell me, has "everything" he said been proven false?"
Nope. That is obviously an impossibility. Both J. Frank Dalton and Brushy were careful and seldom provided any dates, locations, and details about their imaginary exploits. Consequently, it is impossible to prove all their claims were false. Brushy did provide the names of three of his four wives, and records prove those are correct.
Extract: "The Crittenden Memoirs", page 372, letter dated March 6th, 1935, Gladewater, Texas, from Frank Dalton to H. H. Crittenden.
"In my story about about John Younger, I did not mention the date of his supposed killing. (I never mention dates or locations if it can be avoided.)"
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jun 25, 2015 13:41:27 GMT -5
More JFD Yarns
References: Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas, September 2, 1888. Crittenden Memoirs, 1939
"(I never mention dates or locations if it can be avoided.)" JFD, Crittenden Memoirs, p. 372. Sounds as if Dalton didn't want his yarns exposed.
"His father (Quantrill) was a Baptist preacher as was Robt. James, father of Frank and Jess." (JFD in Crittenden Memoirs, p. 372) The truth: "Thomas H. Quantrill opened a humble tin shop in Canal Dover." "In the course of time he became a teacher. Then at length he was put at the head of the pubic schools in Canal Dover." (Wichita Eagle)
"Quantrell's right name was Charlie Hart." (JFD in Crittenden Memoirs, p. 362) "He (Quantrill) was born April 27th, 1836, at Lexington, Kentucky." (JFD in Crittenden Memoirs, p. 372) The truth: "Mrs. Quantrill's maiden name was Clark, and the last day of July, 1837, her oldest son, William Clark, was born." (Wichita Eagle) William Clarke Quantrill was born in Canal Dover, Ohio. (1850 Ohio census). There is a monument for William Clarke Quantrill and his mother, Caroline Clark Quantrill in the Fourth Street Cemetery, Dover, Tuscawaras County, Ohio.
"So, upon his graduation, in the summer of 1860, young Charles came to Lawrence and opened a school, He was a mild mannered and gentlemanly young fellow, liked by the scholars and respected by all who knew him. He continued his activities as teacher until 1862, although Nathaniel, his brother, left Lawrence in 1861, when war was declared and went back to his Southern home where he joined the Confederate Army." (Crittenden Memoirs, p. 369) The truth: The Quantrill family lived in Canal Dover, Ohio, in the 1850 census. William Clarke Quantrill, born in Ohio about 1837, had two younger brothers, Frank, born in 1840, and Thompson, born about 1845. William did not have a brother named Nathaniel, and the Quantrills did not have a southern home.
"Bill Anderson (supposed to be killed in Ray Co., Mo., during the war) died about six years ago in Brown Co., Texas, where he had a small ranch, and had been living since shortly after the war." Crittenden Memoirs, p. 372 The truth: This letter from J. Frank Dalton, dated March 6th, 1935, reveals J. Frank Dalton for the fraud that he is. Bill Anderson of Brown County, Texas, was my maternal grandmother's uncle, William Columbus Anderson, who was born in Cole County, Missouri, and lived in Stone County, Missouri, before coming to Texas in 1863. In 1924, a small town reporter interviewed the 84 year old Bill Anderson and wrote several sensational articles describing how Bill anticipated the ambush of Major Cox, loaned his horse to another guerrilla, and left for Texas. Dalton, in his pension application claimed that he had served under Captain William Anderson until the end of the war, and had not been transferred from one command to another. William T. Anderson was killed 26 October 1864 in Ray County, Missouri and JFD would have known that if he had served under Bloody Bill.
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Post by Wayne Land on Jun 25, 2015 13:58:36 GMT -5
I don't want to get into a debate over the minutia of what Dalton said, what was correct or incorrect. The truth is I have serious doubts he was Jesse James. I think he may have known him or even been related to him, possibly a cousin or something. I don't know, because I've never been motivated enough to try and dig into it. Jesse James just doesn't hold the same fascination for me that Billy The Kid does.
I say again, I don't think he's been proven to have been a fraud, and even if he can be proven a fraud that doesn't mean Brushy was also a fraud. Yes, they knew each other, and yes Brushy identified him as Jesse. My theory regarding that would be, again only a theory, that Dalton was somehow connected to the real Jesse and in his attempt to claim that identity he somehow heard that Billy The Kid was still alive, and that he approached Brushy and convinced him he was Jesse. That Dalton thought aligning himself with Billy The Kid would further the credibility of his claims. Maybe that's the way it went, maybe not. But I've never heard anyone explain how the two of them got together in the first place and why.
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Post by mckinley412 on Sept 27, 2016 10:18:12 GMT -5
I would like to believe he was Jesse after reading some stories about him but I can not. He does not appear to have Jesse's receding hair line or the same inner ear. I do believe Jesse did fake his death. Clearly the space between the eyebrow on the corpse and the hairline by the ear does not match up with pics of Jesse James. There are many men who have been reported to be Jesse James. It will be fun to take a look at them, sadly some of them will be lost to recorded history I think. I remember once I saw a book about a banker (from Illinois I think) who people thought was Jesse. Not sure about Jere Miah but it was not Courtney based on hair line.
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Feb 15, 2017 14:46:48 GMT -5
Jesse James is the clear winner in the impostor contest, attracting far more claimants and promoters than Billy the Kid.
William Sears, William John James, Jeremiah James, Jacob Benjamin Gerlt, J. Frank Dalton, James Lafayette Courtney, Senator William Andrews Clark, et. al.
The most absurd story of a Jesse James impostor was promoted by Ralph Epperson. Epperson said that Senator William Andrews Clark was Jesse James in his book, "Jesse James, U S Senator" William Andrew Clark was a Montana millionaire with copper mining, banking, and railroad interests.
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jul 16, 2018 16:03:32 GMT -5
Jesse James Impostors Extract, 1995 Washington Post, 19 Nov 1995, by Blair Harden “Jesse's only known son, Jesse Edwards James, before his death in 1951, counted 26 pretenders. At least 15 books have appeared to explain how Jesse could not possibly be the man shot in 1882. Until mid-century, aging hoaxers with six-shooters gave lectures and collected fees for personal appearances at tourist sites across the Midwest. People who died claiming to be the outlaw have been buried beneath Jesse James headstones in Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.”
The story that one of the impostors, Jacob Benjamin Gerlt was Jesse W James, is easily debunked. Missouri death certificate #11909 for Jacob B Gerlt shows that he was born 10 March 1862, the son of Henry Gerlt. Jacob was 4 years old when the Civil War was declared officially over 20 August 1866. Jacob was much too young to have ridden with the Missouri Partisan Rangers, also known as Quantrill’s guerrillas. Jacob left an excellent paper trail from his birth in Morgan County, Missouri, until his death in Boone County Missouri in Boone County in 1950. He is identified in census records of Morgan County in 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.
J. Frank Dalton, another impostor, has not been identified in records prior to 1930. He was in McLennan County, Texas, in the 1930 census, and in Gregg County, Texas, in the 1940 census.
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jul 17, 2018 13:37:23 GMT -5
Jesse James impostors
Jeremiah James
Pastore’s fictional version of history: p. 278, “Jesse James’ Secret: Codes, Coverups & Hidden Treasure”. J. Frank Dalton killed Charlie Bigelow, who was a cousin of Jesse James named Jeremiah Mason James. p. 265, “Jesse James’ Secret: Codes, Coverups & Hidden Treasure”. Jesse (presumably Jacob Gerlt), while he was in Wichita, dated Catherine McCarthy (sic), taught her son Henry to ride and shoot, before she married William Henry Antrim and moved to New Mexico. Henry later became known as Billy the Kid. p. 269, “Jesse James’ Secret: Codes, Coverups & Hidden Treasure”. The author states that an affidavit of Joseph L. Hines, confessing that he was Jesse James, had been in the custody of a former Attorney General of Texas. The reason for Hines’ confession was to prove that J. Frank Dalton had been masquerading as Jesse James.
The myth that Jeremiah James was Jesse James is destroyed by census records that follow Jeremiah’s life in 10 year intervals from 1850 to 1930. He was born 11 Oct 1847 in Carter County, Kentucky, to William R. James and Matilda Moore. Jeremiah is in the household of his parents in the 1850 census of Carter County, KY; 1860 census of Jackson County, MO; 1870 census of Jefferson County, KS; married Martha Jane Preserve in 1872 in Jefferson County, KS; 1880 census of Jefferson County, KS; and 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 censuses of Wilson County, KS. Jerry M James is buried in the Ross Cemetery in Wilson County, KS.
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Jul 18, 2018 17:57:13 GMT -5
Jesse James Impostors
James Lafayette Courtney
Betty Dorsett Duke claimed her great-grandfather, James Lafayette Courtney, was Jesse Woodson James in 3 her books: “Jesse James Lived and Died in Texas”; “The Truth About Jesse James” ; and “Jesse James, The Smoking Gun”.
James Lafayette Courtney’s paper trail begins with his birth 31 October 1846 in Hamblen County, Tennessee to Stephen J. Courtney and Dianna Dorthulla Andruss. 1860 census, Johnson County, MO - James L Courtney, age 14, b. TN 1870 census, Morris County, KS - James Haun, age 23, b. TN 1880 census, Falls County, TX - J. L. Courtney, age 33, b. TN 1900 census, Falls County, TX - James L. Courtney, age 53, b. TN 1910 census, Lubbock County, TX - James L. Courtney, age 63, b. TN 1920 census, Falls County, TX - Jim L. Courtney, age 73, b. TN 1930 census, Falls County, TX - J. L. Courtney, age 83, b. MO 1940 census, Falls County, TX - J. L. Courtney, age 93, b. NE James Lafayette Courtney is buried in Blevins Cemetery, Falls County, TX. FAG #23319153
Records show that the permission of Stephen Courtney was required for the underage James L. Courtney to enlist as a bugler in Company M, Missouri 12th Cavalry Regiment. Records show that he applied for and received a pension for his service in the Union army.
After James L. Courtney enlisted in the Union army, the Courtney family moved from Johnson County, Missouri, to Morris County, Kansas. About the same time, they adopted Haun as the family surname, and Stephen Courtney was then known as Andrew Jackson Haun for the remainder of this life. James Lafayette was the only sibling who reverted to his Courtney surname.
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Post by mckinley412 on Aug 20, 2018 2:10:17 GMT -5
I ordered a book one time and i guess it was definitely the wrong book or else I would not have sent it back. I was very young, I never read it, just sent it back, but it was about how an old Jesse James was a banker or bank owner from Chicago. I never read it but to this day it still haunts me because most people can agree that the banks are the biggest crooks there are along with lawyers and politicians. So what if Jesse did become a banker... And nobody believed him...
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Post by Texas Truth Teller on Aug 20, 2018 13:51:43 GMT -5
mckinley412, I do not subscribe to the theory that the reported 1882 death of Jesse James was a hoax and conspiracy as skeptics maintain.
There is compelling evidence that he was killed in 1882. Zerelda, his mother, directed, in the first paragraph of her 1907 will, that she be buried between her two dead sons, Archibald Peyton Samuel and Jesse W. James. There are newspaper articles about the 1902 exhumation of Jesse James on the old James homestead and reinterred in a new casket at Kearney.
A search of “Chronicling America” for Jesse James killed 1882 returned 453 pages from newspapers across the county. This article is found in the Bismarck Tribune, April 7, 1882. “THE REMOVAL St. Joseph, Mol, April 5. — The body of Jesse James was shipped from this city on the 7 o’clock train on the Hannibal & St. Joseph railway this evening, in custody of Marshal Wing, of this city, and the family of the dead desperado, consisting of C. W. Jones, cousin of Jesse, R. J. Hines, the widow’s brother, Mrs. James, Mrs Samuels, and the two children. It will then be taken to Kearney, Clay county, mo., and buried on James’ homestead tomorrow. There has been considerable of a wrangle over the remains.”
Mrs. Samuel, not Mrs. Samuels, is correct. I do not know if C. W. Jones was Jesse’s cousin, or if R. J. Hines was the brother of Zee Mimms James.
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