Letter To Jesse James

[Wayne Land]

This is a letter written by Brushy to J. Frank Dalton, who claimed to be Jesse James. Whether one believes Dalton was the real deal or not, apparently Brushy believed he was. Why else would he write a private letter to him and address it to "Jessie James"?

Attachments:

[Thain Timmertberg]

can someone translate?

[Wayne Land]

I can make out parts of it but have never been able to read the whole letter. I really should try harder. When I get some time I'll type out what I can and maybe between all of us we can figure out the rest.

[Wayne Land]

OK, I think I have most of it. There are a few words I just could not get. Those appear as a sad face . I corrected grammar and spelling where I could so it is more readable. Brushy had a tendency to begin his sentences with lower case letters and used no punctuation. That combined with spelling errors and some bad penmanship makes it difficult but here's the letter pretty close to what he intended to write.

<<begin transcription>>
Oct. 27 1950
Hico Tex
Mr. Jessie James
Uncle Jessie I hope this will find you feeling good.
I ain't been well for a month
I ate some Chilli
It didn't agree with me with this high blood pressure
I like to died before the (Jar?) got here
I had the (Jar?) 6 times
I am feeling better now
I was sure proud to hear from you
I was sorry to hear the way they treated you in Missouri.
They got all the money out of you and throwed you away that way, that's the way it looks.
I got a letter from Travis
He said the last time he heard from you, you was getting along alright.
I wrote Bill 4 letters, sent him stamps, envelopes to see how you were.
I hadn't heard a word
I just writing
I wrote to ? James.
He didn't answer either.
>>end transcription>>

Considering the content and the letter being addressed to "Jessie James", I have to think Brushy truly believed he was writing to Jessie James and not J. Frank Dalton.

[nmjames]

Wayne,

What can you tell me about Ola May Everhard? I was in Lovington today and went by her grave. I am trying to find her Manuscript and thought it might be in the museum in Lovington, but they have not seen it. I have some info. on her but would like to find out more about her.

How certain are you that Brushy wrote the letter above and the one to Ola Everhard?

Thanks,
nm james

[Texas Truth Teller]

RE: Ola's manuscript

nmjames,
There are over 300 typewritten pages, double spaced. Her attempt to prove that J. Frank Dalton was Jesse Woodson James was her stated objective. No references, no footnotes, no sources. The text is a hodgepodge of transcriptions of published stories about Jesse James, Ola's conversations with J. Frank Dalton, and stories related by J. Frank Dalton about his life. Some of J. Frank Dalton's lies are obvious. His claim that his mother, Zerelda Cole James Samuel, was born Zerelda Dalton. His claim that the mother of Bob and Charlie Ford, Mary Bruin, was a sister of Zerelda Cole. His claim that Ola Everhard's great-great grandmother, Amanda C. Alexander, was another sister of Zerelda Cole.

[nmjames]

Thanks, Texas Truth Teller,

I have never found the whole manuscript but have read parts of it. I have also met a niece of Ola's who knew J. Frank Dalton and have visited with her some on the subject. I have read letters between Ola and Morrison and have been working on who Joe Hines was and his connection to J. Frank Dalton and Morrison.

Thanks again,
nmjames

[Texas Truth Teller]

nmjames,
I have seen a posting somewhere on the internet by Bud Hardcastle, an avid believer that J. Frank Dalton was Jesse James; Brushy Bill was Billy the Kid; and other conspiracy theories. He said he drove from Purcell, OK, to Lovington to visit Aubrey Everhard sometime after Ola's death. Aubrey gave Ola's manuscript to him at that time.

The connection of Brushy Bill and J. Frank Dalton is well known after about 1935. J. Frank Dalton stories found in the manuscript indicate that he was quite familiar with places in Texas. One of Dalton's many lies was his tale that he visited Bloody Bill Anderson who lived near Brownwood, Texas, under whom he had served as a Quantrill guerrilla. William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed in Ray County, Missouri 26 October 1864. The Bill Anderson who lived near Brownwood, Texas, was my great uncle, William Columbus Anderson who came to Texas from Stone County, Missouri.

I think J. Frank Dalton devoured stories about the Civil War. About 1924, a small town reporter wrote a sensational article that William Anderson of Brown County was Bloody Bill. The story was picked up by several newspapers across the state. If J. Frank Dalton had really served under Bloody Bill, as he claimed, he would have known William C. Anderson of Brown County was not Bloody Bill.

It seems that J. Frank Dalton and Brushy Bill were both accomplished story tellers and entertainers in their old age.

The identity of Joe Hines is an intriguing question. Was Joe Hines his real name? Did he exist? How did Morrison know to contact Joe Hines, and how did he know where Joe lived? Morrison even failed to identify the alleged brother that died in North Dakota. Morrison did not provide the details necessary to make that part of his story credible.

Any way to contact you via USPO or e-mail?
TTT

[nmjames]

Texas Truth Teller if you can PM me your email address, I will get in contact with you. If you can't, the lady in Carlsbad, NM. that is kin to you told me to give you her email but I didn't want to put it where everyone can read it. She has been gone a couple of months but I think she will be back this week. Let met know and we will make contact.

Thanks,
nmjames

[Texas Truth Teller]

nmjames,
This is a temporary e-mail address.
[e-mail]