Today we traveled to Kearney, MO where the James family had their farm and Jesse was born and raised. The original 1820 farm house is the structure on the left, the taller structure on the right was added on after Jesse James was killer. The Pinkertons were tipped off that he and his outlaw brother Frank where there visiting their mother and snuck up early (12:30am) and threw a flaming ball into the house which exploded and blew one of his mothers arms off and killed Jesse's young step brother. To the local loyal southerners The James were heroes and to the Union sympathizers' they were criminals. The James brothers were not there at the time and were quite upset, 3 months later Frank killed the neighboring farmer, a northern sympathizers, who they suspected tipped off the Pinkertons that the brothers were at their mothers home that night.
After Jesse was shot his mother buried him on the farm so she's be near him and protect the grave site. A few years later when she was considering selling the farm she had his body moved to the Kearney cemetery. The above tombstones at the farm are new replacements as souvenir hunters chipped the originals away.
This just one of many displays in the museum next door. The boots on the bottom left were the ones Jesse wore when he was shot.
Here's the James family plot in the Kearney cemetery. He's next to his wife Zerelda. This also his mothers name, his wife was his first cousin and she was named after her aunt, Jesse's mother.
The last picture is Archie's grave, he was Jesse & Frank's young step brother killed by the Pinkertons fire bomb.
