Jesse E. James

Jesse Edward "Tim" James (born August 31, 1875 – March 26, 1951) was the only surviving son of American outlaw Jesse Woodson James. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee during the height of Jesse James' career as an outlaw. His mother was Zerelda, Jesse James' wife and his first cousin.

Personal life

James was named after his father and Major John Newman Edwards. He went by the name of Tim Edwards in his youth to conceal his relationship to his father. After his father's death, James and his family lived in Kansas City and were taken under the wing of Thomas T. Crittenden, Jr., the son of Governor Thomas Theodore Crittenden, who had signed what would become the death warrant of the outlaw Jesse James. In 1898 James was arrested, and stood trial in 1899, for the robbery of a Missouri Pacific train, but was acquitted.

James married Stella Frances McGowan (Feb 27, 1882 – Jan 1, 1971) on January 2, 1900 in the parlor of his mother's home, though she was too sick to attend the wedding.

The couple had four daughters:

• Lucielle Martha James (born December 21, 1900 – June 11, 1988)
• Josephine Frances James (born April 20, 1902 – March 31, 1964)
• Jessie Estell James (born August 27, 1906 – February 2, 1987)
• Ethell Rose James (born July 10, 1908 – December 21, 1991)

The Jameses moved to Los Angeles California, in the 1920s, where for a time they ran a restaurant called "The Jesse James Inn", and remained in California until his death in 1951.

Career

Following his acquittal for train robbery, James wrote a book, Jesse James, My Father, which was published in 1899.

He owned a pawn shop in Kansas City while studying law. In 1906 James passed the Bar exam in Missouri, and opened a law practice in Kansas City.

He appeared in the 1921 films Jesse James Under the Black Flag (with his sister Mary James Barr) and Jesse James as the Outlaw.