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1914 postcard of the Jesse James Farm pictured above.
Jesse James pictured at right.
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My grandfather, Perry Neal, a Ray County, Missouri coal miner and later a Richmond, Missouri police officer, told me a story that his father had told him. It was about my great-grandfather visiting the Jesse James farm home as a young boy with his dad.
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Grandpa Neal said, "Their mother, Zerelda, was sitting outside on the porch. There were some other visitors there, and one of them took a knife and cut a piece of a saddle that was laying across an old saw horse in the yard. When the people had gone, my grandpa asked Zerelda about the saddle. She replied that when curious people would show up asking about Jesse James, she would tell them that that was his favorite saddle and she would sell them pieces of the saddle to take as souvenirs. My grandpa asked her what she was going to do when the saddle was gone. She smiled and said she would get another saddle."
Grandpa's father, Jerry, was also a coal miner, and the Neal's came to this area from Kentucky, as did the James family. Supposedly the Neal's had a longtime acquaintance with the James' family and, also, the Younger family. An uncle had a vaudeville show and, for a while, traveled with Cole Younger's wild west show. Grandpa Neal was an avid lover of history and particularly the history of Jesse James. He only had a third grade education, but taught himself how to read and write and my mother has his collection of books on Jesse James and the James farm. He once took me to the Mormon cemetery in Richmond to show me where "Bloody" Bill Anderson was buried. A man, he said, that would shoot a dog if it barked at him.
- Sonya Morgan
Site contents edited by Sonya Morgan. Morgan is a community historian, writer, and worked as a historic interpretor at the James Farm. She served on the Excelsior Springs Historical Museum Board and presently serves on the Excelsior Springs Historic Preservation Commission. |
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