Photos of Frank James, Page 1
Welcome to my first of many pages full of photos of Alexander Franklin "Frank" James, the older brother of Jesse James. Born on January 10, 1843, and thereby older than Jesse, he apparently didn't mind letting Jesse be the leader of the James-Younger Gang. Early on in the Civil War, Frank joined the Confederate Army, but was soon captured by Union soldiers. He thereafter joined the guerrillas lead by William Quantrill. Frank's best friend was most definetly Cole Younger, whom he met while serving as a guerrilla. Frank gained a reputation quickly as one of Quantrill's most loyal and trusted soldiers. In fact, he was one of the few guerrillas who stuck by Frank until the war's end. After the war's end, Frank was eager to join with Jesse in his plan for revenge by forming a bank robbing gang. Although usually quiet, he was quite the cold-blooded killer. Some even say he was more cold-blooded and more likely to kill than Jesse. Fellow members of the gang, mainly Cole Younger, depended on Frank to perfect Jesse's plans for robberies and raids. In fact, Frank acted as somewhat as a middle-man between Cole and Jesse. Known for his frequent quotations of the Bible and Shakespeare, he was probably more liked by fellow gang members than Jesse himself. In the gang's heyday, Frank eloped with Annie Ralston on June 6, 1874. The couple had one child, a son, named Robert. Frank was present at the attempted Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery in September of 1876, and was most likely the robber that killed cashier Joseph Heywood. Frank and Jesse were the only two members of the gang that made it back to Missouri after the three Younger brothers were captured and gang members Clell Miller, Charlie Pitts, and Bill Chadwell were killed in Minnesota. In 1879, Frank joined Jesse's second robber gang and participated in most of their escapades. For these years (1879 to 1882), Frank lived under various assumed names and moved his family to different towns frequently. After Jesse was killed by Bob and Charlie Ford on April 3, 1882, Frank surrendered to Gov. Thomas T. Crittenden on October 4, 1882. Oddly enough, Frank was indicted for the robbery of a bank in the town of Independence in 1867, one of the few bank robberies in this time and area that the James-Younger Gang had no connection to. The prosecuter, William Wallace apparently realized this and dropped the charge. Eventually, he was also indicted for the robbery of a train at Blue Cut, Missouri, the robbery of a bank in Gallitan, Missouri, the robbery of train in Winston, Missouri, the robbery of a government paymaster at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the robbery of a train at Rocky Cut, Missouri, and the murders of John Sheets, Frank McMillan, and William Westfall. Eventually, each and every charge was either dismissed or Frank had been acquitted of it in trial. After Cole Younger was paroned for his crimes committed during the attempted robbery of the Northfield bank, Frank and he united again in Missouri to form a traveling Wild West Show. They eventually both left the show and Frank went to live on the old James Farm in Kearney, where he was born and raised. There he died of natural causes on February 18, 1915.
Frank James's First Known Photograph
In this photo, Frank appears to be around age eleven or twelve. This means the photo was taken circa 1854/1855.
Frank James, Civil War guerrilla
This photo of Frank was probably taken shortly after he joined the Confederate Guerrillas led by William C. Quantrill. It was likely taken in the summer of 1863. Note the holstered pistols.
