St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

Kansas City Evening Star
21 July 1881

Chicago Times - The robbery of the Rock Island & Pacific train at Winston on Friday night was, it is now very generally believed, done under the leadership of the notorious desperado Jesse James. Jesse and Frank James are now the only ones left of the old band of desperadoes whose name was a terror throughout the Missouri valley for years.
Frank James, it is understood, is living on his cattle ranch in the pan handle of Texas, and trying to behave himself, or at least, to restrain his brutal passions to a certain degree; but his brother Jesse is too restless and improvident a man ever to be anything else than an outlaw. He has been bred to the business of crime, and it is second nature to him to murder and rob. Although he has made a large sum of money by his famous robberies, he has not been able to retain any of it, and parties who have seen him in and about Kansas City during the past few months say he was "down at the heel," and in bad shape financially. He is an inveterate and a hard gambler, and diligent pursuit of that line of business has reduced him to penury almost.
The police here, however, are firmly convinced that Jesse James set up the job at Winston and carried it through, and at Pinkerton’s detective agency the same theory is held. Francis Warner, the superintendent, and W. A. “Billy” Pinkerton, who know a great deal about these Missouri desperadoes, say there is very little doubt that Jesse James was the leading spirit of the outrage. "It is just like the jobs in which he has taken part before," said Mr. Warner. "It bears too many of his marks to be mistaken for the work of somebody else. He is known to have been in that part of the country for several weeks, hard up and wolfish. The people among whom he lived for so long are friendly to him. Many is the time they have secreted and protected him and his brother marauders when the officers were after them, and he can always rely on them when he has work to do."
"Jesse James," said Mr. Pinkerton, "is a blood-thirsty devil, and the murder of Conductor Westfall is just like one of his acts. On several occasions he has shot down men wantonly, and without the shadow of an excuse. The Northfield bank cashier was murdered in cold blood, and without cause. There are other instances of the same kind, showing what kind of a man he is. Then the description of the ‘tall man’ who led the Winston train-robbers answers to that of Jesse James. In short, there is every reason to suppose that he did the business."
The Pinkertons have had a varied experience in running down the Younger and James freebooters and they are thoroughly acquainted with their career of crime and bloodshed. In a chat with The Chicago Times man on yesterday, Mr. Billy Pinkerton related many passages in their history, which will be read with interest at this time. Much of it has been given to the public at different times, but now that the land-pirates have again made their appearance, it becomes new. The facts given are presented below:
"The gang was made up originally," began Mr. Pinkerton, "of Jesse James, Frank James, Cole, John, and Jim Younger, Tompkins, McDaniels, Clel Miller, and Arthur McCoy. They had acquired an appetite for plunder and crimes during the war, when they served under Quantrell, Mundy, Anderson, the Swamp Fox, and other noted guerrilla leaders of the Missouri valley. After the war they kept on with their lawless work.
"The first connection we had with the gang was after the Corydon, Iowa bank robbery, which followed upon the heels of the Gallatin - St. Genevieve episode. There was a political gathering of some kind at Corydon, when the gang rode into town, captured the bank and about $10,000 in currency, and took their departure with the utmost coolness, cursing the ‘d—d Yanks’ for cowards as they left. Robert A. Pinkerton was dispatched to the scene, and together with a number of citizens, followed the raiders to the Missouri line. The Iowans abandoned the search at this point, and Robert went on alone. He actually was accompanied by the sheriff, and had a brief gunfight with the gang at Civil Bend, in Daviess County. He traced them to Blue Mill ferry over the Missouri, on the border of Clay County, and spent several days in the vicinity, acquainting himself with the history of the men who were engaged in the expedition.
"During the progress of his investigation he visited the house of Mrs. Samuels, the mother of the James brothers, and called on several persons who were more or less intimately connected with the gang. He failed to get hold of much information of value. While looking about he ran across an old woman who warned him that he was being shadowed by a tall, powerful man with red whiskers, who intended to kill him if he got troublesome. Robert was a young fellow then and quite boyish in appearance, a fact which warmed the old woman to him. The tall man turned out to be Arthur McCoy, one of the most ferocious of the James gang. Soon afterward the bank determined to give up the hunt and Robert returned home.
"This was in 1871, I believe. The plunderers soon after the Corydon exploit turned road agents, and a series of stage robberies in southern Missouri and Arkansas were laid to their credit. They did quite a business in the neighborhood of Hot Springs, and after one of their boldest operations in this line they jumped across the country to Gad’s Hill, a station on the Iron Mountain railroad. Here they stopped a train, robbed all the passengers, and carried away the contents of the safe in the express car. The Gad’s Hill case was put into our hands.
"I was in Europe at the time, but the case was in progress on my return. The gang was traced to St. Clair County, by the man who was sent on to make a preliminary report, and there the members scattered, the Youngers remaining in that county and the Jameses proceeding to Clay County, where they lived.
"Operatives were detailed to go into the respective vicinities to obtain evidence of the guilt or innocence of the parties charged with the robbery. Capt. Louis J. Lull and John Boyle were sent to St. Clair County, and J. W. Witcher was dispatched to Clay County. Lull assumed the name of W. J. Allen, and Boyle that of J. W. Wright. The detectives were not expected to make arrests, their duty merely being to look over the ground and report what they could learn.
"Witcher went to Kansas City, where he changed his clothes and appearance and assumed the disguise of a farmer, having previously hardened his hands in order to better personate the character. On his arrival at Liberty, a village near the home of the James boys, he made some inquiries which must have attracted the attention of some of the friends of the outlaws. This was a fatal error, and was contrary to specific instructions, which were to make no inquiries.
"From Liberty, Witcher started out ostensibly to find employment. He proceeded to Kearney, from which point he made his last report, detailing what he had done, and stating that he was on the point of starting on foot to the James farm nearby. As we learned subsequently, he reached the house shortly after dark, rapped at the door, and was invited in by Mrs. Samuels. He had scarcely begun to state his errand when he was pounced upon by Frank James and Clel Miller, overpowered and bound. An attempt was made to extort a confession from him that he was a detective, but this he refused to do and adhered to his original story. They were unable to get anything from him, but being convinced that he was an enemy, they determined to put him out of the way.
"Not wishing to commit a murder in their own house, which would enlist the authorities of their own county in an effort to capture them, they bound the operative upon a horse, and took him to Blue Mills ferry. Arousing the ferryman, they informed him they were deputy sheriffs and that their prisoner was a horse-thief. He accordingly consented to take the party across the river and did so. In relating the story afterward, the ferryman said that the prisoner was mounted on a gray horse and that he did not say a word.
"If the ferryman told the truth Witcher must have been gagged as well as bound, or he would have disclosed his identity. Nobody can ever know whether he told the truth or not. The next morning, Witcher’s body was found on the main road three miles from Independence, Jackson County, with three bullet holes in his head. The first we knew of his death was a telegram in The Chicago Times telling of a mysterious murder that had occurred near Independence. An operative who was sent brought the body home, and it was buried in Allan Pinkerton’s lot in Graceland.
"Word was immediately sent to Capt. Lull to be on his guard, but before he received it he had fallen in with McDaniels, a deputy sheriff, to whom he had entrusted the secret of his name and business. McDaniels was a trusty fellow and a brave man. The three, McDaniels, Boyle, and Lull, determined to work together. They made up their mind to visit the Youngers, near Monegaw Springs, and the better to carry out their purpose and avoid suspicion, Boyle and Lull adopted the guise of land-buyers. Arrived in the Younger neighborhood, the party stopped at the place of Owen Sneiffer ( Theodrick Snuffer), a former friend of the outlaws. They made some inquiries related to the purchase of land, and seeing nobody around left. When they had gone about a half mile they heard the sound of horses’ hoofs on the road behind them, and looking around they beheld two mounted horsemen approaching rapidly.
"‘My God!’ exclaimed McDaniels, "it is John and Jim Younger.’ They were armed with double-barreled shotguns. Not expecting an attack the detectives let them ride alongside, when the Youngers commanded them to stop and throw up their hands. Boyle put spurs to his horse and fled, Jim Younger pursuing him a short distance and firing at him, but without effect. John Younger kept Lull and McDaniels covered with his gun, and ordered them to drop their belts, which they did. He then shot and killed the deputy sheriff, when Capt. Lull drew a small Smith & Wesson revolver from his bosom and fired at the murderer, the bullet striking him in the neck and cutting his jugular. Before falling from his horse John Younger discharged the remaining barrel of his gun, shattering Lull’s bridle arm with buckshot. Jim Younger returned when he heard the shooting, and shot at Lull who returned the fire, wounding the desperado in the side. At this point, his horse became unmanageable, and before he could get control of the animal the remaining Younger shot him through the back. Lull fired first, though he was mortally wounded by John Younger’s dying shot; Jim Younger, already returned, then killed McDaniels and shot Lull again. Then Lull’s horse carried him off, until he hit a tree branch and fell to the ground.
"This was at the close of the battle. Lull was carried to Chalk Level by some colored people, who found him a few hours after the fight. Allan Pinkerton sent R. J. Linden, now superintendent of the Philadelphia agency, on to take care of Lull, and Linden changed the doctor and brought an old army surgeon from a point twenty miles distant to attend him. The wounded man got along nicely, and was on the road to recovery, when he caught cold and died from congestion in a few hours. We were getting ready to bring him home when the change in his condition occurred. The living Younger swore the captain should never leave the county alive. The body lies in the masonic burying-ground near this city.
"Soon after this, the express companies, concluding that the robbers had been frightened enough to make them behave, withdrew from the prosecution of the case. Allan Pinkerton then took up the matter and expended $10,000 of his own money trying to bring the marauders to justice."
"Some time subsequent to the Gad’s Hill robbery an effort was made to arrest the James brothers at their home near Kearney. Their house was surrounded by a party of men said to have been Pinkerton’s detectives. A ball of fire was thrown into the house to light it up. The premises were searched, and when the party left Dr. Samuels threw the ball of fire into the fireplace, where it exploded, injuring a son of Mrs. Samuels by the doctor so that he died, and tearing one of Mrs. Samuels' hands off. It has been charged that I led this expedition. This is not true. The court records establish the fact that I was in Chicago at the time as a witness in an important case. I will say right here, too, that none of Pinkerton’s men were there. The men who did take part in it would be in danger of their lives if their identity were known, and to protect themselves they gave the credit of the act to Pinkerton’s agency.
"The Jameses were led to suspect that Daniel Askew, who lived in an adjoining farm, had furnished the invading party information, and soon after the attack was shot down while going from his house to a spring for a pail of water. It has been said that Conductor Westfall, who was killed on Friday night, was the man who ran the train for the accommodation of the raiders on that occasion. We know nothing of Westfall, and never heard of him."