The James-Younger Gang
Come Ride With Us
The James-Younger Gang Rides Again!
More than 50 James-Younger Gang members invaded St. Joseph, Kearney, and Liberty, Mo.
on October 14, 15 and 16 to study the life and times of the James and Younger families.
The event was kicked off with the Jesse James Ball featuring the Missouri Town Band
and hosted by the Patee House Museum. Friday's program saw Mary Mims of Portland, Ore.
perform her new show which re-enacts the last years of Kate Quantrill, William Clark
Quantrill's widow. That afternoon, Waggoner Carr of Austin, Tex., former Texas attorney
general. dressed up and acted out the role of J. Frank Dalton, the man who claimed to be
Jesse James in the early 1950s. His humerous presentation gave a new dimension for the
James-Younger conference. Waggoner was followed by Danny Weisenburger, a former St.
Joseph mayoral candidate, who believes his great-grandfather was Jesse James and lived
until the 1930s. Danny told the conference he thinks that Henry Ford helped fund
the Ford Motor Co. from money produced by the outlaw Jesse James.
A broken rudder kept the "Spirit of St. Joseph" riverboat tied up but it didn't dampen
the spirits of the gang members who boarded anyway for a prime rib dinner on the
Missouri River. This stationary cruise also marked the farewell paryt for Carolyn
Chilcote, who left as business manager of Patee House Museum and James-Younger Journal
editor for the past year.
On Saturday the Gang traveled on a 55 passenger bus to the James Farm in Kearney,
and the Liberty Bank where the outlaws made the first daylight robbery in 1866. The
greatest excitement was afforded by a punctured bus tire; the members had lunch near
the Mt. Olivet Cemetery while the tire was repaired at a nearby truck stop.
JoAnn Byland of Carrollton, Ill, was elected president of the James-Younger Gang
at the Saturday evening banquet held in the Blue room of Patee House Museum. She
succeeds Gary Chilcote, who has headed the organization the past two years.
Peggy Yurczak of Beavercreek, Ohio, is our new vice-president, and Marcia Smith of
Holden, Mo. continues on as secretary-treasurer. Board members are:
Frank Younger, Wilbur Zink,
Phillip Steele, Debbie Roberts, Rex Macbeth,
Donna Rose, Scott Smith, and
Sheldon Smith. Thurston James is our new James-Younger Gang Journal editor.
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For information regarding membership and activities in our orginization, please contact Marcia Smith at nottabadvue@earthlink.net.
For historical and geneological information, please contact Donna Rose and Wilma Hillman.