In 1882, a few months after Jesse James was killed in St. Joseph, his brother Frank went to Jefferson City and turned himself in to the Missouri governor. In August and September of the next year,1883, Frank went on trial at Gallatin, Missouri, seat of Daviess County, for his part in the 1881 train robbery and murder near Winston in the southwestern part of the county. It was one of the most sensational trials in Missouri history, with former gang member Dick Liddell testifying against Frank while Frank's friends, such as former Confederate general Jo Shelby, rallied around the accused.
There was an undercurrent of sympathy for the former outlaw from the outset of the trial. His younger brother had recently been killed, ignominiously assassinated by a member of his own gang, and Frank had gallantly turned himself in to the governor rather than having to be hunted down. So, the not guilty verdict was not entirely unexpected, but still, many observers at the time felt justice had not been done. Indeed, history still records that Frank James was one of the participants in the Winston train robbery.
Forty years after the Frank James trial, it was still a subject of much interest, and in 1923, several newspapers across the state of Missouri ran reminiscent accounts of the proceeding. A writer for the Kansas City Star, after examining old newspapers, noted that the sentiment in favor of James in 1883 even permeated the editorial coverage of the trial. Frank's wife, who sat beside her husband with their young son throughout the trial, was described as "a picture of melancholy" but with "a beauty begotten of real refinement." Frank himself was said to have "eyes of unusual intelligence."
The trial was marked by splendid oratory on both sides, but in the end, the eloquence of the prosecution could not sway a jury which apparently had already made up its mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment