Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
http://millennium.fortunecity.com/fig/319/stories.htm
This is a family legend handed down by Gene's Grandfather James Blaine (son of James H. and Nancy Fletcher). Thought you might find this bit of "family history" interesting. It might have been that James H. was visiting this relative when the picture of him was taken. This is the story that James Blaine passed down to his children. James H. had a realtive named Jimmy Weddington (I'm not sure if he was a cousin, brother or what). They lived in Missouri for a while and apparently Jimmy (known as Little Jimmy by the family) fell in with the James gang for a while. In the middle of the night, Little Jimmy came riding up to the house in Ky with the James gang in tow. Seems they'd robbed a bank somewhere and a posse had been after them for days. Little Jimmy told them he knew of a safe place to hide out. They woke James H. and Sarah and asked for permission to come in the house. One of the gang took the horses and led them up the mountain to hide them. Jesse came into the kitchen with a saddle bag and Sarah lit the stove to fix them a meal. James H. told all the children (I think James Blaine may have been 10 or 12 at the time) to hide in their rooms and not come out. James Blaine recalls them all peeking out the crack of the door and watching the goings on in the kitchen. He remembered seeing Jesse leave the kitchen with the bulging saddle bags and return a while later empty handed and covered in dirt. He said that Jesse was very polite to his parents and didn't seem like a bad fellow at all. Sometime later the posse arrived and surrounded the house. They demanded that the James boys come out. When Jesse refused to surrender, the posse started shooting into the house. According to James B. all the kids dove under the beds terrified. Luckily, nobody was shot and the James gang escaped out the back and took off up the mountain. They managed to elude the posse. When my husband was a small boy, he said his G-Aunt Florence who still lived in the old house (she was James B. and John F.'s sister), would tell him this story and then point out the bullet holes which had never been covered up. Gene remembers seeing the bullet holes and putting his finger in them. This house is still standing complete with bullet holes, although the family doesn't live in it anymore. The family legend tells that Jesse buried those saddle bags on the mountain behind the house and in his haste to get away from the posse, never recovered them. Gene remembers spending many hours on that mountain digging holes everywhere and searching for those saddlebags. To this day, it is not known whether they are still there or if Jesse sneaked back later and dug them up.
This is a family legend handed down by Gene's Grandfather James Blaine (son of James H. and Nancy Fletcher). Thought you might find this bit of "family history" interesting. It might have been that James H. was visiting this relative when the picture of him was taken. This is the story that James Blaine passed down to his children. James H. had a realtive named Jimmy Weddington (I'm not sure if he was a cousin, brother or what). They lived in Missouri for a while and apparently Jimmy (known as Little Jimmy by the family) fell in with the James gang for a while. In the middle of the night, Little Jimmy came riding up to the house in Ky with the James gang in tow. Seems they'd robbed a bank somewhere and a posse had been after them for days. Little Jimmy told them he knew of a safe place to hide out. They woke James H. and Sarah and asked for permission to come in the house. One of the gang took the horses and led them up the mountain to hide them. Jesse came into the kitchen with a saddle bag and Sarah lit the stove to fix them a meal. James H. told all the children (I think James Blaine may have been 10 or 12 at the time) to hide in their rooms and not come out. James Blaine recalls them all peeking out the crack of the door and watching the goings on in the kitchen. He remembered seeing Jesse leave the kitchen with the bulging saddle bags and return a while later empty handed and covered in dirt. He said that Jesse was very polite to his parents and didn't seem like a bad fellow at all. Sometime later the posse arrived and surrounded the house. They demanded that the James boys come out. When Jesse refused to surrender, the posse started shooting into the house. According to James B. all the kids dove under the beds terrified. Luckily, nobody was shot and the James gang escaped out the back and took off up the mountain. They managed to elude the posse. When my husband was a small boy, he said his G-Aunt Florence who still lived in the old house (she was James B. and John F.'s sister), would tell him this story and then point out the bullet holes which had never been covered up. Gene remembers seeing the bullet holes and putting his finger in them. This house is still standing complete with bullet holes, although the family doesn't live in it anymore. The family legend tells that Jesse buried those saddle bags on the mountain behind the house and in his haste to get away from the posse, never recovered them. Gene remembers spending many hours on that mountain digging holes everywhere and searching for those saddlebags. To this day, it is not known whether they are still there or if Jesse sneaked back later and dug them up.
