Jesse James was a preacher’s son

First and foremost, one of the most interesting facts about Jesse James is he was a preacher’s son. On September 5, 1847, Jesse Woodson James was born in Clay County, Missouri, not far from where Kearney is now. He had Scottish and English ancestry. He was the child of Zerelda Cole James, a native of Kentucky, and Robert James, a Baptist minister and hemp grower who helped create William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Robert James also owned slaves. Robert James went to California in 1850 to preach among the gold mining camps, but he passed away when James was just three years old during the Gold Rush, not long after he arrived. Zerelda's family, which included Jesse, his older brother Frank, who would later join him in crime, and younger sister Susan, were forced into dangerous financial predicaments.

Robert's widow Zerelda remarried twice after his passing, first to Benjamin Simms in 1852 and then to Dr. Reuben Samuel in 1855, who took up residence in the James family house. Sarah Louisa, John Thomas, Fannie Quantrell, and Archie Peyton Samuel were the four children that Jesse's mother and Samuel had together. Seven slaves in total were purchased by Zerelda and Samuel, who used them primarily as farmworkers for growing tobacco. Zerelda, who had an iron will, continued to be a steadfast supporter of Frank and Jesse even after they had grown up to be criminals.