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I placed photo comparisons of some of my old family photos and known photos of the James/ Samuel family in my book, Jesse James Lived & Died In Texas, so that the reader could see the startling similarities between the faces in question, and understand why I believe the old family stories about my great-grandfather really being America’s most famous outlaw, Jesse Woodson James. I’ve heard the story about my great-grandfather (whom I will sometimes refer to as Grandpa) and Jesse James being one and the same all of my life. As a child I had no reason to doubt my family’s stories , but as I grew older, I began to question them. All the movies and books claimed that Jesse was shot dead by Bob Ford in 1882, and since Grandpa didn’t die until 1943, I just chalked up the stories as some tall Texas tales.
It wasn’t until 1995 that I changed my mind about those stories. After finding numerous photos of Grandpa and his family, I decided to compare those photos with known photos of the James/Samuel family, just out of curiosity. No one will ever know how shocked I was to see that the faces in the two sets of photos matched! My family photos matched photos of Jesse James, Zerelda James Samuel (his mother), Dr. Reuben Samuel (Jesse’s step-father), Archie Payton Samuel (Jesse’s half-brother), Zee Mimms( claimed to be Jesse’s wife) and Sarah Louisa Samuel (Jesse’s half-sister). And not only do I think that the faces match, so do three groups of facial identification experts. One photo of my great- great- grandmother not only matched Zerelda’s face-it showed both women wearing identical dresses. And to top it off, both women were missing an arm! Now, I would like to request that the reader put themselves in my position for a moment, and try to imagine what you would think if you found the same photos after hearing those stories all of your life.
However, the photo comparisons have come under attack from several groups. A small minority of my relatives who consider Jesse James nothing more than a cold-blooded killer, and a group that wants the historically accepted version of Jesse James to stay just the way it is because it suits their own agendas. There are two photos that have drawn the most fire: 1) The photo of my great- great- grandmother showing that she is missing an arm. 2) The photo of my great-grandfather pictured on the cover of my book.
1)Missing arm photo: Those on the James Forum who are trying to discredit the photos, refer readers to the following site: http://www.adruss.net/courtne2.htm. I invite the reader to go to that site and examine the photos very carefully, especially the photo that is pictured in my book ( bottom of page) and the photo that they claim is correct ( top of page). The two photos are identical ,only one of them has been reversed. Of course they claim that my photo was reversed. (Surely they know that it would not have been a smart move to tamper with a photo and then take it to the Austin (Texas) Police Department to have it examined to see whose photo was tampered with.) Please pay close attention to the arm on the left in their photo. (This is the missing arm) That left sleeve and cuff is flatter than a pancake because their is no arm holding it open. There is also a sleeve pin that is clearly visible in this photo. ( The sleeve pin is also in my photo) Amputees sometimes use sleeve pins to keep their sleeves from flapping. Of course my opposers have an excuse for that sleeve pin- they claim it’s just where the picture is flaking, and that there is no pin. They also claim that their photo is a copy of the original photo. I guess my photo is also a copy of an original since they’re identical except for being reversed. Let’s just pretend that their photo is the original. What happened to my great-great- grandmother’s left arm? I’d really like to know. Please note that my relatives admit that my great-great- grandmother doesn’t have a hand in their caption. The point is that the woman was missing an arm. I don’t recall ever saying whether it was the right or left arm in my book. I said that she was missing an arm. A writer for Texas Monthly magazine (Anne Dingus)stated that it was her right arm after looking at the photo. Herschel Shelton (a cousin) upon seeing it pictured in Texas Monthly magazine, claimed that it was not a copy of the original One of my elderly cousins claimed the original was in Florida. After numerous attempts of trying to obtain a copy of it, I gave up. The photo experts have said that my photo is in it’s original condition and that my relatives copy is the one that's been tampered with.
2)Photo of my great- grandfather : My opposers claim that this is not a photo of my great-grandfather, known as James L. Courtney in Texas. Well...that’s what I’ve been trying to tell them- it’s not James L. Courtney- it’s Jesse James. Seriously, some of my relatives claim that it’s Travis Barron--my great-grandfather’s brother-in-law. Travis died in 1891, and none of the relatives living today knew him. Photo experts have said that the man in this photo matches known photos of my great-grandfather. I believe that this photo is attacked so fiercely because it looks so much like Jesse James. Hey! Maybe Travis Barron was really Jesse! (joke) It’s interesting to note that Travis Barron and his twin brother, Milam, fought for the South in the Civil War. Milam lost his life in that war. My great-grandfather made Texas his home in 1871. I find it odd that Thomas H. Barron, a slave owning , southern sympathizer ,and father of Travis and Milam, would welcome my great-grandfather ,who claimed to be an ex-Union soldier, into his home and treat him like one of his own sons. In fact, Grandpa became Barron’s right hand man. In post-Civil War Texas the wounds were still too fresh for that to have happened. But of course, there’s just too much evidence indicating that my great-grandfather was not James L. Courtney the Union soldier, so I can only assume that Thomas Barron knew my great-grandfather’s true identity all along.
I suspect that the photos are being questioned simply because they provide strong evidence that my claim may be correct. For those of you who have kept up with this debate, it’s probably been noted that my strongest evidence has been attacked. That’s a good tactic if you’re trying to discredit something that is perceived as a threat. This must really be a threat. Nearly every photo expert that has examined my photos has been harassed and some have been threatened with lawsuits. It’s come to the point that I can no longer have photographs examined because of this harassment. Why? My opposers insinuate that I’m trying to deceive people. How can I deceive people by trying to have my evidence examined and documented in a professional and factual way? Aren’t the very people who accuse me guilty of deceit themselves when others are intimidated into withdrawing their support? When I recently presented evidence that known James Gang members were listed in my great-grandfather’s diary, not one of those opposing my claim came forward and admitted that it would have been odd for members of the James Gang to have been consorting with an ex-Union soldier. Why? Does it threaten them to admit that I’ve presented credible evidence that supports my claim?
I may eventually be proven wrong ,and I’ll admit that it would be hard to take because I really believe that Jesse James and James L. Courtney were one and the same. Furthermore, so do many other people. Especially those who really understand the historical accounts of Jesse James. Even the James Farm & Museum in Kearney, Missouri has said that I’ve presented some very interesting evidence. I do believe that my great- grandfather was not James L. Courtney. And since the photos match, and since he signed his name J. James in his diary, and since he wrote a rhyme in his diary saying that he stole the name of James L. Courtney and since he hung around known James Gang members, and on and on- I believe that I have a lot of reasons to believe that.
When I have speaking engagements, I tell the audience that if I’m proven wrong, I’m going to follow family tradition- that is... take an alias and hide forever! (smile) Have I proven that Grandpa was Jesse James? The answer is no, but like someone told me , people have been sentenced to death row on less circumstantial evidence than this. If my great-grandfather turns out to be James L. Courtney, I’ll be just as proud of him as I would be if he had been Jesse James. He was quite a man!
Most sincerely,
Betty Dorsett Duke
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