Jesse James and “The Black Book”

A short assessment of “The Black Book”

It has been near two years since a friend sent me a digital copy of “The Black Book” AKA, Jesse James Was One of His Names by Del Schrader, published in 1975.

My friend told me that the reason he sent me the book is in that he has noticed that I seem to have an ability to think outside the box and that I look at things from perspectives many seem to not think of… I suppose that’s true. He also said he knows that I have studied the deeper sides of Law where in the Civil war is concerned… that may also be true… regardless… I am not one to pat myself on the back…

His motive was for me to assess the book for authenticity, although I heavily lean at this point to authentic, I will not say that everything in the book is true, but this is due to the authors apparent confusions of events and the interjecting at will, his own preconceived ideas.

I will say that I did in fact take deep interest into the events of the Civil war some time beginning in the mid to late 1980’s. I do not recall what fomented this interest but I do recall that the topic of Jesse James and his involvement as not being a part of what at the time interested me. I am not saying Jesse was was not a part of the Civil War, it just wasn’t part of my focus. My focus was, what the war was really about because it certainly WAS NOT about FREEING the Slaves. This is not something I wish to go into at this time, however I will say, the academics of history would have me believe that 364,000 men of the Union army gave their lives for the sole purpose of freeing the slaves in the South and... yes, the North? I’m sorry but if you think about that for just a minute… you might come up with the same response as I did… a very humble but unavoidable, BULLSHIT!

Now, I have no doubt that many of those in the Union Army believed at least a part of this, but they were no doubt lied to, just as we today are being lied to.

These same academics would have me believe that 260,000 Confederate soldiers died, watched their plantations burn to the ground, their sacred churches with their women and children boarded up inside by Union Soldiers, who burned them alive, all because they would not let their slaves go? My conclusion is the same humble response as above. The South knew exactly what they were fighting for, the North obviously did not or they would have switched sides.

Regardless of what the Union thought they were fighting for or what they believed, the Confederacy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt as to what they were fighting for, here it comes people, pay attention!... They knew they were fighting for the very same reasons that this nation fought for in 1776 AND the war of 1812! The difference is, in 1776 they won their Independence from the oppressor! In 1812 they fought against the same oppressor to keep that independence and won! And in the Civil war, fomented by the same 3rd party oppressor which few even know was a part... they lost their Independence. In short, the South was in fact, the Heroes of the Civil war, but then, the looser never writes the history do they… And therefore, the South is made to look like a past enemy, by writers who do nothing more than regurgitate indoctrination, a historian is not someone who remembers the distributed propaganda read… today, the media (tool of that oppressor) today has everyone fired up against the Confederacy of the past, a subject and topic that has for the most part been left alone for near 140 years, why now have they chosen to foment this tactic of division once again among the people? Just wait and you will see. Divide and Conquer. WHEREVER you find a civil war in the world, look closely and you will find this same oppressor formulating that ancient old tactic of Divide and Conquer, follow the money… or those who are trying to control it…

BACK TO THE BLACK BOOK!...

The reason for clarifying the above, is that in order for the reader to better understand Jesse James and his duty in that war, the Confederacy, and what they were up against and all the things concerning the civil war that just don’t make sense, which suddenly becomes clear if you do understand. My specific motive in the study of this book was to prove or disprove the primary claim in the book and answer the question, Was J. Frank Dalton the actual Jesse WOODSEN James? the same Jesse James who was supposedly shot by Bob Ford in Saint Joseph Missouri, NOT Jesse Robert James and any other Jesse, but THEE Jesse W. James. I had no idea just how badly the public has been misinformed.

One of the things in which the academics have tried to smooth over is, the Northern Slave owners, The Black Southern slave owners and why so many of the slaves in the south fought for the Confederacy. The given reasons by the academics “almost” make sense…

The questions I have are many but just a few sums it up for me, one is, why is it that John Trammell, an escaped slave after which, join up with Jesse James who was one of the most important individuals in the Confederacy, the civil war and its cause, possibly even more so than the only man he had to answer to, Albert Pike. Why didn’t John if indeed escaped knowing the possibility of what could happen to him if caught, flee to the side of the North? This does not make sense. There were many others as well. It is a well-known fact that Jesse was particularly fond of the Black people, Indians and Mexican people, they have had nothing but good to say about him in the form of MANY sworn affidavits in the 1940’s. The words spoken by them in the form of an affidavit, is NOT the statement of suppressed and poorly treated slaves! They loved him and at no time did they speak out against the confederacy.

I am not saying that there were not very cruel acts against the slaves, this occurred frequently by slave owners including Black Slave owners, aside from affiliation in the North as well as the South. John Trammell, W. Lucky Johnson, Gene Robertson and many others had many opportunities to cry out against the Confederacy if in fact what was being taught today was in fact true, Why didn’t they? I think you know the answer which was given above, in a very humble manner…

Instead, John Trammell has gone down in history, even the twisted history being taught regarding the Civil war, as one of Jesse’s most trusted friend’s companions and body guard. All one has to do is take a look at the following Image and ask… why?

This is a photo of J. Frank Dalton in 1948, with John Trammell, Lucky Johnson and Eugene Robertson, WHY?.. Why would these three men, knowing well and good the claims being made by J. Frank Dalton AT THAT VERY MOMENT and for the last two years, claiming to be Jesse Woodson James supposedly killed in 1882, and a Confederate no less! Why would they be standing in this photo in support of Dalton’s claim, if he were NOT Jesse Woodson James? The affidavits of that event are defiantly in support of the appearance of the photo. I AM OPEN to contrary views.

The following is another strange finding that for me again confirms the likely authenticity with the exception of certain liberties taken by the Book Author.

The more I read through the book, taking each claim and researching along the way, trying to find ample evidence to give credibility to the many claims in the book, one in particular that just gnawed at me day in and day out, In the black book it is said that Jesse, after staging his own death of which a few of his cohorts didn’t think was going to work, was that Jesse returned to the scene within a half hour disguised as the “Elegant Captain Harrison Trow.”

NO ONE in the academic world has ever elected to elaborate on how it is, that Captain Harrison Trow just happen to be in the neighborhood and sent by Governor Crittenden no less. If any attempt were made to explain, it is made to sound as if he came much later if not days later.

The more I thought about this event not knowing what to believe for lack of evidence the thought crossed my mind… “What if I could find a picture of Harrison Trow, either younger years, same time frame of later years would suffice. Little did I know that all three were circulating but certainly not easy to find. What if… I knew if I could find one it would confirm my suspicions, but we’ll come back to that.

First, In order to experience the full impact of the photos one needs to know what photos on the internet are Jesse, what I have found is that the academics don’t know, nor do the many pretend historians that claim to know something about him, not to mention all the tintype people who find an old photo and of course it has to be Jesse. There is really only one man I have found who was written about more than Jesse his name was similar, Jesus.

Before I show these photos I would like to point out that the majority of the photos regarding Jesse and those surrounding him are incorrect as well as the names of some. And by the way, please do NOT send me your tintype that you are already convinced is Jesse, especially if you are already convinced and can’t handle the truth, I’ll pass thank you.

Let’s start with Jesse’s Mother, whether the book is factual or not, Jesse’s Mother was NOT Zerelda Samuels, His mother was Molly Dalton, and she looks almost nothing like Zerelda, this false notion is in consequence of the story told in the Black book.

Jesse’s wife was NOT Zerelda Mimms, again, whether the story told in the Black Book is true or not, Jesse’s true love was Myra, Maybell or Myra Belle Shirley, and she would remain with him for the remainder of her life despite his many other marriages or flings as the life of Americas most important historic spies required. The two show up together several times in photos, but because so many can’t get Jesse’s picture right, no one seems to see it. 

This poor quality but lightly edited photo in order to bring out Jesse's facial attributes is a photo of "Jim Reed" and Myra Bell. Jim Reed is one of Jesse's many aliases, yes... I am saying it is Jesse.

Myra Bell is NOT Bell Star as many have tagged her out of pure ignorance. Many of the various so called historians have even put the two’s photos in the same articles as if they were one and the same, and I just have to say, one would either have to be absolutely blind or plain flat out stupid to believe they are the same. If some take offense to my comments remember, it is that someone who took it, offense is not given and is not my intent.

Of all the photos there is today with many claiming their photos are of Jesse, these are among the only real photos, verified or not, although I have my reservation on the right photo.

This is Frank James NOT Jesse
Historians! GET IT RIGHT! THIS IS NOT JESSE!

The two images on the left are Myra Belle Shirley, the two on the right are Bell Starr, they are NOT the same person! and I am at a loss as to why so many can't get this right. Jesse's true love whom he married and stuck with through his life was Myra Belle Shirley. JESSE WAS NEVER MARRIED TO BELL STARR!

This is Zerelda Mimms Bigalow, Jesse's cousin, NOT Jesse's wife.
JESSE WAS NEVER MARRIED TO ZERELDA MIMMS!

Zerelda Samuels, Jesse's Aunt, NOT Jesse's Mother!

Molly Dalton, THIS IS Jesse's mother!

Now in all fairness just remember, just because I say it’s so, doesn’t make it so, so you decide….

Back to the Harrison Trow Photos…

The idea of finding a photo of Harrison Trow fascinated me and occupied nearly all my time for at least a day or two when I found the following Charcoal drawing taken from a photo… Drawn by Anna Lee Dillenbeck known for her artistic skills especially of the many images she recreated of Quantrill's Raiders. When I saw it, my jaw dropped as it was near exact to what I would have suspected from the time frame.

Jesse James on the left and Harrison Trow on the right

What are the astronomical chances that the very man who went down in history as the man who identified the body of Jesse James, looks exactly like him? Especially with an apposing possible history that Jesse faked his death and returned to the scene posing as Harrison Trow?

Later I found this photo below, Harrison Trow on the Left and J, Frank Dalton on the right. These two photos were among several photos shown to the little old lady who use to sit on Jesse's lap, among others she picked these two out, she told me the one on the right is him but about 10 years older, and the one on the left is about 10 year younger. 

Still a little more searching and I found this photo of supposedly of Young Harrison Trow on the right, at this point I was convinced of the authenticity of J. Frank Dalton's claim.

Younger Harrison Trow on the right and Jesse on the left

At some time during this spell of searching for Trow Images, one individual told me that they had seen a picture of Harrison Trow AND his wife in a museum in Herford Texas, wow I thought, I knew if I was right, his wife said to be in the picture would no doubt be none other than Myra Bell, could it be? Well I was in for a surprise because there was a whole lot more in that photo which turned out to be two photos at the same event.

Now I do not claim to be an expert on photo comparisons, in fact I don’t know that there is such a thing other than one can compare basic measurements of eyes, chin to nose etc… In fact if anyone does claim to be an expert by site only I’d have to question the claim. I do however “feel” that I have a very good sense of recognition of features based on overall appearance, this doesn’t say much and so let’s just let the reader draw their own conclusions.

There is one individual who is still alive, last I checked, who I interview twice at months apart, the story did not change one iota. A little old lady who as a child when she was visited from time to time by a man whom her father later told her was in fact Jesse. She had some very interesting things she volunteered about him that could only come from someone who had truly seen and knew him. From a group of photos she picked out key photos not only those of J. Frank Dalton taken 10 years after she knew him, but also photos of Harrison Trow taken 20 years prior to her knowing him including the following image.

Captian Harrison Trow 1920

When I recieved the Hereford photos, The first person I looked at was of course Harrison Trow, I personally have no doubt as to who it actually is, but when I saw his wife in the photos I immediately see that it is indeed Myra Bell, but this is my perspective.

The two older age images of Myra Belle Shirley AKA Missouri Ann Trow, are from the Hereford Texas images

I did not expect to find other familiar faces but I did, and as I said I could be wrong. This individual in the following clip is according to my belief none other than Jesse’s Mother, but who is this man she is with? 

Molly Dalton in 1920 at the approximate age of 90 in the two right photos

It took me some time to formulate an opinion of the identity of Jesse’s father but once the evidence weighed in favor, I found a few photos and compared and as far as I am concerned, this is Jesse’s biological father.

Captain George S. James, the man who wasn't afraid to fire the first shot and apparently did not die in 1862 as history has said.

Like Father Like Son
It's just my opinion but these boys look an awful lot like their dad...

In the Hereford photo there is also other suspect individuals, but time will only tell, or will it, also suspect in Jesse and Myra's Son, his granddaughter and great grandchildren of which I have yet to validate in any fashion.

At this time, I have also come to the conclusion that the man Brushy Bill Roberts who claimed to be Billy the kid, and whom like J. Frank Dalton tried at nearly the same time, to tell the world he was Billy the kid, is not Billy the kid OR the photo which has gone down in history as Billy the kid, is not Billy the kid, the chin just doesn't match...

If the photo on the left is Billy the Kid, then on the right, Brushy Bill's 

 chin is just too broad and the overall features do not match, my opinion is, one of the two in the above images is an impostor.