Tuscoro: John Younger and the Hanging Judge, Isaac C. Parker

Some of the following may shock you and then, maybe not, considering all that has gone on in the past and even today, people just don’t seem to be who they claim to be… and no one seems to have died when history says they did!… what a time to live eh?

John Younger

John Younger was the younger brother of the deadly Cole Younger of what writers have given the name of the Younger Gang or James Younger gang, when in fact there was no “gang” at all. These boys began as innocent victims of Northern Scum like Bill Hickok.

John Younger we don’t hear to much about, but that’s because history killed him in March of 1874 when 3 investigators, two of which we Pinkertons, shot the wrong guys, but hey who cares huh? As far as their ego was concerned they has just shot John Younger. I don’t know who lies dead at Yeater Cleveland Cemetery in Saint Clair Missouri, but it sure as hell isn’t John.

A little part of the WIKI ditty…

In January 1866, Bob and John took their mother to Independence, Missouri, to purchase winter supplies. Recognizing the family from his military days an ex-soldier named Gillcreas came up to the wagon and made some comments about Cole. John told him to be quiet and the soldier slapped him around the face with a frozen fish. John got out his brother's pistol (Cole's that they had taken to be repaired) and shot him between the eyes.

After an examination of the body it was revealed the soldier was carrying a heavy slingshot that still was tied to his wrist, so the killing was ruled as self-defense.

Texas and Missouri…

The Youngers headed to Texas for a peaceful life until illness fell on Bersheba so the boys (with the exception of Cole) took her back to Missouri to die.

As soon as they arrived they were harassed, Bob was knocked unconscious, and John was hanged four times, and the fourth time they hanged him the rope dug deep into his flesh. They cut him down and hacked at the body with knives He survived. Witnessing this was too much for Bersheba and she died on June 6, 1870, her 54th birthday.

After Bersheba's funeral John and Bob met up with Jim and, because it was not safe to stay in one place, they often moved between Missouri and Texas.

On January 20, 1871, he shot and killed two Texas deputy sheriffs.

How much of this is true we can only guess, may I suggest a WIKI read on John Younger. As it would seem there is a lot of “Citation Needed” I guess pulling it out of yer back side isn’t allowed on WIKI… but quoting some one else who has is ok…

The Hanging Judge

The Hanging Judge, Isaac Charles Parker. O’L WIKI has quite a write up on the Hanging Judge… quite a resume I might say… During his 21 years serving as a Federal Judge, which began just ONE Year after John Younger was supposedly killed… it is said that Parker tried 13.490 cases and of those sentence 160 to death of which 79 were hung. It would almost seem as though Parker had some anger issues. I would again suggest a read up on WIKI… To bad O’L Judge Parker never got his hands on John Younger, in fact I don’t think he ever had any of the Younger’s, Daltons or James’s appeared in his court… and if they did, they went free? I wonder why… Let’s see if the Black book can help us understand the Judge’s anger issues and yet inability to try any of these so called gangs…

Isaac Charles Parker, FROM the Black Book…

One of old Jesse's final confessions involved the true identity of The Hanging Judge, Isaac Charles Parker, the Federal Judge in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, who won fame for his mass hangings.

Old Jesse said, "Historians have written reams about Judge Parker, the good Republican who won a Federal Judgeship from President U.S. Grant, another Republican. With his notoriety, you'd think newspapermen or that great detective, Allan Pinkerton, would have delved deeper into Judge Parker's background.

"If they had, they would have discovered that Judge Parker was really John Younger. That's right, his brother was 'deadly' Cole Younger. About in 1874, John Younger was reported killed in some shooting scrape in Monagaw Springs, Missouri, but John wasn't even there. People swore it was John Younger and that's the way it went into the history books.

"Legally dead, John changed his name to Parker, got religion and went up to Ohio and became a Republican. Despite his pious courtroom appearance and Bible-pounding antics, the Judge remained a crook at heart. I can give you a list of a dozen oldtime bandits who saved their necks by paying tribute to Judge Parker.

"My mother was a Dalton, an aunt of the Dalton Gang brothers and Cole and John Younger's mother was a Dalton, so I guess you'd say Judge Parker and I were kinfolk. After I pulled the St. Joseph hoax and before I was legally dead in 1889, Cole Younger and I often visited Judge Parker in Ft. Smith.

"One night, we were sitting in the Judge's living room and Parker asked, 'Jesse, do you have to wear your six-guns while you're a guest in my home?' I replied, 'You're damn right I do, Judge, just in case you forget you're John Younger and try to put a rope around my neck!' Parker knew I was a wealthy man, and he suspected my connections with the Confederate Underground. He was always trying to pump me. One night, I told him, 'Judge, you sold out to the damnyankees for a judgeship. We're now on opposite sides of the fence and I reckon we'll stay that way!'

"When we were around Judge Parker, Cole and I were damn careful. Some nights, I guess his conscience was bothering him - he'd pace the hall for an hour or so. Cole and I'd sit up in bed, a six-gun in each hand. We never trusted him. There's something about a man who suddenly gets religion and changes his political party. He's like a reformed drunk. My brother, Dr. Frank, was a brilliant man, but he was a terrible lush. Then he swore off Demon Rum and became a fanatical Prohibitionist. I've seen him knock a glass of whisky out of a friend's hand. And I've seen him suddenly pull out his guns and start shooting up a bar just because they peddled drink."

What are the possibilities? Could this be true? The following is the only photo in which I am almost certain is John Younger, likely before he had trouble, and the Youngest photo I could find of judge Parker… although the two photos are at a slight angle difference the match up was more of a success than I thought it would be… I will leave it to your own opinion, it’s a hung jury for me…

Using John’s Youngest photo and overlapping using Judge Parkers youngest photo see the transition below.