Name/Title
Jesse's Dead and There Isn't Any Doubt, Declares Mrs. Quantrell S. Stigers, News Clipping, undatedEntry/Object ID
AM1981.1.50Scope and Content
Jesse's Dead and There Isn't Any Doubt, Declares Mrs. Quantrell S. Stigers, undated.
Jesse James was killed April 3, 1882 and she saw and recognized his body, says Mrs. Quantrell Sallee Stigers of St. Joseph. With her beside the body were her father and mother, William and Josephine Sallee and Mrs. Zeralda Samuels, mother of Jesse James, continues Mrs. Stigers. All of them, she states, positively identified the body.
Frank Dalton arrived in St. Joseph last week. claiming to be Jesse James and declaring that the man who was killed in 1882 was Charles Bigelow. Dalton said that his wife and his mother both identified the body as that of Jesse James in order to facilitate his escape to a new life.
When I head of this Jesse James caper, said William L. Stigers, Mrs.
Stigers' son I sent for mother to come home. She had been out of the city.
Mrs. Stigers, who was 82 years old in February, has returned to the old home place at 29th and Duncan streets. This is the old well -known Sallee farm house.
When Mrs. Samuels came to St. Joseph from Kearney, MO, she went first to the Sallee home, according to Mrs. Stigers. The families were old friends. Mr. Sallee had gone to California in 1849 to hunt gold with Robert James, Mrs. Samuels' first husband and Jesse James' father .Jesse's half sister was named after the Sallee family, only the name was made to be Sallie.
When Jesse James was about 17, according to Mrs. Stigers, he warned her father one day at the farm that Union authorities had knowledge of the fact that Mr. Sallee and others had concealed some powder on the farm. Mr. Sallee and his friend hid, but were caught and arrested. Their release came very soon after the end of the war.
When John Sallee, brother of Mrs. Stigers, died in 1877, Jesse James came to St. Joseph for the funeral. At that time he gave Mrs. Stigers a large penny which is still in her possession.
Mrs. Samuels' act in seeking out her family before going to the body of her son was not surprising to Mrs. Stigers. Jesse's mother went to Mr. Sallee for advice on nearly everything, Mrs. Stigers relates.
Mrs. Stigers' father-in-law was L. F. Stigers, prominent early architect. The old city hall in St. Joseph, the first courthouse and the big homes on Hall street were designed by him according to the familyLexicon
Search Terms
Jesse James death, James, Jesse, Jesse James Assassination, Jesse James Family, Sallee Family, Stigers FamilyRelationships
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Charles BieglowPerson or Organization
Frank DaltonPerson or Organization
Jesse JamesPerson or Organization
Robert JamesPerson or Organization
John SalleePerson or Organization
Josephine SalleePerson or Organization
Quantrell S. SalleePerson or Organization
William SalleePerson or Organization
Zerelda SamuelsPerson or Organization
L. F. StigersPerson or Organization
Mrs. StigersPerson or Organization
William L. Stigers