Update Titled, "Dave's Updates 1-3-00 "
by David Hedgepeth, Dallas Texas - [email protected]
Subject: Dave's Updates 1-3-00
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 21:04:39 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: Mailing list members
Reply to Phil Stewart (12-20-99) post on the Courtney Genforum:
1-3-00
Dear Phil,
Was good to hear from you. I could tell by your letter that you seem more
relaxed. A job change can really help that way. Radio-humm, comedy
folklore is next, right? You want me for you first guest, right? Better
stop or someone will start taking me seriously.
Before I start I want to say I acknowledge your help to Betty by
supporting the exhumation, answering questions, and generally being open
enough to see this thing to the end. We both agree that Betty has
something interesting here. What she has, is the question. Yes I do lean
toward believing that Jesse James was James L. Courtney. What I was
saying in my last letter is that I think you have a traditional viewpoint
and that is where your heart is, at least for now. That makes you the
right person with which to deliberate the facts.
I find my work with the subject of Wood Hite to be very frustrating. You
were right, Orville Hite, the Hite Family Association President did put
me off. Did he know more? Yes, I think he did. What is it about outlaw
relationships that send some people in such a tizzy?
Betty was curious about your sources since some of hers had different
content.
1. Who identified Wood Hite as probably the tall one on the back row in
the Barrel Factory photo?
2. What source reported Dick Liddle's confession to Commissioner Craig
about the shooting and burial of Hite about a week before the body was
removed on April 6?
Betty notes the following to you:
According to the April 7 edition of the Omaha Bee,
"The remains of Wood Hite were found on their (the Ford boys) farm where
they were buried last evening." The article was dated April 6-that would
mean the remains were buried on April 5-the very night that an autopsy
was done on "Jesse's head." If Hite was shot and killed about the first
of December 1881, why were his remains buried four months later?
Again a special dispatch of the Kansas City Journal, Richmond , MO, April
6-yesterday the body of Hite was found about three feet under the ground,
covered with brush; then about two wagon loads of rock, then a load of
dirt. His skull was crushed." |
If the Ford boys uncle, William Ford, told the KC Journal (well after the
reported death of Jesse) that the Hite family had been notified, and a
family member had gone to Ray County (Richmond) and "had taken the body
back to KY for burial."
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But according to the St. Louis Post -Dispatch, Mr. John C. Morris,
constable of Richmond, MO, sent this message to Governor Crittendon. "I
have the body of Wood Hite and am ready with evidence for identification.
What shall I do with it? I claim the reward." Governor Crittendon sent
the telegram back to Morris. "On account of the weather, rebury it. No
reward offered for a dead body." |
Betty adds, "I believe we know where Wood Hite was buried. The recent
statement from Mr. Hoctor casts reasonable doubt that the tooth did not
come from the grave claimed to be Jesse's."
Phil I appreciate your honesty when you say such words as "probable,"
"close," and "possible." Here are the issues and facts as I see them.
1. Wood Hite "may" be in the "Barrel Factory Picture."
Fact: We do not have a confirmed picture of Wood Hite. (Thanks for your
offer to send me the photo to which you referred.)
2. The body that was said to be that of Wood Hite buried in the woods had
been there for 3-4 months and had some stage of decomposition.
Fact: In that case we agree, I think, that it would be hard to clearly ID
the body.
3. There is a conflict of information of how the body was buried-in a
shallow grave or under two wagons load of rock.
Fact: It's a multiple guess as to what was right.
4. You stated that William Ford said the body was taken to Kentucky.
Weren't the Fords and Hites supposedly at odds with each other? Wouldn't
this have been more credible coming from a family member? If the Fords
were involved in a conspiracy, as I think is possible, false information
would be part of the deception.
Fact: No one can confirm where the body is buried.
5. You referred to the Starrs examination that discounts Wood Hite due to
DNA.
Fact: I think that there are credible people, including Mr. Hoctor, who
question the remains used in the testing. Simply put with all said, there
may not be valid proof that Jesse is buried in the Missouri grave.
No Phil, I believe the fat lady has not sung on the Wood Hite case. Not
yet anyway.
The viewing of the Jesse James (?) body is intriguing. Here is a man that
looked who had masked his face with this huge beard. He was on the go a
lot with robberies to do, places to hide, etc. He wasn't the President of
the local Rotary Club or the socialite of Clay County. So how many people
really knew him. If someone had switched with Jesse years earlier, then
they may have been familiar with the new guy.
Some look at the body at the casket and compare the features to prior
pictures and say, no way. So I ask you, have any independent
professionals in facial analysis ever made a comparison followed by an
official statement that the early pictures and the casket pictures do in
fact match?
Now I will respond to your [ question ] (Q) and my response (R). (You
know it is far more fun to ask than to answer.)
[ Q-1. It is a documented FACT that Jesse received several wounds during
his life, including two chest wounds and was missing the last joint of
the middle finger of his left hand. "The man" killed in 1882 had EXACTLY
these wounds. These were annotated by the coroner in St Joseph. For that
body to have been anyone else, they would have had to have found someone
with the exact same wounds. How possible is that? ]
R-1: That is a tough one Phil. There is some indication, as credible as
the Hite information that we reviewed, that says there was a deception.
Betty says, "The man killed on April 3, 1882 may have had all the above
wounds, but how do we really know if it was really Jesse James? That is
the point I have been trying to make. Wood Hite was probably missing a
fingertip and had chest and leg wounds. Where did the "experts" get their
information about Jesse's wounds? The authorities could not even capture
Jesse because there was no description. A missing fingertip is a sure
give a way. (The finger was the middle on of the left hand. It was
supposedly missing from the last joint.)"
[ Q-2. Betty contends that Jesse dropped out of the gang and that Wood
(or someone else) took his place. When does she believe this might have
occurred? ]
R-2: Actually I, not Betty, suggested that possibility and I did not
clarifying the rest of the story. Betty believes and I agree that Jesse
came to Texas in 1871. Likely he participated in gang robberies after
that time, but someone else assumed his position in Missouri. No, JLC did
not marry Zee, and there is no legal document that I know of that says
Jesse did.
[ Q-3. How do the present Ford relatives explain the fact that Charlie
committed suicide two years after Jesse was killed, yet is supposed to
have been making all these trips to Texas? And what is the approximate
date of the photo of "Charlie, Bob and Jesse"? If it is after 1884, there
is a problem. ]
R-3: According to Willie Ford a descendent, Charlie and Bob were in on
the hoax and Charlie didn't die as history records.
You are right. The stories and pictures that Willie Ford and other have
presented to support Betty's position need further examination and
details. At the surface though it surely looks bona fide." Willie Ford
has said he will send me more details about his knowledge of his
grandfather Charlie.
Betty says, " As to Charlie Ford's suicide, I still need to research the
newspaper articles concerning the incident. Willie Ford said his
grandfather Charles Ford, brother of Bob Ford, did not die and I believe
him. His photo of Grandpa (JLC), Bob, and Charlie confirm his statement
to me that his grandfather was The Charlie Ford…"
Q-4: "NOTE: It is not surprising at all that these people came forward
AFTER the book came out. It would be much more credible if they had come
out BEFORE the publication! Have the photos been looked at by anyone who
could possibly put a date on them by looking at clothing, saddles, items
in the background...anything? I was shown a picture one time that was
supposed to have been a group of Quantrill's raiders that had power lines
running to the barn! Oops!"
R-4: Good one about the power lines.
Betty says, " Mr. John B. Barritt did try to have his photo authenticated
(before he knew me) by none other than Bob Jackson (Susan James'
great-grandson, the same Bob Jackson who was to donate a hair sample for
my DNA testing and who did donate blood for the '95 exhumation). Bob
Jackson apparently did not respond."
In your entire spare time that you have saved from driving, I hope that
you can scan Betty's book. You might pick out things from what you know
that would great points to discuss.
Betty said she hasn't forgotten the barbecue. Take care.
David
P. S. Phil, what is LOL? Lots of Luck? Whatever it is, maybe we should
include LOK for the "Lord Only Knows". That is probably where we are on
some of this stuff. Do I hear an "Amen" anyone?
P.S. What would you say if we took this discussion from the Courtney
Forum to the Jesse James Forum or James Forum? Maybe a James/Courtney
Forum, as Russell Ellis suggested, would be a good idea. I don't know.
Comments or suggestions anyone? Hate to waste all this good stuff in a
place where people don't have a particular understanding or interest in
Jesse James history.
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Your comments, information and support would be greatly appreciated.
David Hedgpeth- E-mail: [email protected]
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David Hedgpeth
Dallas, TX
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