Update Titled, "Dave's Updates1-24-00 #2 "
by David Hedgepeth, Dallas Texas - [email protected]
Subject: Dave's Updates1-24-00 #2
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 19:36:43 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: Mailing list members
Reply to a letter from Judge James R. Ross to Betty Duke on December 1,
1999.
January 8, 2000
Dear Mr. Ross,
It's no surprise that you dispute the findings I presented in Jesse James
Lived & Died in Texas. I certainly understand that you have grown weary
of defending your lineage. I'm sorry if my claim has added to your burden;
it is not my intention to cause you, or your family, any additional turmoil.
I am only trying to determine my true heritage. I was hopeful that once
you examined my book, you would concur that I have just cause to believe that
James Courtney and Jesse James were one and the same. The photo
comparison alone shows that this is not just another hoax. Three different groups
of facial identification experts have concluded that the photos of my
great-grandfather and his family, match historically accepted photos of
the James/Samuel family.
Regarding the 1995 exhumation: I agree that George Washington University
is a fine institution. I also agree that the scientists who performed the
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing were well qualified to do so. However,
I do question the origin of the teeth that Professor James Starrs provided
to those scientists for mtDNA testing. I realize that you may not be aware
of all of the facts concerning the 1995 exhumation of the purported grave of
Jesse James. They certainly haven't been reported on any of the documentaries I've seen on the subject.
Starrs exhumed two graves during the summer of 1995:
1. The Mt. Olivet site (Mt. Olivet Cemetery) July 17-19; and
2. The original site in the yard of the James Farm - September 15.
Starrs unearthed approximately fifteen teeth from the Mt. Olivet site.
The mtDNA results of those teeth were expected by mid-September. Starrs
maintains that those teeth provided the mtDNA used for testing.
That's why it's so odd that Starrs obtained a court order to exhume a
Tupperware bowl from the original site on September 15. The exact date
he was expecting the mtDNA results from the Mt. Olivet site. Starrs' main
purpose for exhuming the Tupperware bowl was to retrieve a tooth that was
believed to be encased there. He was even quoted in the Kearney Courier
as saying "that tooth could be the tooth that tells the tale." However,
Starrs was disappointed because there was no tooth in the Tupperware bowl.
It just doesn't make sense that Starrs would go to all of that trouble of
exhuming a Tupperware bowl, just to get a tooth, if the fifteenth teeth retrieved from the Mt. Olivet site had indeed yielded the mtDNA he needed.
So the only logical question is, just where did Starrs get the teeth used for mtDNA testing?
According to Gene Gentrup, the former associate editor of the Kearney Courier, "Starrs credited a tooth retrieved from the James Farm Museum as being key to his probe." (Two human teeth found on the grounds in 1976 were placed in the museum. The James family had lived on this site for over 60 years. The teeth could have belonged to Zerelda or any one of her children). Not only did the teeth come from the museum, but so did the hair that was used for mtDNA testing. It's important to note here that the James Farm Museum has a sample of Zerelda James Samuel's (Jesse's mother) hair on display. Hmmm… It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that the hair and teeth would have had to come from the Mt. Olivet site before anyone could possibly say who's buried there.
· The teeth unearthed from the Mt. Olivet site were corroded and heavily stained showing that they belonged to a regular tobacco user. Yet Zee (reported to be Jesse's wife) testified at the coroner's inquest that Jesse James "neither smoked nor chewed."
· When the Mt. Olivet site was exhumed, the skeletal remains were found
face down, and some of the bones "were positioned out of their anatomical
location. It was speculated that the reason for this unorthodox burial
was to inflict a final indignity upon Jesse James." (I can only imagine that
the skull was probably placed on his rear end - in effect, kissing his _____
good-bye). |
Now that really doesn't add up. The James family was in charge of the exhumation of the remains from the original site in 1902 and the reburial of those remains shortly thereafter in the Mt. Olivet site. Judging from the way the remains were found, I'd say they had buried an enemy, not a beloved family member.
As for your suggestion of each of us betting $250,000, as you put it, "we should put our money where our mouths are". I believe we should let the evidence do the talking. It'll be hard enough for one of us to lose what we both believe is our rightful heritage, without losing money as well.
Respectfully,
Betty Dorsett Duke
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Your comments, information and support would be greatly appreciated.
David Hedgpeth- E-mail: [email protected]
Contact me if you want to be added or deleted from the update notices.
David Hedgpeth
Dallas, TX
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Note to readers: You may review all the past and present correspondence
on the Jesse James/James L. Courtney Debate at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ivyplace/hedgpethg.html
Also you may contact David Hedgpeth at [email protected] to be added to the
e-mail list ("Dave's Updates") or for direct comments/questions.
PS: Those subscribing to "Dave's Updates"may want to subscribe to
[email protected] for some valuable discussion on history
related to the Jesse James Family and the James Gang.
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