A wounded Cole Younger, after his arrest in 1876

Cole Younger as a younger man

Thomas Coleman Younger (January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916) was a famous Confederate guerrilla and an outlaw after the American Civil War. Image File history File links Cole Youngers mugshot from 1883 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Cole Youngers mugshot from 1883 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links A Young Cole Younger File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links A Young Cole Younger File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial)  States that seceded under CSA control  States and territories claimed by CSA without formal secession and/or control Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia... For other senses of this word, see outlaw (disambiguation). ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

With his brothers Jim, John and Bob Younger, he joined with Jesse and Frank James to lead the James-Younger gang of Missouri bandits. A wounded Jim Younger after his arrest in 1876 A young James Younger James Hardin Younger (January 15, 1848-October 19, 1902) was a western outlaw and member of the James-Younger gang. ... John Younger John Harrison Younger (1851-March 17, 1874) Was an American outlaw, he was the brother of outlaws Cole, Jim and Bob. ... Robert Ewing Younger (October 29, 1853-September 16, 1889), the younger brother of Cole and Jim Younger, was a member of the James-Younger gang. ... For other persons named Jesse James, see Jesse James (disambiguation). ... For other people named Frank James, see Frank James (disambiguation). ... Jesse and Frank James, 1872 The James-Younger Gang was a legendary 19th century gang of American outlaws that included Jesse James. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Biography

Birth

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger, born in 1844, was a son of Henry Washington Younger, a prosperous, slaveowning farmer from what is now Lee's Summit, Missouri and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe, daughter of a prominent Jackson County farmer. Henry Washington Younger (1810 - 1862) Was a buisnessman and father to the younger outlaws Cole, Jim, John and Bob. ... REDIRECT Lees Summit, Missouri ... Bersheba Fristoe Younger born Bersheba Leighton Fristoe (6 June 1816 - 6 June 1870) was the wife of Henry Washington Younger and the mother of 14 children including the famed Younger outlaws Cole, Jim, John and Bob. ...

Civil War

During the American Civil War, savage guerrilla warfare wracked Missouri. Henry Younger, who reportedly was pro-Union, was killed by a detachment of Union militiamen whose Captain Walley was said to have been soundly beaten by Cole for a remark he had made to Cole's sister. Walley was a married man at the time and the Younger daughter refused his advances.^{[citation needed]} The killing of his father, by Walley and his soldiers, is believed to have been what drove Cole Younger to become a pro-Confederate Soldier (He was already a guerrilla under Quantrill.) The fighting in Missouri during the Civil War was largely between pro-Union and pro-Confederate Missourians, though the bushwhackers held special hatred for the Union troops from Kansas who frequently crossed the border and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. Younger joined the notorious bushwhacker leader William Clarke Quantrill in a retaliatory raid on August 21, 1863, taking part in the slaughter of some 200 men and boys at Lawrence, Kansas, which the guerrillas looted and burned. No women were harmed. Unlike what Walley and his men did when they caused a house to collapse and kill nearly 25 women two were cousins and three were Coles sisters. This was a two story structure located between 14th and 15th streets on Grand. This barbaric act was caused by deliberately undermining the structure secretly. Coincidentally the downstairs was a grocery store but the grocer managed to get all of his inventory out of the place just before it collapsed.^{[citation needed]} Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Guerilla may refer to Guerrilla warfare. ... In this map:  Union states prohibiting slavery  Union territories  Border states on the Union side which allowed slavery  Kansas, which entered and fought with the Union as a free state after the Bleeding Kansas crisis  The Confederacy  Confederate claimed and sometimes held territories During the American Civil War, the Union... William Clark Quantrill of Quantrills Raiders William Clark Quantrill (July 31, 1837–June 6, 1865) was a pro-Confederate States of America guerrilla fighter during the American Civil War. ... is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Lawrence is a river city in and the seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, 41 miles (66 km) west of Kansas City, along the banks of both the Kansas (Kaw) and Wakarusa Rivers. ...

Younger later claimed he left the bushwhacker ranks to enlist in the Confederate Army, and was sent to California on a recruiting mission. He returned after the Southern defeat to find Missouri under the rule of a militant faction of Unionists, the Radicals, who soon took over the regular Republican Party in the state. In the closing days of the war, the Radicals pushed through a new state constitution that barred Confederate sympathizers from voting, serving on juries, holding public office, preaching the gospel, or carrying out any number of public roles. The constitution also freed the slaves ahead of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It enacted a number of reforms, but the restrictions on former Confederates proved divisive. This article is about the U.S. state. ... GOP redirects here. ...

Bandit career

Most of the former bushwhackers returned to peaceful lives. Many left Missouri for friendlier places, particularly Kentucky, where many had relatives. Most of their leaders, including Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, had been killed in the war. But a small core of Anderson's men, led by the ruthless Archie Clement, remained together. State authorities believed that Clement planned and led the first daylight peacetime armed bank robbery in U.S. history, holding up the Clay County Savings Association on February 13, 1866. The bank was run by the leading Radicals of Clay County, who had just held a public meeting for their party. The Radical Republican governor posted a reward for Clement, but he and his men conducted further robberies that year. On election day of 1866, Clement led his men into Lexington, Missouri, where they intimidated Radical voters and secured the election of a conservative slate of candidates. A state militia unit entered the town shortly thereafter, and they killed Clement when he resisted arrest. William T. Anderson William T. Anderson a. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Lexington is a city located in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. ...

It is uncertain when Cole Younger and his brothers joined with this gang. The first mention of his involvement came in 1868, when authorities identified him as a member of a gang who robbed Nimrod Long & Co., a bank in Russellville, Kentucky. Jesse and Frank James were also suspected of taking part in that robbery, though Jesse would not be publicly identified as an outlaw until December 1869, after the robbery of a bank in Gallatin, Missouri, and the murder of the cashier, John W. Sheets. By that time, the more senior members of Clement's gang had been killed, captured, or quit, and its core would thereafter consist of the James and Younger brothers. Russellville is a city located in Logan County, Kentucky. ... For other persons named Jesse James, see Jesse James (disambiguation). ... For other people named Frank James, see Frank James (disambiguation). ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Gallatin is a city located in Daviess County, Missouri. ...

Witnesses repeatedly gave identifications that matched Cole Younger in robberies carried out over the next few years, as the outlaws robbed banks and stagecoaches in Missouri and Kentucky. On July 21, 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing a locomotive and looting the express car on the Rock Island Railroad in Adair, Iowa. Younger and his brothers were also suspects in hold-ups of stage coaches, banks, and trains in Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, and West Virginia. is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1873 (MDCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting mark RI) was a Class 1 railroad in the United States. ... Adair is a city located in Adair County, Iowa. ...

Following the robbery of the Iron Mountain Railroad at Gad's Hill, Missouri, in 1874, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency began to pursue the James and Younger brothers. Two agents (Louis J. Lull and John Boyle) engaged John and Jim Younger in a gunfight on a Missouri road on March 17, 1874; Boyle fled the scene, and both John Younger and Lull were killed. Simultaneously, another agent who pursued the James brothers was abducted and later found dead alongside a rural road in Jackson County, Missouri. The St. ... Gads Hill is between the two largest towns in Missouri, Des Arc and Piedmont. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Pinkerton guards escort strikebreakers in Buchtel, Ohio, 1884 The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. ... is the 76th day of the year (77th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. ...

The James and Younger brothers survived for so many years, in contrast to most Western outlaws, because of their strong support among former Confederates. Jesse James became the public face of the gang, appealing to the public in letters to the press (even press releases left behind at robberies), claiming to be the victim of vindictive Radical Republicans. The gang, and Jesse James in particular, became a major electoral campaign issue, as pro-Southern Democrats defended the outlaws and Republicans attacked them. Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847–April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, the most famous member of the James-Younger gang. ... Frémont (left), 1856 Republican parade banner The Radical Republicans were the remaining faction of American politicians within the Republican party during the American Civil War and Reconstruction following an 1864 exodus of pro-Lincoln Republicans into the creation of the National Union Party. ...

Downfall of the gang

On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger gang attempted to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Cole Younger and his brother Bob would both later say that they selected the bank because of its connection to two former Union generals and Radical Republican politicians, Benjamin Butler and Adelbert Ames. Three of the outlaws entered the bank, as the remaining five, led by Cole Younger, remained on the street to provide cover. The crime soon went awry, however, when the townspeople sent up the alarm and ran for their guns. Younger and his brothers began to fire in the air to clear the streets, but the townspeople (shooting from under cover, through windows and around the corners of buildings) opened a deadly fusillade, killing gang members Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell and badly wounding Bob Younger through the elbow. The outlaws killed two townspeople, including the acting cashier of the bank, and fled empty-handed. As hundreds of Minnesotans formed posses to pursue the fleeing gang, the outlaws separated. The James brothers made it back to Missouri, but the three Youngers (Cole, Bob, and Jim) did not. They and another gang member, Charlie Pitts, waged a gun battle with a local posse in a wooded ravine along the Watonwan River west of Madelia, Minnesota. Pitts was killed, and Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger were badly wounded and captured. Cole, asked about the robbery, responded, "We tried a desperate game and lost. But we are rough men used to rough ways, and we will abide by the consequences." Northfield is a city in Rice County, Minnesota. ... Benjamin Franklin Butler (1795–1858) was a U.S. lawyer. ... Adelbert Ames (October 31, 1835 – April 12, 1933) was a Union general in the American Civil War, a Mississippi politician, and a general in the Spanish-American War. ... The Watonwan River in Garden City Township of Blue Earth County The Watonwan River is a tributary of the Blue Earth River, about 90 mi (145 km) long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. ... Madelia is a city located in Watonwan County, Minnesota. ...

Cole Younger gravesite in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

Cole, Jim and Bob pleaded guilty to their crimes to avoid being hanged. They were sentenced to life in prison at the Stillwater Prison at Stillwater on November 18, 1876. Frank and Jesse James fled to Nashville, Tennessee, where they lived peacefully for the next three years. In 1879, Jesse returned to a life of crime, ending in his murder on April 3, 1882, in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Frank James surrendered to Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden on October 4, 1882. Eventually Frank James was acquitted, and lived quietly and peacefully thereafter. Lees Summit is a city in Jackson County and Cass County, Missouri. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... A Stillwater city limit sign Stillwater is a city located in Washington County, Minnesota (coordinates, 45. ... Nashville redirects here. ... is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Thomas Theodore Crittenden (January 1, 1832–May 29, 1909) was a U.S. army officer and political figure. ... is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bob Younger died in Stillwater prison on September 16, 1889, of tuberculosis. Cole and Jim were paroled on July 10, 1901, with the help of the prison warden. Jim committed suicide in a hotel room in St Paul, Minnesota, over an unrequited love on October 19, 1902. Cole wrote a memoir that portrayed himself as a Confederate avenger more than an outlaw, admitting to only one crime, that at Northfield. He lectured and toured the south with Frank James in a wild west show, The Cole Younger and Frank James Wild West Company in 1903. On August 21, 1912, Cole declared that he had become a Christian and repented of his criminal past. is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

Frank James died February 18, 1915. A year later, Cole Younger died March 21, 1916, in his home town of Lee's Summit, Missouri, and is buried in the Lee's Summit Historical Cemetery. is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Lees Summit is a city in Jackson County and Cass County, Missouri. ...

Films

• The 1941 movie Bad Men of Missouri was a Robin Hood type movie, that featured Cole (played by Dennis Morgan) and his two outlaw brothers fighting the bank.
• The 1958 movie Cole Younger, Gunfighter featured a strangely middle-aged Cole played by Frank Lovejoy.
• The 1972 movie The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid depicts this failed bank robbery (with Cliff Robertson playing Cole).
• The 1980 movie The Long Riders depicts this era of the James-Younger gang exploits (with David Carradine playing Cole). This movie is the most historically accurate of the James-Younger films, down to preserving the historical dialogue.
• The 1994 movie Frank and Jesse depicts the James-Younger gangs outlaw days (with Randy Travis playing Cole.
• The 2001 movie American Outlaws depicts the early years of the James-Younger Gang (with Scott Caan playing Cole)

For other uses, see Robin Hood (disambiguation). ... Dennis Morgan (born 20 December 1908 in Prentice, Wisconsin; Died 7 September 1994 in Fresno, California) was an American actor. ... ... Cliff Robertson. ... The Long Riders is a Western, produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann, and directed by Walter Hill, which told part of the story of the Jesse James gang. ... David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine on December 8, 1936 in Hollywood, California) is an American actor. ... The civil war made them outlaws. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Scott Caan Scott Caan (born August 23, 1976) is an American actor. ...

References

• Brant, Marley. The Outlaw Youngers - "A Confederate Brotherhood", 1992
• Wellman, Paul I. A Dynasty of Western Outlaws. 1961; 1992.

External links

• http://www.lstourism.com/cyounger.htm
• Frank & Jesse James Ancestry
• Crime Classics - The Younger Brothers - radio dramatisation from 1954.
• The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself - free download at manybooks.net.