Mrs. Zerelda
Samuel
The Daily
Oklahoman, Feb. 11, 1911:
Mother of James Boys Passes Away
Mrs. Zerelda
Samuel Dies on Frisco Train
Near Oklahoma City
A Prominent
Figure
Through All
Notoriety She Remained Steadfast True to Sons
Mrs. Zerelda Samuel, 86 years
old, mother of Jesse and Frank James, died Friday
afternoon on a Frisco train while enroute to Oklahoma
City after a visit with her son Frank, at his home
near Fletcher, Oklahoma. Mrs. Frank James was with
Mrs. Samuel at the time of her death. Mrs. Samuel
died at 3:00pm, about 20 miles west of Oklahoma City.
The body was brought here and immediately prepared
for burial, and shipped on the 7:00pm train for
Kansas City.
Mrs. Samuel and her daughter in law were going to
Kansas City to visit Jesse James, Jr., a grandson.
They were in the sleeping car when Mrs. Samuel became
suddenly ill, and died before medical aid could be
summoned.
She was born in Kentucky, and for several years has
been living with her son John Samuel, a half-brother
of Jesse and Frank James in Excelsior Springs,
Missouri. She survived by Frank James, a son, of
Fletcher, Oklahoma; Jesse James, Jr., a grandson, of
Kansas City; John Samuel, a son of Excelsior Springs,
Missouri; Mrs. Sallie Nicholson, a daughter of
Kearney, Missouri, and Mrs. Fannie Hall, a daughter
of Kearney, Missouri.
Mrs. Samuel had been visiting her son Frank at his
home near Fletcher, Oklahoma, for the last two
months.
Mrs.. Zerelda Samuel was one of the prominent figures
of this section of the country during the latter part
of the Civil War. As mother of the James boys, she
later acquired notoriety, but through it all she
remained true to her sons.
Mrs. Samuel was born in Kentucky in 1824 and was
educated at a convent in Lexington, Kentucky. Her
father was a soldier in the revolutionary war and her
mother was the daughter of a prominent Kentucky
family.
In 1841 Zerelda Cole was married to the Rev. Robert
James, a Baptist minister, and a short time later
they moved to Clay county, Missouri.
The Rev. Mr. James went to California during the gold
rush, and soon after arriving there he died. In 1855
his widow was married to Dr. Reuben Samuel and until
the opening of the Civil War they continued to live
on the James farm. During the war, what was known as
the "home guard" visited the home and their
treatment of Dr. Samuel later caused him to become
insane. A visit from detectives of a private agency
caused the loss of one of Mrs. Samuel's arms when the
men in their anxiety to capture Jesse James threw a
bomb into the house.
Later on the late Mrs. Samuel took advantage of the
fame of the old homestead and charged each visitor 25
cents to visit the home. From this she received a
comfortable income.
Three years ago her second husband died in a state
hospital for the insane in St. Joseph, Missouri and
since that time his widow has divided her time
between the homestead and the farm of her son Frank
in Oklahoma.
During the Civil War, Mrs. Samuel won admiration by
her bravery. She was nearly 6 feet tall and of
powerful build.
