The James bros and Pence bros came from the Little Dixie area, Kearney Missouri, many of the families settling from Kentucky. At the Civil War’s end, the James bros and the Pence bros hid in Chaplin Kentucky with William Quantrill. They hanged a rapist—the wrong man. On the run, they ended up in a barn near a train station in Wakefield, Kentucky. I believe they were going to escape on the train, but the Shelby County Home Guards cornered them. Quantrill was mortally wounded but the others fled to Chaplin. [Jesse James birthplace, Quantrill]


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