The Younger Brothers - Outlaws of Missouri

The Younger Brothers

For the next several years, the gang, which included such notorious men as Jesse and Frank James, Clell Miller, Bill Chadwell and Charlie Pitts, also added James, John and Bob Younger to their ranks. The large, loosely organized group of former guerrillas carried out robberies and hold-ups throughout the South and Midwest. The Younger brothers took part in an estimated 12 bank robberies, seven train robbers, and four stagecoach robberies, leaving behind at least 11 dead citizens.

In the meantime, in March, 1874, while Jim and John were involved in a shoot-out near Roscoe, Missouri with Pinkerton Agents. When the smoke cleared, John Younger, St. Clair County Deputy Edwin Daniels and Pinkerton Agent Lull were killed, but Jim managed to escape.

The attempted robbery in Northfield, Minnesota would spell the death of the James-Younger Gang, though a later gang would be formed simply called the James Gang.

Bob, Jim, Cole Younger with sister Henrietta

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

After taking the train to Minneapolis in early September, 1876, the group split up, with one party going to Mankato and the other to Red Wing, on either side of Northfield. After scouting the area, they attempted to rob the bank on September 7, 1876. Jesse and Frank James, along with Bob Younger, went inside the bank and while Cole and Jim Younger, Bill Chadwell, Clell Miller , and Charlie Pitts stood guard outside.

Inside the bank, the three outlaws demanded that the vault be opened and the money surrendered. However, Joseph Lee Heywood, the bank clerk on duty, refused to do so and was shot and killed. Hearing shots, Northfield Northfield citizens realized that a robbery was in progress and taking up arms they began to shoot at those outside, killing Miller and Chadwell and hitting Cole Younger in the thigh. In the meantime, Jesse, Frank and Bob Younger fled from the bank, and Bob was shot in the right elbow. Returning the fire, the gang killed Nicholas Gustavson, a Swedish man who was caught in the crossfire.

The surviving gang members then took off and were quickly pursued by posses. Near Mankato, the gang split up with the Younger brothers and Charlie Pitts going one way and the James brothers, another. After covering some 400 miles in the search for the outlaws, the posse caught up with the Youngers near Madelia, Minnesota on September 21, 1876 and after a gunfight erupted, Charlie Pitts was killed and the Younger brothers further wounded. Finally, they surrendered. Tried in Faribault, Minnesota, they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25 years in the state prison at Stillwater. Bob Younger died in prison in 1889; Jim was pardoned in 1901 but committed suicide the following year; and Cole, who was also pardoned in 1901, lived until 1916.

The Younger Brothers

Thomas Coleman "Cole" Younger (1844-1916) - Confederate guerrilla and one of the leaders of the James-Younger Gang, Cole Younger was born on January 15, 1844, the seventh of 14 children of Henry Washington and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe Younger. Despite his father's support of the Union, Cole supported pro-slavery Missouri after struggles began between Kansas and Missouri prior to the Civil War. He joined William Quantrill's guerrillas in 1861 and took part in the Lawrence, Kansas raid on August 21, 1863, which left some 200 men and boys dead and the city ransacked and burned.

In 1864 moved on to serve in the regular Confederate Army. He was soon made captain and led his men into Louisiana and later into California, where he remained until the close of the war. Cole returned to his home in 1865 to find the family farm in ruins.

An embittered Cole continued to associate with his old war comrades and in the midst of the tumultuous Reconstruction in Missouri, some former soldiers, including Cole Younger, turned outlaw.

Cole Younger after having been injured during his

capture after the Northfield, Minnesota raid.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

Claiming to be taking revenge against Yankee capitalist banks and railroads, the James-Younger Gang made its first robbery on February 13, 1866, when the men stormed the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri taking over $60,000 in cash and bonds.

Taking a leadership role in the James-Younger Gang, he participated in a number of bank, train and stagecoach robberies over the next several years, though he would insist until the end of his life that he never robbed a bank in Missouri.

Following the attempted Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery on September 7, 1876, which netted the gang nothing and resulted in gunplay with local citizens. Gang members, Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell were killed and Bob Younger was badly wounded through the elbow. Also killed were two townspeople, including the bank cashier, before the gang fled empty-handed.

Near Mankato, the gang split up with the Younger brothers and Charlie Pitts going one way and the James brothers another. Though Frank and Jesse made it safely back to Missouri, the Youngers were not so fortunate. When a posse caught up with the four men near Madelia, Minnesota on September 21, 1876, a gunfight erupted, in which, Charlie Pitts was killed and the Younger brothers wounded. Finally, they surrendered. Tried in Faribault, Minnesota, they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 25 years in the state prison at Stillwater.

Thomas Coleman Younger in his later years.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

After serving more than twenty years in prison, Cole was paroled in 1901 but was not allowed to leave the State of Minnesota. Cole, along with brother Jim sold tombstones and insurance for a time. Cole received an official pardon in 1903 and returned home to Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Cole reunited with Frank James in a touring Wild West show for a time and also went on the lecture circuit preaching the evils of crime. In 1903, he published a brief autobiography entitled, The Story of Cole Younger, in which he portrayed himself as a Confederate avenger rather than an outlaw. In his last years, he declared that he had become a Christian and was known as an elderly churchgoer in his hometown. He died quietly on March 21, 1916 and is buried in the Lee's Summit Historical Cemetery.

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