The Younger Brothers - Outlaws of Missouri

The Younger Brothers

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James "Jim” Hardin Younger (1848-1902) - Jim was born to Henry Washington Younger and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe Younger on January 15, 1848 in Harrisonville, Missouri. He was described as quiet and well-mannered, and more of a listener than a talker. He grew up to follow in Cole's footsteps and joined Quantrill's Confederate band of bushwackers. He was later captured by Union troops in the same ambush that resulted in William Quantrill's death. He was then sent to Alton prison until the end of the war. Afterwards, he tried his hand at a number of jobs, including starting a horse ranch and served as a deputy sheriff in Dallas County, Texas in 1870-71. Two years later, he joined the James-Younger Gang and participated in the train robbery in Adair, Iowa in July, 1873.

The following year, in March, Jim and his brother, John were headed to Roscoe, Missouri when they were approached by several men asking for directions. Suspecting that they were law officers, a shootout began and John was shot through the neck and died.

Jim Younger committed suicide while on parole in

Minnesota after serving 25 years in prison for the

Northfield raid.

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downloads HERE!

Also killed were St. Clair County Deputy Edwin Daniels and Pinkerton Agent Lull. Jim managed to escape. After the death of his brother, he left the gang and spent the next He left the gang and spent the next two years working a ranch in San Luis Obispo, California.

Jim returned to the gang in time to join the ill-fated 1876 bank job in Northfield, Minnesota. Part of his jaw was shot off and he was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was paroled in 1901 with his brother Cole. Jim was paroled in 1901 and fell in love with a newspaper writer, Alice Miller, but was not permitted to marry under the strict parole terms handed down by the state. Despondent, he killed himself on October 19, 1902. His body was returned to his home where he is buried in the Lee Summit Historical Cemetery In Lees Summit, Missouri.

John Harrison Younger (1851-1874) - The younger brother of Cole and Jim Younger, John was the 11^th of 14 children born in the Younger clan. When brothers Cole and Jim joined Quantrill’s Guerillas during the Civil War, John and his brother, Bob, were too young, and stayed home to look after their mother and sisters.

After the war was over, when John and Bob had driven their mother into Independence, Missouri for supplies in January, 1866, a soldier recognized the family and began to make rude comments about Cole. When 15 year-old John told him to be quiet, the soldier slapped him on the face with a frozen fish, at which point John pulled out a revolver and shot him between the eyes. After the dead soldier’s body was examined, it revealed a sling shot, so the killing was ruled as self-defense.

Soon after, the Younger family headed to Texas until mother Bersheba became ill and the Younger brothers, with the exception of Cole, took her back to Missouri to die in 1870. However, no sooner had they arrived when a posse seeking information about Cole began to harass John and Bob. Knocking Bob unconscious, the men hanged John four times, but obviously he lived to tell the tale.

When mother Bersheba died in June, Jim, John and Bob began to move between Missouri and Texas for safety and on January 20, 1871, John shot a killed two Texas Deputy Sheriffs who attempted to arrest them.

Two years later, all three brothers joined the James-Younger Gang, where John was suspected to have taken part in the robbery of the Ste. Genevieve bank in Missouri in 1873 and a train robbery in Adair, Iowa the same year. On March 17, 1874, Jim and John were on the road between Roscoe and Osceola, Missouri when they encountered two Pinkerton agents and a constable from Osceola. A shootout began and John was shot through the neck and died. Also killed were St. Clair County Deputy Edwin Daniels and Pinkerton Agent Louis J. Lull. Jim managed to escape.

Bob Younger was the baby of the Younger brothers.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

Robert "Bob” Ewing Younger (1853-1889) - The youngest of the Younger brothers, Bob was the 13th of 14 children. He was born on October 29, 1853 and well-educated in his early years.

When brothers Cole and Jim joined Quantrill’s Guerillas during the Civil War, Bob and his brother, John, were too young, and stayed home to look after their mother and sisters. During the war, he saw his father killed by Union soldiers and his home burned to the ground. When his brothers formed the James-Younger Gang, along with Frank and Jesse James, Bob later joined them and for the next ten years robbed banks, trains, and stage coaches across Missouri, Kansas, and other nearby states.

On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger Gang attempted to rob the bank in Northfield, Minnesota and when they killed a clerk, the townspeople began to fight back. In the ensuing shootout Bob was wounded in the elbow.

All three Younger brothers were captured on September 21, 1876 and sent to prison. While there, Bob contracted tuberculosis and died on September 16, 1889. His body was returned to his home where is buried in the Lee Summit Historical Cemetery In Lees Summit, Missouri.

Also See:

James Younger Gang - Terrorizing the Midwest

Jesse James - Folklore Hero or Cold-Blooded Killer?

Jesse James Timeline

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