Jesse James Was a Baptist Bandit-
Jesse and Frank James were from a long line of Christian leaders whose great, great grandfather arrived in James Colony in 1619. Their paternal grandfather was a highly respected Baptist pastor from Virginia who fought in the Revolutionary War alongside Robert E. Lee. Jesse and Frank James’ father Robert was a very successful Baptist educator and pastor who settled in Missouri and served as a Baptist pastor and died in California seeking to win gold miners to Christ.
On June 29, 1843, Robert James graduated from Georgetown College, the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. He later earned a master’s degree. Robert was considered a skilled orator, faithful pastor, and educator. He was one of the founders of William Jewell College in 1849 in Liberty, Missouri.
As a pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Holt, he baptized as many as 60 converts in a day. Jesse James’ son wrote that when 60 people were baptized, his father (the future bank robber and killer) was 14 months old and was held aloft to observe the unusual ceremony. Jesse’s son also contends that his father was baptized near that spot when he returned home wounded in the Border War.
Robert James was not paid much by his congregation and supported his family by farming. Before leaving to do evangelistic work in the California goldfields, he had founded Baptist Churches in New Hope and Providence. In 1849, he organized Pisgah Baptist Church in Excelsior Springs. During his eight years of pastoring in Missouri, he was paid less than $100 for his service.
Robert’s sons may have been thieves, but he was not a thief. Robert and Zerelda whom he called Zee had two sons, Frank (born January 10. 1843) and Jesse (born September 5, 1847). A third child, Susan, was born in1849, and all were active in the church.
When Jesse was about three years old, his father was asked to be the chaplain for a wagon train to the goldfields of California in 1850. As his father left their small home, Jesse clung to his legs begging with tears (continued)
Jesse James Was a Baptist Bandit
This post originally appeared on The Blue State Conservative.
