A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Research- I ran into Jesse James, Sheriff Timberlake and ex-bushwhackers.

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In researching Navy Capt. Allen B. Reed (1884-1965) I ran into some interesting “Old West” Americana. Reed began his naval career as a passed midshipman sailing from San Francisco to the Philippines on the USS Mohican, a steam sloop that first saw action during the Civil War at the battles of Port Royal and Fort Fisher. His first command began the day he was commissioned an ensign. The USS PARAGUA was a patrol gunboat in the Philippine Squadron of the Asiatic Fleet that fought Moro rebels and pirates in the southern Philippine islands. In 1934-35 his last ship-command was as commissioning C.O. of the USS NEW ORLEANS, lead ship in a class of seven heavy cruisers that collectively earned more than 60 battle stars in WWII and are often regarded as the design precursor to the modern cruiser. Reed’s bridge to the modern Navy is a short one, and as I discovered, so is his bridge to the United States’ colorful, “Wild West” past.

Allen Bevins Reed was born in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, the oldest of four children and only son of James French Reed (1852-1909) and Fannie (Frances) Wymore Reed (1857-1936). He was named for his paternal grandparents, Allen Grigsby Reed and Missouri America (Bevins) Reed. Tragically, an uncle on each side of his family was shot to death during robberies. His father's 26-year old half-brother, Robert J. Reed, was gunned down in Laramie, Wyoming Territory in 1868 while crossing the street with the payroll for their father’s freighting business.

 

Two years earlier, his maternal uncle, George C. "Jolly" Wymore, a 17-year old college student was shot dead while standing across the street from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, MO during the United States’ first peacetime, daylight bank robbery. Twelve former bushwhackers, some that later became members of the James-Younger Gang, including Frank James, rode into Liberty on the cold afternoon of February 13, 1866 while most of the townspeople were occupied observing a trial. Three of the brigands stood lookout from the suburbs, while the rest rode to the bank, where two of them entered and held up the cashier. “Jolly” Wymore was shot dead when he yelled an alarm as the robbers exited the bank with $62,000 in currency, gold and negotiable instruments The shocking hold-up was widely reported, being the first of its kind. Below is a link to the Feb. 16, 1866 story from the New York Times and accounts of the incident from other papers. “Wymore” was misspelled in many of the papers- “Wymoon”, “Wylion”, “Wyman” and “Wymour”, as was the name of the bank cashier, Bird, usually misspelled “Baird”.

 

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70617FE3859107B93C4A81789D85F428684F9

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Before there was Reed, Malloy and Adam-12, there was Reed, Timberlake and their horses. As Deputy Sheriff (1878-1882) of Clay County, Allen Reed's father and another uncle, William H. Wymore, Jr., also a deputy, rode in posse's with Sheriff James H. Timberlake in pursuit of another Clay County native, Jesse James, and his gang of former Confederate raiders turned bank and train robbers. Reed and Wymore rode with Timberlake one night in January 1882 when the sheriff met secretly with James Gang member Dick Little (Liddil) to accept his surrender and offer to provide information leading to the capture of Jesse James.

 

 

Liddil’s surrender to Timberlake, largely out of fear of reprisal from Jesse James for killing his cousin, Wood Hite, and Liddil’s association with the Ford brothers, put into motion the events that culminated in Robert Ford “assassinating” America’s most famous bank robber with a bullet to the back of his skull on April 3, 1882. After Liddil and Robert Ford surrendered to Timberlake in January 1882, Governor Crittenden secretly offered clemency and a bounty to Ford if he would deliver Jesse James. While the murderous James Gang and their eponymous leader were scorned in life, the code of the West also reviled any man that shot another in the back. Both Crittenden and Timberlake denied that they had authorized Ford to kill Jesse James as he did. Predictably widespread public sympathy was with the dead outlaw. Recriminations were directed at Crittenden and Timberlake, with news reports they would be charged as accessories before the fact in the “murder” of Jesse James.

 

The funeral of Jesse James was an amazing public spectacle with thousands turning out to pay respects to the dead outlaw as his haranguing mother and widow called all manner of curses upon the “blood money traitors”. In the category of truth is stranger than fiction, two of Jesse James’ pallbearers were none other than Sheriff James H. Timberlake and Deputy James F. Reed, who had lost a brother and brother-in-law to armed desperados.

 

 

 

Perhaps out of a calculated gesture of remorse to assuage public opinion, perhaps for security, we can only guess. Ultimately neither Crittenden nor Timberlake sought re-election to their respective public office.

 

On the other hand, James F. Reed was the deputy obeying orders. He was not tainted by lingering speculation about the governor and sheriff’s arrangements with the “coward” Robert Ford for the deal to capture Jesse James “dead or alive”. When Timberlake’s term ended later that year, Reed was elected Sheriff of Clay County. He was re-elected in 1884 and thereafter elected to successive terms as county clerk. By all accounts, he was a well-respected man genuinely liked by his community.

 

Competitive appointments to our service academies while based on merit are never refused for favorable politics. Certainly, to some extent the exemplary public service of James F. Reed, beginning with his terms as Marshall of Liberty and Clay County Deputy was a positive factor in the 1900 Naval Academy appointment of his son, Allen B. Reed, who coincidentally was born on April 3, 1884, the second anniversary of the death of Jesse James.

 

Capt. Allen B. Reed and his parents, James French Reed and Fannie Wymore Reed

 

 

Biographic sketch of Allen Reed’s paternal grandfather, Allen G. Reed (1812-1899) mentioning the murder of his son, Robert during a robbery at Laramie City, Wyoming Territory:

 

 

Biography of James F. Reed from “A History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri”, published 1885:

 

 

Biography of William H. Wymore, Sr. (1815-1896), Allen B. Reed’s maternal grandfather, mentioning the death of his son, George C. Wymore, during the Clay County Savings Assoc. robbery in 1866.

 

 

Obituary of James French Reed, Liberty Tribune, November 1909:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for all the Work.What a great and interesting Read.Robert

[67Rally]

Talk about connecting the dots! That is a great narrative and a gold-mine or research yield. I wonder if the wardroom on the New Orleans was apprised of their skipper's background and connections to history?

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Thanks for all the Work.What a great and interesting Read.Robert

 

You're welcome, Robert, and I'm glad you enjoyed the Read on Reed's connection to the Old West. I figured I wasn't the only guy that would enjoy reading what I found. Here's a few links you might find interesting. They go through the James-Younger gang members, estimating which robberies each man was involved in and an overview of the gang's duration.

 

http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/history/jamesgangoutlaws.htm

 

http://www.historynet.com/james-younger-gang

 

http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/jamesyoungergang/members.html

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Talk about connecting the dots! That is a great narrative and a gold-mine or research yield. I wonder if the wardroom on the New Orleans was apprised of their skipper's background and connections to history?

 

Thanks, 67Rally, I appreciate that. You couldn't make up the story. Both of Allen Reed's parents' oldest brothers are murdered during armed robberies in the Wild West-- of itself unusual. Then you add in that the James-Younger Gang started with the Liberty, MO hold-up in 1866, where Reed's uncle was murdered, and ends with Reed's father pulling on the coffin handle of Jesse James and walking him to the grave. The circle's complete.

 

As far as what Allen Reed told the other officers in the wardroom about his family history-- I suspect like most Missourians, including the most famous one, Harry S. Truman, he was a man of few and carefully chosen words. Probably not in the wardroom, but perhaps in the officers club, after maybe a bourbon or scotch, he might have told a bit about the story. But I'd guess, with kind of a twinkle in his eye, and only a trace of a grin, he might leave them in some sort of suspense. One of the last people we could have asked about the wardroom stories would have been former CNO Thomas H. Moorer, who passed in 2004. He was plank owner on USS NEW ORLEANS as a young ensign in 1934 before he went to flight school.

[Garandomatic]

And to connect the last couple of dots, I'm supposedly related or otherwise connected to both James and Ford. We got a phone call when they were scouring the country for the James DNA to see if it was his body, etc. because of a connection to my Dad's father's side. Grandma (my Dad's Mom) was a Ford, Great Grandpa Ford (Who had strong ties to Missouri) claimed to be cousins to Bob and Charlie, and that they never killed James. The caller called back to hear the story, they were pretty blown away. I've tried to connect the genealogy, but haven't had much luck, but it sure makes for an interesting story.

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And to connect the last couple of dots, I'm supposedly related or otherwise connected to both James and Ford. We got a phone call when they were scouring the country for the James DNA to see if it was his body, etc. because of a connection to my Dad's father's side. Grandma (my Dad's Mom) was a Ford, Great Grandpa Ford (Who had strong ties to Missouri) claimed to be cousins to Bob and Charlie, and that they never killed James. The caller called back to hear the story, they were pretty blown away. I've tried to connect the genealogy, but haven't had much luck, but it sure makes for an interesting story.

 

 

Interesting family lore, thanks for adding. But if your great-grampa's assertion that Bob Ford didn't shoot and kill Jesse James was true, it wouldn't connect the dots, it would scatter them! ;-) Notwithstanding the DNA brouhaha a few years back, the consensus based on the ample physical evidence and contemporaneous witness statements is that Bob Ford shot and killed Jesse James on April 3, 1882. There's no evidence that establishes any reasonable doubt otherwise. In fact, Bob Ford was indicted, plead guilty to murdering Jesse James, was sentenced to hang and pardoned by Gov. Crittenden- all in one day. That was some speedy and cozy justice, but it doesn't create any inference that Bob Ford didn't kill Jesse James or that the man he killed wasn't Jesse James.

[67Rally]

This has to be one of the coolest threads in recent years! What would sweeten this research is if Captain Reed left behind any sort of memoir or narrative of his service or personal history. I am fascinated not only by his ancestry but what follow-on generations did with it or even thought about. The perspective of a man of Reed's character would be, in my opinion, fairly subdued and tempered by his own life experiences. Perhaps even lacking the typical embellishments.

[Garandomatic]

 

 

Interesting family lore, thanks for adding. But if your great-grampa's assertion that Bob Ford didn't shoot and kill Jesse James was true, it wouldn't connect the dots, it would scatter them! ;-) Notwithstanding the DNA brouhaha a few years back, the consensus based on the ample physical evidence and contemporaneous witness statements is that Bob Ford shot and killed Jesse James on April 3, 1882. There's no evidence that establishes any reasonable doubt otherwise. In fact, Bob Ford was indicted, plead guilty to murdering Jesse James, was sentenced to hang and pardoned by Gov. Crittenden- all in one day. That was some speedy and cozy justice, but it doesn't create any inference that Bob Ford didn't kill Jesse James or that the man he killed wasn't Jesse James.

 

The "faked his death" documentary that asserted that James was a "fundraiser" for a "South will rise again" outfit was compelling to me, but I am by no means an expert on the material, and tend to figure that the established story is probably right. Like I said, I couldn't find any connection to Bob and Charlie when I did my digging, so maybe Great Grandpa's family just figured they were related and could possibly have been sympathetic to James, who knows.

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This has to be one of the coolest threads in recent years! What would sweeten this research is if Captain Reed left behind any sort of memoir or narrative of his service or personal history. I am fascinated not only by his ancestry but what follow-on generations did with it or even thought about. The perspective of a man of Reed's character would be, in my opinion, fairly subdued and tempered by his own life experiences. Perhaps even lacking the typical embellishments.

 

 

67Rally, succinctly and eloquently stated. I believe your character assessment is “spot on” based on reading lines and between lines of Captain Reed’s service record that I obtained from St. Louis. And thanks for your shared enthusiasm towards this intriguing history of our bygone West. What a thing to see if Reed had kept a journal or memoir growing up in Liberty, Missouri and the stories his pa must have told him. Interesting that Allen B. Reed chose the Navy instead of Army for his career. We know Sheriff Reed spent time in the saddle and it only stands to reason that growing up in Western Missouri at the end of the 19^th century, his son knew his way around horses better than he knew how to use a sextant. His own (and only) son, Allen B. Reed, Jr. was born at Mare Island, CA (1912-1996) and followed his footsteps to Annapolis, retiring as a captain in the supply corps.

 

Do successive generations know that Allen B. Reed Sr. was the product of a union between two notable families of the American West- one family’s son violently murdered by the nascent James-Younger Gang during the first peacetime American bank robbery; the other’s son a vanquisher pursuing the notorious leader, Jesse James, right to the grave 16 years later? I don’t know that answer or what they would think. But what are the odds that in the previous generation on both sides of Allen Reed’s family there were two sons: each of the eldest shot and killed during robberies- George C. Wymore and Robert J. Reed; and each of the youngest becoming lawmen- Deputy William H. Wymore, Jr. and Deputy ( later Sheriff) James F. Reed?

 

I have some research yet to do, but I plan to prepare a post on Captain Allen B. Reed’s 37-year naval career, his medals and scans of some of the documents from his service file. Apropos of his “subdued and tempered” demeanor “lacking the typical embellishments” there was a particularly interesting document in Reed’s record. It’s an 11/8/29 correspondence to SECNAV from RADM Henry Hughes Hough, then “Senior Member of the Board for the Award of Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross and Life Saving Medal”. It references a letter of 8/29 from Capt. Arthur P. Fairfield USN that described an act for which Fairfield was recommending Captain Allen B. Reed for the Medal of Honor. Hough’s letter recites that the award board had considered “the case of Captain Reed” and recommended “against an award” due to the “lapse of time since the act” and “more particularly for the reason that he was not recommended for this award by his Commanding Officer or other naval senior at the time or at any time thereafter”. I found it curious that none of the stated reasons for recommending against the MOH was that the act was insufficiently heroic.

 

Unfortunately, Captain Fairfield’s letter describing the act that he believed was Medal of Honor- worthy was not contained in Captain Reed’s file from NARA St. Louis. I may retain a researcher to hopefully locate and duplicate that letter or take a shot at finding it myself when I’m next in DC. For now this seeming heroic act is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. I wonder whether if Capt. Reed had been a more voluble and less “tempered” personality than he apparently was, his act might have been recognized by a valor award rather than being another instance of an “unsung hero”. An interesting aside— In 1941, then RADM Fairfield retired but was soon recalled to active duty with the start of World War II. Among his duties, he was Chairman of the Board of Medals and Decorations.

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The "faked his death" documentary that asserted that James was a "fundraiser" for a "South will rise again" outfit was compelling to me, but I am by no means an expert on the material, and tend to figure that the established story is probably right. Like I said, I couldn't find any connection to Bob and Charlie when I did my digging, so maybe Great Grandpa's family just figured they were related and could possibly have been sympathetic to James, who knows.

 

That’s some great family history you have, Garandomatic. I hope you’re eventually able to confirm the ancestry. If you don't have access to one of the genealogy sites, I don't mind checking out your great- grandpa's name if you haven't already. It seems like his family, being possibly related to the James clan, naturally would have felt some sympathy. They certainly weren't alone, judging from newspaper accounts of the day. A lot of people were none too keen that even an outlaw like Jesse James was shot in the back. I’ve read a fair amount on the killing of Jesse James, and while I’m no expert either, the evidence just isn’t there to establish that Jesse masterminded and executed a conspiracy to fake his own death. But, anyone believing otherwise can certainly point out that evidence for weighing.

[Garandomatic]

Thanks, man. I have ancestry, but couldn't find a link, unfortunately. I haven't used it for family research for about a year, but I did go back pretty far in the family tree.

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BTT after a few years.