Edward O’Kelley
by Clint Lacy
Nearly every area of Missouri has a Jesse James story. A few years back I found evidence in the Bollinger County archives of an eye-witness who stated that Frank and Jesse James had camped out on the old David Lutes farm about a mile South of Lutesville, the day after their Gads Hill train robbery.
Thanks to a chance meeting with “The Ever Ready Riders” ( a local trail riding group) I learned of another Bollinger County , Missouri, Jesse James connection and it starts by locating the grave of Thomas O’Kelley at the Patton United Methodist Church Cemetery (located in Patton, Missouri)
In 1857 Thomas and Margaret O’Kelley welcomed their son Edward. When the Civil War broke out ,Thomas served in Company A, Second Regiment Arkansas Cavalry (Union).
Edward became famous for killing Bob Ford ( Jesse James’ assassin) and one has to wonder how the son of a Union war veteran ended up avenging the death of a Missouri guerrilla fighter (who later turned bank and train robber)?
I talked to a local resident of Patton, Missouri recently who was not keen on giving his name (or having his picture taken for that matter). The resident stated that Edward O’Kelley had taken up riding with the James Gang and helped rob a bank in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in May, 1873.
One wonders if this was possible and if not for finding an interview with Joe Johnston on the St. Louis Public Radio website it would seem highly unlikely. Johnston, who is author of the book “It Ends Here: Missouri’s Last Vigilante,” states that , “Ed O’Kelley grew up in the southeastern part of the state and his parents had given him away to be raised by his grandparents,” Johnston said. “His father fought for the Union and his grandparents were from a Confederate family—he was separated from his parents physically and also ideologically. He grew up idolizing Jesse and dreaming of riding with him.”1
The May 29, 1873 Ste. Genevieve Fairplay newspaper reported that earlier in the week four men robbed the the local bank at 10:00 a.m. and escaped on horseback.2
The May 30, 1873 issue of The St. Louis Weekly Globe reported:
“The robbers speedily released Mr. Harris( bank’s cashier), mounted their horses, and the four commenced firing in all directions to intimidate pursuers. Above the report of shots was heard a wild “Hurrah! For Sam Hildebrand, {the famed Missouri bushwhacker}catch the horse-thieves if you can,” and the rapid hoof beats of the retreating horses showed that the “job” was finished..”3
Reports state that the robbers got away with between $3600-$4000.
On July 21, 1873 the James Gang were credited with the West’s first train robbery near Adair, Iowa. Information found at the Adair County Parks website states:
“The bandits broke into the handcar house, stole a spike-bar and hammer with which they pried off a fish-plate connecting two rails and pulled out the spikes. This was on a curve of the railroad track west of Adair near the Turkey Creek bridge on old U.S. No. 6 Highway.
A rope was tied on the west end of the disconnected north rail. The rope was passed under the south rail and led to a hole they had cut in the bank in which to hide.
When the train came along, the rail was jerked out of place and the engine plunged into the ditch and toppled over on its side. Engineer John Rafferty of Des Moines was killed, the fireman, Dennis Foley, died of his injuries and several passengers were injured.”4
The James Gang had received a tip that a $75,000 shipment of gold coins would be on the train but later learned that the shipment had been delayed. Instead the gang got away with approximately $3000, which was obtained from the express car and passengers.
The Adair, Iowa robbery is important in the case of the Ste. Genevieve, Missouri bank robbery because one St. Louis paper reported:
“Information was received yesterday at the police headquarters which taken with facts before known, leave not the shadow of doubt but that several members of the party who robbed the train on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad near Adair, Iowa, on Monday night, were the gang who robbed the Ste. Genevieve Bank last May and have been connected with other villainies of a similar character, perpetrated during the past three or four years.”5
One can only speculate whether or not Ed O’Kelley was present with the James Gang during the Ste. Genevieve, Missouri bank robbery or the Adair, Iowa train robbery, however, Find-A-Grave ( a website that documents burial sites and the family history of those interred at those sites states:
“The man who shot the man who killed Jesse James, Bob Ford. O’Kelley, or “Red” as he was known, had married a relative of the infamous Younger Brothers Gang. He became friends with outlaw Jesse James, another cousin by marriage. When James was murdered by Bob Ford in 1882, O’Kelley made the comment that he would “get Ford.” 6
If O’Kelley was married to a relative of the Youngers and was indeed a cousin by marriage to Jesse James, it is entirely possible that he did indeed accompany the James Gang in St. Genevieve , Missouri and Adair, Iowa.
Following the assassination of Bob Ford in Creede , Colorado in June, 1892, Edward O’Kelley was sentenced to life in prison. O’Kelley was released from prison in 1900, In 1904 he got into a brawl with a police officer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During this fight the police officer shot and killed O’Kelley.
Edward O’Kelley is buried in the Fairlawn Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The inscription on his grave reads:
“Shot and killed Robert N. Ford, the murder of James James, in the silver mining camp at Creede Colorado. O’Kelley died in the streets of Oklahoma City Oklahoma in a gunfight with the law.”7
Many thanks to the “Every Ready Riders” for tipping me off to this piece of local history and to the “anonymous” but friendly gentleman in Patton for sharing his knowledge of the O’Kelley family with me.
1: “Who Killed Jesse James’ Killer?”, St. Louis Public Radio interview with author Joe Johnston, Moffit, December 9, 2015
2: Ste. Genevieve Fairplay Newspaper, May 29, 1873.
3: St. Louis Weekly Glove Newspaper, May 30, 1873
4: Jesse James Historical Site, Adair County Parks website, Adair, Iowa, http://www.mycountyparks.com/county/Adair/Park/Jesse-James-Historical-Site.aspx
5: Information obtained from the Civil War St. Louis website:
http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History/jamesstegenevieve.htm
6: Biography of Edward O’Kelley, found at the Find A Grave website:
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10317
7: Ibid.
