JESSE'S WOOING AND WEDDING.
"Oh, say not that my heart is cold
To aught that once could warm it;
That Beauty's form, so dear of old,
No more has power to charm it;
Or that the ungenerous world can chill
One glow of fond emotion,
For those who made it dearer still
And shared my wild devotion."
Jesse James, the bold raider and dashing outlaw, in love?
Preposterous! And yet why not? Those who have studied the ways of
human nature with most attention, find nothing singular in the
fact that Jesse might prove an ardent lover, or wonderful in the
assumption that he might be beloved in turn. Love is the grand
passion after all, and few persons have lived who did not at some
time in the course of their lives feel the deep chords of their
hearts touched, and realize the tender spell that enchained them.
Why should not Jesse James, the man of splendid physique, the very
embodiment of strong passions, yield to the powerful influence
which so universally sways the human heart? Rather, we might ask,
why should Jesse James not "fall in love," as the expression goes?
It was perfectly natural that he should at some time, somewhere,
find some one endowed with the capability of awakening in him
the tender passion. Was he not human? Were his emotions and
constitution so different from the rest of the children of time?
What if he was outlawed? Had he not eyes to see and ears to hear?
Had all tender feelings found a grave in his heart?
It is true that the nature of his employment and the circumstances
which surrounded him, rendered his life an isolated one to a
certain extent. He was not thrown into the great whirlpool which
the world calls society, and this very isolation of his position
would very naturally prompt him to seek the companionship of one
who could hold a nearer and dearer place in his heart than even his
brother. He might yet retrieve some of the disasters of the past,
and wipe out some of the stains which blurred his character, if
led by the sweet, gentle influence of a true woman. Who can ever
know what hopes animated him; what bright dreams of a better life
cheered him, when he thought of her who would not--perhaps could
not join in the general execration of his name? It may be that at
such times a vision rose before him, of a quiet home with peace
after the strife, where love dwelt, and where the bitter curses of
the past might never come; it may be that he looked forward to the
rest which would come to his tempest-riven breast, when the storm
had passed and the serene sun lighted his pathway through a quiet
land. And at such times it was but natural that he should seek the
presence of the beloved one, and plead with her--
"Oh linger yet a moment!
Is it a sin that I have loved thee so,
And worshiped thy bright image? If it be,
Let grief and suffering atone for that,
Long as this heart can know the power of pain,--
But let me look on thee and hear thee still."
And what woman ever listened unmoved to such appeals? "The brave
deserve the fair," and the history of the race shows that when the
heart is enlisted, when the tender bloom of love sheds its perfume
around her, woman is careless of the world's opinion, and brave in
daring its frowns.
Jesse had a fair cousin--a handsome young lady, possessed of an
amiable disposition, and a mind well stored with knowledge. This
destined bride of the distinguished outlaw is the daughter of a
sister of the Rev. Robert James, who was married in the days of her
youth to a Mr. Mimms. Miss Zee Mimms was deprived of a mother's
love and guidance at a time when she was just entering the estate
of womanhood. She had a sister older than herself who was united
in marriage with Mr. Charles McBride, a respectable carpenter and
builder in Kansas City, about the year 1869. For several years Miss
Mimms resided with her relatives in Kansas City, and gained the
respect and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances. In the days
of her childhood she had known her cousin Jesse, and his bright
blue eyes and soft, peach-like complexion, and the smile that used
to ripple over his countenance, and his cheery words, may even then
have drawn the little girl toward her cousin. As time went by,
Zee had grown to the condition of womanhood, and Jesse had become
celebrated as a daring soldier, and afterwards a reckless outlaw.
But somehow Miss Zee could never believe her cousin Jesse to be so
bad as he was represented, and when they met--which they frequently
did--she always had a word of gentle affection for cousin Jesse,
who was ever kind in his behavior toward her.
Many times Jesse James was seen in Kansas City, when to be there
was an exposure to imminent peril. When the wild winds swept
across the frozen river, and screamed over the hills, Jesse was
accustomed to dare the fury of the tempest, brave the chill of the
temperature, and seek the cosy fireside which became a shrine, when
blessed by the presence of his fair cousin.
And when it was summer time and the forest pathways were gloomy
in the shadows of night; and the stars in the deep azure vault of
heaven alone lent their feeble rays to illuminate the dark world,
then the outlaw would take his lonely way across the wide prairies,
through the deep-tangled forests where the owls hide by day and
hoot by night, and the wild tenants of the woodlands make their
lair; by lonely streams, murmuring as their waters go on the way to
mingle with the far-wandering tide of the mighty Missouri, to seek
the side of her whose smile was always brighter at his coming.
What mattered it to him if the streets of the city were deserted
by all, save the guardians of the law, who, in the deep shadowed
recesses waited and watched for him? His courage owned no
limitations under ordinary circumstances. What might it become
if stimulated by the all-intoxicating influence of love? If
the watchers saw him under the gaslight in the streets of the
slumbering city, they let him go, and so Jesse's courting days
passed away.
The outlaw's wooing proceeded, and was completed. Who knows
what thoughts were his in those days? Who can ever tell by what
processes of reasoning, or influence of love, Miss Zee Mimms
reciprocated the outlaw's passion? Who knows what earnest councils
she held with her own mind and the processes which ended in the
triumph of the affections, and a perfect yielding to him, and the
development of a devotion which smiled at contumely and consented
to sacrifice all things which had before been pleasing to her, at
the shrine of love? His presence became necessary to her happiness,
and her smile was sunlight poured into the otherwise dark recesses
of the outlaw's heart.
So it came about one pleasant evening in 1874, that Jesse James
and Miss Zee Mimms repaired to the house of Dr. Denham, a mutual
friend, near Kearney, Clay county, Missouri, where they were met
by the Rev. William James, of the M. E. Church, South, an uncle
of Jesse, who proceeded to unite the lovers in the holy bonds of
matrimony. The ceremony was performed in the presence of the
Doctor's family and one or two intimate friends. Jesse James had
won a wife, and Miss Zee Mimms had consented in her devotion to
become an outlaw's bride.
Ostracised by society, proscribed by the law, and hunted by enemies
and the officers of justice, Jesse James took his bride, and they
journeyed away. Across plains, through valleys, over streams toward
"the clime of the sun," the outlaw and his bride sought a place
where they could rest, and in each other's society,
"Like some vision olden
Of far other time,
When the age was golden,
In the young world's prime.
Of the future dreaming,
Weary of the past,
For the present scheming,
Happy they, at last."
What cared they for the cold world's scorn? Jesse had provided a
cosy home far away on the borders of civilization, where the names
of mountains, vales, and springs, and streams, are softened in the
musical language of old Castile. But we have heard that even in
that distant land the life of the outlaw's wife is not isolated,
but, on the contrary, under a name which their conduct has made
respectable, they have friends, and she her associates, who are
ignorant of the history of the outlaw, and hold her in esteem.
A little child, born sometime in 1876, has come to bless their
union by its childish prattle, and the daring outlaw has been
seen with the innocent little one mounted on his shoulder engaged
in racing about his ranche. It may be that there are episodes in
the life of Jesse James which are like the green oasis in the
sun-beaten desert--bright moments when the demon is temporarily
vanquished, and the spirit of goodness illuminates the world about
him. The man who can love cannot be wholly the slave of vengeance
and hate, and even Jesse James may possess traits of mind and
qualities of the heart, which point to something higher and better
than what is known of him.