Chronology of Jesse James & James J. Carden

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Jesse James

J. J. Carden

Chronology of Jesse James & Rev. James Jimmerson Carden

        When Rev. James Jimmerson Carden was stationed in Missouri as a Methodist Circuit Rider, the Jesse James gang was operating within 30 miles of his home church.
         Phil Carden told the story that grandfather, Jim was robbed by Jesse James of money and a pocket watch, but the outlaw later returned the watch, because there was an inscription in it from Jim's mother. Jesse James is known to have been soft about things like that. See story of another watch being returned.
        At least one cousin tells a different story about Jim Carden and Jesse James. I was talking to a Carden cousin, a descendant of Gaston, not too long ago. According to his variation, Jim Carden rode with the James gang. I can't help but believe that this less than flattering account had its birth in the 1890 lawsuit or perhaps in the snub thirty years later. On the other hand, maybe both stories are true. I have never found a Carden on a list of James gang members but none of the lists ever claim to be complete.

Facts

Jesse James	Rev. James Jimmerson Carden
Between the years of 1863-65 Jesse rode with Pro-Confederate Bill Anderson's guerilla forces.	Between the years of 1861-65 Jim was in over 190 battles as a Confederate calvary man.
June 3, 1871 - Jesse and the rest rob the Ocobock Brothers Bank in Coryton, Iowa of $6,000.	1871 Received "full connection" as Methodist Minister and transferred to St. Louis, MO Confer.
1871 - Jesse has his seventh known image made at Long Branch, New Jersey.
April 29, 1872 - Bank in Columbia, Kentucky is robbed and cashier R.A.C. Martin is murdered for the $6,000 supposedly taken by the James & Youngers.
September 26, 1872 - James Brothers rob the cashier at the Kansas City Fair of $8,000
May 27, 1873 - James/Youngers rob $4,000 from the Savings Association in Genevieve, MO	daugher Julia H. Carden born about 1873 in MO
July 21, 1873 - Marks their first train robbery. Killing Engineer John Rafferty they took $26,000 from passengers and the express car of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR near Adair, Iowa.
January 15, 1874 - Jesse James and "party" rob their first known stagecoach holdup of between $1000-$8,000 of cash and jewels near Hot Springs, Arkansas. (After his death a gold watch from one of the passengers was found among his effects.)	Feb. 9, 1874 Wrote obituary for sister while in Wellington, Lafayette County MO
April 24, 1874 - Jesse James marries Zee Mimms Centerville(Kearney) MO by Methodist minister Reverend William James, brother of Jesse's father.	daughter A. Lula Carden born about 1874 in MO
June of 1874 - Frank James marries Annie Ralston in Omaha, Nebraska.	1874 transferred from Denver Conference to New Berne, NC district

On January 31, 1874 one of the most famous train robberies in history occurred at Gads Hill, MO on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad main line north of Piedmont, Missouri. The train was the St. Louis and Texas Express which left the Iron Mountain's Plum Street Depot about 9:30 AM. The James Gang wanted to hold up the train for two reasons. First, the gang had been informed that Allan Pinkerton the famous detective was going to be onboard. Pinkerton had been hired to find and apprehend or kill James. The James Gang wanted to eliminate the Pinkerton threat by killing him. The other reason that they wanted to rob the train was to steal from the rich passengers that would be onboard. The masked gang arrived at Gads Hill Station at 3:30 in the afternoon and rounded up waiting passengers and the station manager who they herded into a store room. They left one guard to take watch over the captives while the others stuck a signal flag out and then threw a switch south of the station the wrong way to keep the train from passing. When the train rolled into Gads Hill at 5:30 PM, the engineer saw the flag and stopped the train. One robber jumped on the deck of the locomotive and pointed a gun at the engineer and fireman. As the Conductor, C. A. Alford got off the train, James came up to him and pointed his pistol at the man's heart.

"Give me your money and your wallet!" James ordered. The order was quickly followed with the conductor handing over his wallet and his gold pocket watch. The gang placed an armed gunman on each platform and robbed each coach. According to one of the passengers, James H. Morley, chief engineer of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, the bandits robbed the passengers clean and made off with $10,000. Allan Pinkerton was not onboard, so the train robbery was not a complete success.

As Jesse James got off the train, he tossed the conductor his gold watch, saying "You'll need this." A posse was organized in Piedmont to go after the gang, but by the time it was organized, the James Gang was over sixty miles away.

Not even ministers were exempt from the postwar violence. Unionists still nursed a grudge against Baptist and Methodist ministers who had supported the South during the war--or, on some occasions, had merely counseled Christian charity to a defeated foe. One such victim was a Reverend Hadlee of Webster County, in south central Missouri. Reputed to have been a "bitter Rebel" by the pro-Union sheriff at Springfield, Hadlee had fled the state during the war and had only recently returned. One Sabbath day in August 1866, Hadlee attempted to resume preaching at his old church, but he was refused entry by Union loyalists who told him that he was "obnoxious" and that because of his "rebellious acts" they did not want him to preach to or teach them.

Chronology

Date	Place	Event	Source
1843	Orange County NC	Born to George and Mary A.	Carden Census
9/10/1861	Orange County NC	Enlisted army of CSA, Company K, NC 2nd Calvary North Carolina Troops	1861-65 A Roster
9/30/1862		Promoted Corporal North Carolina Troops	1861-65 A Roster
9/30/1864		Still on roll of Co K North Carolina Troops	1861-65 A Roster
1868	Wilson, Wilson Co., NC	Methodist minister "supplying"	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1869	Magnolia, Duplin Co., NC	Methodist minister "on trial"	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1870	Duplin County NC	JJ Carden shown as a single man, working as a mechanic.	1870 Census
8/29/1870	North Carolina > Duplin > Magnolia	Jas J. Carden single minister living in home of ? Valentine from Frankfort, Germany	1870 Census
1870	Jones? County NC	Methodist minister in Jones Circuit	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1871	MO	Received "full connection" as Methodist Minister and transferred to St. Louis, MO Conference	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
2/9/1874	Wellington, Lafayette County MO	Wrote obituary for sister	Feb 25, 1874 issue of The Hillsborough Recorder
1874	Neuse, NC	Methodist minister, transferred from Denver Conference to New Berne, NC district	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1874	Neuse, NC	Transferred from Denver Conference and asiigned to Neuse Circuit.	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1875	Neuse, NC	Reappointed as Methodist Minister	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1875	Neuse, NC	Methodist minister remote coastal area	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
9/26/1876	Bayboro, NC	Initiated into Bayboro lodge 331	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
10/16/1876	Bayboro, NC	Passed in Bayboro lodge 331	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
10/19/1876	Bayboro, NC	Raised in Bayboro lodge 331	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
1876	Neuse, NC	Reappointed as Methodist Minister	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1876	Neuse, NC	Methodist minister of church with 210 Members	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
4/28/1877	Bayboro, NC	Demitted from Bayboro lodge 331	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
1877	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Fayetteville District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1877	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Central Southern Area	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1877	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Central Southern Area	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1877	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Central Southern Area	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
12/5/1878	Oriental, NC	Affiliated as charter member Mt Vernon Lodge 359	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
1878	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Fayetteville District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1878	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Central Southern Area	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1879	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Fayetteville District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1879	Robeson, NC	Methodist minister in Central Southern Area	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1880	Whiteville, NC	Methodist minister in Wilmington District x	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1880	Britts, Robeson, N C		1880 Britts, Robeson, North Carolina
1880	Whiteville, NC	Methodist minister halfway back to the coast	Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1881	Jonesboro, NC	Methodist minister in Fayetteville District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1881	Jonesboro, NC	Methodist minister 610 members in several churches	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1882	Swan Quarter, Hyde County NC	Methodist minister in Washington District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1882	Swan Quarter, Hyde County NC	Methodist minister back at the coast	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1883	Nashville, Nash County NC	Methodist minister in Warrenton District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1883	Nashville, Nash County NC	Methodist minister Central Eastern area	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
6/12/1884	Oriental, NC	Demitted Mt Vernon Lodge 359	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter
1884	Prince George Mission, Prince Georges County MD	Methodist minister in East Baltimore District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1884	Maryland	Transferred to Baltimore Conference	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1885	Springfield, MD	Methodist minister in Moorefield District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1886	Springfield, MD	Methodist minister in Moorefield District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1887	Springfield, MD	Methodist minister in Moorefield District.	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
5/8/1887	West Virginia	Son, James Jarvis Carden, born	James Jarvis Carden Death Certificate Philip Moore Carden Birth Certificate
1888	NC	Lawsuit with Gaston begunx	Southeastern Reporter, Vol. 12, Page 197
1889	NC	Transferred back to North Carolina	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1889	NC	Received in North Carolina Conference and retired from traveling preaching at his request	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
11/17/1890	NC	Lawsuit with Gaston lost	Southeastern Reporter, Vol. 12, Page 197
1890	NC	Transferred to local church, no longer a traveling preacher	Gerry Reiff Dec 8, 1998 Letter
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895-1899
1900
1901
6/16/1904	Charlotte, NC	Admitted to Oasis Temple of Shriners/Masons	Ruth Lowe certificate
1905
1906	Durham	Jarvis James Jarvis Carden attends school	Attendance certificate from Durham Public Schools
1907
1908
1909		Sallie's parents die in New Hanover Co., NC
1910
1911	Raleigh, NC	J J Carden listed as local preacher. Probably James Jimmerson	C Franklin Grill Jan 8, 1999 Letter
1912		son James Jarvis marries Adelaide Hester Moore
3/24/1913		granddaughter Addie Ruth Carden born in Durham, NC	Social security index, Barbara Watkins
5/131914		granddaughter Fannie Foy Carden born	Social security
1915-1918
2/27/1919		grandson Philip M. Carden born Raleigh, NC
2/3/1920*****	Durham, NC	Died while a member of Eno Lodge 210	Ric Carter Mar 15, 1999 Letter

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Disclaimer: The purpose of this Web Page is to share information for the purpose of research. I have not proved documentation of all genealogy material, nor have I kept source notes as I should. But I had lots of fun and met some great people along the way..

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