The Outlaw Youngers: A Confederate Brotherhood

by Marley Brant

Overview

The Youngers—Bob, Cole, Jim, and John—tested the boundaries of the violent and turbulent post-Civil War society in which they lived. The author investigates the events from the Border and Civil Wars which forged their characters, their intricate relationships, the innovative train and bank robberies in which they participated, and their decades-long fight for freedom. Brant’s extensive research includes unpublished accounts from family members, the families of their enemies and victims, and hundreds of revealing historical documents. The story of the Youngers as more than the folklore figures they have grown to be demonstrates that often the truth is more fascinating than the fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493057146
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	408
Sales rank:	518,601
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Marley Brant is the author of ten books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her books have been featured in People Magazine; the New York Times and numerous other newspapers; have been the basis for television programs on A&E and VH1; and have served as the primary research for hours of television programming. Employed for decades in the entertainment industry, Brant was the cocreator and coproducer of the TBS special Outlaws, Rebels and Rogues. Brant’s outlaw books have been recognized with the Milton F. Perry Award for extensive research and contribution to American History.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the 2021 Paperback Edition ix

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Beginnings 1

Chapter 2 A Missouri Family 9

Chapter 3 The Border 17

Chapter 4 The Murder of Henry Younger 23

Chapter 5 Quantrill Visits Lawrence 35

Chapter 6 The War at Home 49

Chapter 7 A Family Divided 63

Chapter 8 A New Organization 73

Chapter 9 Discontent and Texas 95

Chapter 10 United in Crime 107

Chapter 11 Trains, Banks, and Pinkertons 121

Chapter 12 Black Day in Roscoe 131

Chapter 13 A Look to the Future 143

Chapter 14 A Plea for Amnesty 149

Chapter 15 Bob Takes a Stand 159

Chapter 16 Northfield, Minnesota 167

Chapter 17 End of the Line 187

Chapter 18 Abiding the Consequences 203

Chapter 19 A New Life in Stillwater 215

Chapter 20 Broken Hearts 229

Chapter 21 A Long, Hard Campaign 253

Chapter 22 Jim Surrenders 271

Chapter 23 Back to Missouri: Cole Alone 289

Chapter 24 The War Is Over 305

Addendum 319

Genealogy 321

Notes 325

Sources 341

Index 355

About the Author 361

Editorial Reviews

First-time author Brant, a Georgia TV writer and producer, claims to have spent more than two decades researching the four Younger brothers--Bob, Cole, Jim and John--ex-Confederate Army guerrillas whose life of crime ended with the famous Northfield, Minn., raid of 1876 in which Bob, Jim and Cole were captured. Affluent, intelligent sons of a respected Missouri family, the foursome were, in Brant's compassionate view, unable to distinguish between wartime and peacetime conduct. She pores over their family tree, and examines the Missouri-Kansas border war's effects on the Youngers. She also traces their involvement with the Frank and Jesse James gang and the lengthy incarcerations of charismatic Cole Younger, who received a pardon in 1903 and died in 1916, and his bookish, brilliant brother Jim, who was paroled in 1901 and committed suicide the following year. Brant's dedication notwithstanding, she proves unable to siftable to sift the significant from the trivial, so that the Younger brothers emerge from her biography as inscrutable as ever. Photos. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this in-depth biography, Brant shows that the Younger brothers--Cole, Bob, John, and Jim--were motivated by commitment, and she sets them firmly in the context of their times, clearly explaining how and why the sons of a prominent western Missouri merchant turned to a life of crime in the years following the Civil War. In the process, she also shows what life on the Missouri-Kansas border was like for those who supported the Confederacy. Brant has carefully crafted a comprehensive and informal account based on the available primary sources and has properly qualified many statements for which definitive proof is lacking. She successfully involves readers in the Youngers' story, making this work especially appealing to a general audience. Recommended for most libraries.-- Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette

Library Journal