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Author of "Mizzoura" Writes to Pinkerton to Dispute Killing by Younger of an Agent
Author of "Mizzoura" Writes to Pinkerton to Dispute Killing by Younger of an Agent
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Cora O'Neil
n.p., November 15, 1898
Author of "Mizzoura" Writes to Pinkerton to Dispute Killing by Younger of an Agent
AL

An autograph letter written Cora McNeil, author of the novel "Mizzoura" which romanticized the lives of the Younger Brothers and who untiringly sought their pardon! [n.p.], November 15, 1898. A copy of her letter to the legendary detective and head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, William A. Pinkerton, in which she disputes the narrative around John Younger's killing of a Pinkerton Detective, Louis J. Lull. Boldly penned in her distinctive hand. Light marginal wear, otherwise very good. 3pp. 8" x 12.25".

In part:

"…Month[s] have elapsed since the receipt of your very kind letter. To say I was not a trifle disappointed would not be truthful, yet looking at the subject from your standpoint I can easily understand and appreciate why you did not wish to take part in matters concerning Minnesota's famous prisoners, and I did not attribute your reluctance to grant my request to any personal animosity you entertain.

I mail you today a copy of my recently published book entitled 'Mizzoura.' I wish to call your attention to the version of the manner in which Captain Lull was taken away. It was generally believed that he was taken away alive, and many in that section believe it today. The story is traditional and I took a writer's license and used it thus. The same is true regarding the sister who appears. A lady took supper at our house one evening, and later drove with Papa to Roscoe where he went to visit Captain Lull. Excitement ran high at that time. Madam Rumor was constantly busy weaving her fabric threads picked up hear [sic] and there, and the story from this was that the supposed lady was a detective in disguise. Had I known where to reach Mrs. Lull, I would have in those days consideration of whatever feeling she might have in the matter. If the book should come into her hands, I trust she will regard it in the light in which it was related in those days. You will observe however that you are in error regarding James Younger, the testimony before the coroner showing the shot which killed Lull as coming from John instead of Jim.

Perhaps I have not been sufficiently explicit regarding the Lull episode. The man who made the box in which the captain was taken away said, ‘The Doctor ordered me to bore holes in the box, which I did, then asked him why he wanted them.' He replied, ‘To let the water out in case we pack the Captain in ice.' But the Dr. did not fool me any. It was to let the air in.' The coachman (you remember they drove across country to Sedalia) also had a story to tell, which proved to them that the captain was alive.

These stories and others on the subject are traditional in that region and I made use of them. Papa gave no solution to the problem that vexed the public, either then or thereafter."

Cora McNeil spent years attempting to obtain a pardon for the Youngers and harnessed help from numerous sympathetic private citizens as well as public officials along the way. Clearly she was barking up the wrong tree in trying to argue with Pinkerton, who, in a letter answering this one calls her novel Mizzoura: "…absurd as it appears, so far as I have gotten into it, to cover up the misdeeds of this band of out-laws, every one of whom, if they had their just deserts, would have been hanged years ago." He also pillories her taking liberty with the narrative about Louis Lull's death, stating: "…the attempt to make out that Capt. Lull was alive when he left Roscoe, is too ridiculous for comment…scarcely worthy of passing thought…so far distorted…".

Pinkerton had certainly had his fill of the Youngers by the time he wrote this letter. The brothers had been wreaking havoc around Missouri for a number of years when he was called in to stop them. In March, 1874, two men from the Pinkerton Detective Agency were put on their trail and arrived in St. Clair, MO. In addition to Louis J. Lull, Sheriff Edwin B. Daniels was also killed in the attempt to capture the James-Younger gang. He was shot in the throat by John Younger, as McNeil correctly claims.

Two years later, the 1876 the James-Younger Gang made their disastrous raid in Northfield, Minnesota. The original target was Mankato, but armed citizens changed their focus to the First National Bank of Northfield. Due to the actions of cashier Joseph Lee Heywood, and citizens A. R. Manning, a hardware merchant, and Henry M. Wheeler, a medical student home on leave, the gang was unsuccessful in the heist. Unfortunately, Heywood was killed for not opening the safe. A Swedish immigrant, Nicklaus Gustafson, was also killed in the street because he did not understand the gang's orders to get out of the way. The raid only lasted seven minutes; two of the gang members died, and the rest escaped, riding south out of town. A posse at Madelia captured the Younger brothers and killed another gang member.

The subsequent conviction and imprisonment of the Younger brothers was a touchstone for a number of popular obsessions at the time. Still smarting from its defeat in the Civil War, Southerners tended to believe that the sentencing of the "boys" was a way for the North to continue to antagonize its fallen foe and remind it of its political reach. It is understandable, then, that a not-insignificant group agitated for a pardon for the brothers and through it, wrest back just a little control over the fate of two of its crusaders.

The Youngers pardon cause supported by McNeil had its desired effect and likely to the dismay of Pinkerton, for Chief Justice of Minnesota Charles M. Start (1829-1915) signed it on July 10, 1901, along with the Governor of Minnesota, Samual Rinnah van Sant, and Attorney General Walter Douglass. The notice announced : "Upon principle and judicial authority, we are satisfied that chapter 234 of the Laws of 1901 became law, although not approved by the Governor. We also recognize that it is the exclusive province of the legislature to extend the parole system to life convicts, and it has done so subject to certain conditions and limitations. We are satisfied that the petitioners in this case have, by exceptionally good conduct in prison for a quarter of a century, and the evidence they have given of sincere reformation, earned the right to a parole if any life prisoner can do so." Jim and Cole were finally paroled in 1903.

William A. Pinkerton (1846-1923) was a legendary detective and the son of Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), founder of the first private detective agency in the country whose innovative methods in gathering information and hunting down criminals are still in use today. William served in the Civil War in the secret service with the Army of the Potomac. He became head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency upon his father's death in 1884. Pinkerton was also an author, noted for his novel Forgery (1905).

Cora McNeil Deming (1857-1942) was another admirer of Cole and Jim Younger, and believed to have been Jim's sweetheart before he went to prison. She had firsthand knowledge of the Youngers: her childhood home was close to the Osage River in Monegaw Springs, MO, on whose bank the brothers had a hideout cave. According to McNeil, many residents of that area assisted the Youngers in avoiding capture for years. McNeil continued her correspondence with both Jim and Cole while they were incarcerated in Minnesota following the botched Northfield bank robbery. She later married Minneapolis judge George M. Bennett who attempted to secure a pardon for the Younger brothers.

McNeil was the author of the novel which painted a romantic and sympathetic picture of the outlaws, and stated that she wrote the novel "to bring fruitful returns to two penitents who, for their crimes, have paid a heavy penalty" (quoted in Kansas City Star, October 20, 1902). She also noted that the Youngers were "…kindly disposed towards the weak or helpless, but sterner men never lived…".

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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