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Lot 479
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Professing Love for Cole Younger, Pioneering Newswoman Writes a Long & Fascinating Letter
Professing Love for Cole Younger, Pioneering Newswoman Writes a Long & Fascinating Letter
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Description:

Cole Younger
Rochester, MN, January 20, 1898
Professing Love for Cole Younger, Pioneering Newswoman Writes a Long & Fascinating Letter
ALS
A lengthy, fine content autograph letter by Miss Horace Greeley Perry, a pioneering female editor and perhaps Cole and Jim Younger's biggest admirer. Covent of Lourdes in Rochester, MN, January 20, 1898, to Cora McNeil Deming in Kansas City, MO -- another Younger admirer and purported early sweetheart of Jim Younger as well as the author of a novel memorializing the outlaws. Perry writes an impassioned letter of affection for the outlaws, whom she refers to "my boys" and "dear boys." Light offsetting to a few pages, boldly and in very good condition. 8pp. 8" x 5".

If the Youngers were outlaws, so too was our writer Horace Greeley Perry, albeit of another kind: she was one of the first female newspaper editors in the country with an equally pioneering male name inspired by the legendary editor of the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley himself. Perry's letter is fascinating as she swings wildly from demonstrating her possessiveness of the Youngers to making a outright grab for her correspondent's brother. She writes in a friendly - perhaps over-friendly - style, but the letter brims with naked ambition - this time to harness one more troop in her Younger Brothers' avenging army.

In part: "…Your letter was a source of great pleasure to me, in fact I had been expecting it - Cole told me I would hear from you. You know I feel that WE sort of belong to one family, & therefore you will excuse me if I presume to disperse with all formalities. I am going to call you 'Cora' just as Cole does, & I know very well that you are too wise & brave a little woman to offer any objections…I am at the Convent visiting with the Franciscan sisters. I have been here for a few weeks, but will return this week to my home. Also I must go to Stillwater, to visit my (our) boys. Now, Cora, my dear friend, I don't think we need to go over our ideas on the Youngers - I think of them just as you do exactly & would do anything in my power to help them. Individually, I can go to there & visit them in prison, but it seems that much as I want to do, I am only a weak girl. And yet I have used the columns of my paper for them & their cause as much as all the rest combined. I care not for sentiment or the severe criticism which in some instances resulted, I had only one thought & that was to right a great wrong that our State has been guilty of. You understand, Cora, that I am on the grounds & can see a great deal more than you people can. It is clear to me that this matter is a political issue - any wrong that may have been done is avenged long ago - the boys are reformed - they were gentlemen in the beginning and needed no prison reformation - it is granted that the boys are better morally, physically & otherwise than the Governor himself - & yet they are held, & for what? For the political ambition of a ring of polluted, corrupt professional politicians. The better element is in sympathy with them, however, also the Governor. But men are mortal cowards when self is concerned. Well you know more about these men than I can tell you & you may just call me 'one of you,' for when the boys come home, I am coming with them, & we are going to have a grand reunion. Ask Cole if we ain't?

Yes, Dr. Beebe is a splendid man - fearless & very bright. He is a noble man & I am going to call on him this month. I wish you could be able to see Cole and Jim & I at prison. We sit down & I take hold of each of their hands, like dear brothers, & then we have so much to say that we always forget half. We forget that the 'dogs' are watching every move and when one of them calls 'time's up' we all drop our lips a foot. Then dear old Jim goes through the bars, while Cole & I say goodbye twice. Dear boys. You know Jim has that ugly shot in his neck & it causes him lots of trouble. I tell you, Cora, there are few men living like the Youngers today, unless it be that brother of yours who, by the way, I lay a little claim to. Cole said so, & by your permission. Cole says he would like to have me go to Missouri to see you & all the folks & go to work on the 'Star,' but he said, too, that you had a very fine brother & he was a little afraid of him. But you just give your brother my regards & tell him that if ever I see him, he can excuse me by telling his friends, that I am a little mountain girl from Minnesota Valley, like Marc Antony, 'a plain blunt 'man' who loves his friends.' I will send you a photo…And I do [wish] you would send me yours, also your brother's…Say, Cora, how do you think it would be to work on the Kansas City Star. Do you think I could get a position…You know I am familiar with a newspaper office from the bottom up to the Editorial chair. Let me know what you think of it anyway.

Have you met my friend P. Alexander Johnstone, the palmist? He is in your city. He read the hand of Cole & is very friendly to them. I wish you would call on him. Now, that we are acquainted, Mrs. Denning, I want you to write me very often & feel that we are the best of friends. As to the book: yes, I have been looking for that…I do think that the place to have it published by all means is Minnesota, St. Paul - I honestly do, & I would advise you to put it where it will do most good at the least expense. Do not wait to write & hurry the book please. I want to see Constance Lee you understand…'.

Horace Greeley Perry (1877-1958) was named for the late, great editor of the New York Tribune and, like her namesake, became an editor of the St. Peter Journal of St. Peter, Minn. At the time, Perry was both the youngest and only female editor in the state. Her cause célèbre was prison reform - a passion which slotted in well with the other passion in her life, the Younger Brothers. History has it that Perry met Cole Younger when she was six years old. He gave her a ride on his horse, and she promised him then that she would always be his friend.

Perry visited the Youngers in prison 15 years later and vigorously fought for their parole. She particularly harnessed the power of her public role of "newsman," using her four newspapers as platforms on the brothers' behalf. In fact, Cole Younger purportedly said: "Jim and I had a host of earnest advocates during the latter years of our imprisonment, but none exceeded in devotion the young woman who as a little tot had ridden unknowingly with the bandit who was so soon to he exiled for life from all his kin and friends." Jim and Cole were finally paroled in 1903, and Perry joined the James-Younger Wild West Show as publicity agent.

Perry's correspondent is Cora McNeil Deming (1857-1942), another admirer of Cole and Jim Younger, and believed to have been Jim's sweetheart before he went to prison. Deming 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 Deming, many residents of that area assisted the Youngers in avoiding capture for years. Deming continued her correspondence with both Jim and Cole while they were incarcerated in Minnesota following the botched Northfield bank robbery. She was married to Minneapolis judge George M. Bennett who attempted to secure a pardon for the Younger brothers.

Deming was the author of the novel mentioned in this letter,"Mizzoura," which painted a romantic and sympathetic picture of the outlaws. Deming 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…". The "Constance Lee" character mentioned by Perry in this letter was a fictionalized version Cora McNeil Deming in her novel.

The Younger Gang, notorious outlaws of the American Old West, carved a fearsome reputation through their audacious bank and train robberies during the late 19th century. Formed by the Younger brothers: Cole, Jim, John, and Bob, the gang operated primarily in Missouri and surrounding states, often in league with the infamous Jesse James and his gang. Their criminal exploits, marked by daring heists and violent confrontations, captured the imagination of the public and law enforcement alike. Despite their ruthless methods, the Youngers were also known for their code of loyalty and close-knit familial ties, which ultimately led to their dramatic downfall and capture after the ill-fated Northfield, Minnesota raid in 1876.

Cole Younger (1844-1916) began his career by joining a band of Confederate marauders who rode through border states creating havoc against the Union. Younger joined the holdup gang of Frank and Jesse James in 1866 and soon convinced his own brothers to join the gang. During the next decade the Younger and James brothers stated a string of bank robberies and tarin holdups throughout Missouri and the surround states. A bloody shootout after an attempted robbery of the First national Bank on September 7, 1876, resulted in the deaths of many of the gang's members. Cole received an official pardon in 1903 and eventually reunited with Frank James in a touring Wild West show. Before his death on February 21, 1916, Younger went on the lecture circuit preaching the evils of crime.

James Younger (1848-1902) together with his brothers committed numerous robberies, and murders throughout the frontier. During the brothers' final escapade at the First National Bank, Jim was positioned on the bridge leading to town when the shooting began. He rode into the fighting, a pistol in each hand, and helped the members of his gang fight their way out of town, leaving two dead behind him. With the area swarming with posses, the James brothers and the Younger brothers split up. For two weeks the brothers attempted to ignore wounds and hunger in their attempt to escape, but finally surrendered on September 21. Jim had been wounded five times, including by a bullet which shattered his jaw, allowing him to eat only liquids. Jim Younger's brother Bob died in prison, but he and Cole were paroled after serving long prison sentences.

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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  • Dimensions: 8" x 4.75"
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