More Proof that J. Frank Dalton was Jesse Woodson James

[Texas Jay]

Jamie (Okie), you should be well-aware that a person's handwriting usually changes drastically several times during an ordinary lifetime. When a man lives to be 103, it's reasonable to assume that his changed even more often and probably more drastically than most.
~Texas Jay

 

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[okietreasurehunter]

Jay even though handwriting style changes over time there always remains some basic similarities. It's obvious that this is two different styles

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Look at the difference in the slant of the letters. You might have a better argument 5hat Dalton had someone else fill out the postcard for him. Trust me I'm hoping it was J Frank who mailed the postcard. From our research into Bertha we could finally put the debate to rest on just who J Frank Dalton was.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

Perhaps the difference in his hand writing was due to the fact that Jesse James and Frank Dalton both happen to have been suffering from Vernal conjunctivitis a long-term (chronic) swelling (inflammation) of the outer lining of the eyes

The condition continues over time (is chronic). It gets worse during certain seasons of the year, usually spring and summer.

Possible Complications
Continuing discomfort
Reduced vision
Scarring of cornea

Add that to loss of sight from getting older, and throw in some trembling hands......and then compare the writing for a true comparison. My guess is that Jesse W James/ Frank Dalton may have told someone else to take a letter for him as he dictated it to them.

Just my two cents, L.C. "They didn't call him Blinky for nothing!"

 

[L.C. BAKER]

"The doctor who examined the body told Jesse's son that the corpse was not that of Jesse James because Jesse James had conjunctivitis of the eyes." Hardcastle continued, "I did find out that he had cataracts and the people that knew him knew that he blinked his eyes quite a lot. Even Belle Starr made that statement." He also said that six months before Jesse died, he went completely blind. "The man buried in Granbury, Texas, went blind. The man who was killed and buried in Missouri did not have the eye problem, and according to the doctor, also had black hair. Jesse James had red hair."


Strange.....almost word for word about the red headed man shot in the Garrett's barn, but just the opposite......

L.C.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Well the letter from 1942 is in his own handwriting. The postcard in my humble opinion is in someone else's. The other information I found out about the postcard won't help the dalton being Jesse James case but is definitely interesting.

 

[Pinwheel]

Okie, T.J. and L.C.. I really like hearing all these Apologies. They all seem to be on track. However not everyone can be right. I would love to hear what an expert would say about these samples considering the time lapse of the samples and the fact that Dalton had an eye desease that caused him to go blind before he passed.

We should always put our preconcieved beliefs aside and accept what the evidence supports. Other wise we believe a lie.

Pinwheel

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Let's just assume for the moment that it was J Frank who wrote the postcard. Has anyone besides myself researched who Bertha was? I'd like to hear what Texas Jay has found before I reveal part of what we found.

 

[Texas Jay]

Okie, I don't have much information on Bertha Dalton, at least not yet. Our Bloody Bill Anderson Mystery group member Bud Hardcastle is going to contact an older Dalton family member and see what that person knows. I believe that Ola Everhard's mother was named Bertha and Bertha's father's mother's maiden name was Dalton so that may indicate a family tie. Here is some of what Ola Everhard said about her family in The Truth About Jesse James by Rudy Turilli (1967):

"MY EXPERIENCES WITH JESSE JAMES, ALIAS J. FRANK DALTON

by Ola M. Everhard

"I have always had a never-ending interest in people and, of happenings in by-gone days, particularly when they pertained to my kinfolks of course.

Being a cripple since birth, naturally a great deal of my growing up was indoors so I talked more with adults than with those my age. When mother and I were alone, I would ask questions then sit quietly by listening, as she told about her folks and her childhood, how every chance she got after her chores were done, she would get permission from her father to get his old family Bible out of his trunk and read it. It was not such a large Bible in size, but unusually thick. The leather backs were badly worn from years of handling and between those worn backs and thin yellowed pages, was the family record, which was quite large in length. Covering from my mother back through five generations that were all written in a beautiful Spencerian hand. Mother always loved to read that old Bible and from those records she learned a good bit about her father's people.

Mother's paternal grandfather, Henry Underwood, married Sarah (Sallie) Dalton. They had three children, James Anderson, Eliza Ann and a boy that died quite young. Nothing much, was recorded about Henry Underwood except his and Sarah's marriage and their children, but mother's father (James Anderson) told her that his father (Henry) joined Quantrill's Raiders that fought on the side of the Confederacy, went away during the War between the States and never returned, and, that after their home back in Tennessee was pillaged and burned during the war, his mother (Sarah) returned to some of her people and died not long afterwards. He did not say just which one of her people she and the children went to, or where. She had several sisters and a brother. (Mother was Bertha Underwood, daughter of James Anderson Underwood, who was the son of Henry and Sarah Dalton Underwood. Mother's married name is Bertha Underwood Maddox, second cousin to Jesse and Frank James, also to Charley and Robert Ford. She is now 82 years old, in 1965)..."

***
I would like one of the Dalton/James naysayers to just once explain how the older Dalton just happened to have a long scar on the left side of his face that identically matches the scar on the left side of young Jesse James' face. They always sidestep that and other solid evidence that I believe proves that the man known as J. Frank Dalton was Jesse Woodson James. I guess they rightly think that explaining that Dalton cut his face so that he could pass as Jesse James wouldn't convince anyone.
~Texas Jay
Home - William C. "Bloody Bill" Anderson - we have a lot of information about Dalton/James in our Photos section here.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Let me save you the time and tell you who she was. Her name was Leila B. Dalton the wife of Frank Dalton. She was born in 1864 and married Frank in 1890. They had two kids as of 1900. They lived in Catlin Illinois which is the town the postcard was mailed to. 1880 Frank was farming there and had an estate valued at $300. So for at least 30 years this Frank Dalton called Catlin Illinois home. Now the big question is was it J Frank or another Frank Dalton?

 

[okietreasurehunter]

A special thanks goes to my partner Keith for his quick research into the genealogy. Hopefully we can know for sure about Frank Dalton in the next couple of weeks.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Bertha's husband Frank was born in Ohio in 1856.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

His real name was Francis and his mother's name was Rachel.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

His father's name was James Daulton. Now does the postcard still prove he was Jesse James?

 

[L.C. BAKER]

It all sounds good, but there is more to the post card than meets the eye.......

L.C.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Do you mind explaining?

 

[L.C. BAKER]

I am bound by the gentlemen's code of treasure hunting among friends to keep my mouth shut on the subject. Please don't take offense. If Jay should decide to speak on the matter it would be totally up to him. I love the info that has come forth on the subject of Dalton & James thus far and will continue to monitor this thread for anything relevant to the subject. It is fascinating.

L.C.

 

[okietreasurehunter]

I would say our research is pretty solid. It's all verified through census and other records

 

[okietreasurehunter]

Plus the guy doing part of my research actually met J Frank Dalton.

 

[L.C. BAKER]

I would say our research is pretty solid. It's all verified through census and other records

censuses are awesome if you are looking above the table.....anyone using fake names or that were confederate spies in undisclosed areas do not appear on them. Sad, but true. Imagine how many places Bonnie and Clyde were or John Dillinger and Baby faced Nelson hid out or had underhanded operations.....the only place they appeared on a census was their home town or what prison they were in. Just my two cents.

L.C.