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Autograph poem, signed "Jim Younger," one page, 8.5 x 11, July 4, 1899. Younger writes a poem entitled "Fourth," sent to Cora 'Corona' McNeill from Minnesota State Prison. In full: "If it were left to me, should be boundless, as that of Love. Which is God Eternal—all in all. That loving soul—and true friend Golden hair, is your Little Mother Koe. And then comes baby Golda. Twas in my happy childhood days. I had so many secrets learned. Of lonely woman and their ways. Their confidence I also earned. And not one soul have I deceived. Or, a single trust betrayed. Love being boundless, is what makes me feel so large. For I do feel as if I had goten on the outside of the whole business. Amen. God bless and protect you, is the earnest wish of your grateful friend." Addressed on the reverse in Younger's hand to "Corona." In fine condition.
Cole and Jim Younger began their life of crime during the Civil War as members of the notorious Quantrill's Raiders. The brothers avoided arrest longer than many other outlaws due to the sympathy and support of many of their fellow Confederate veterans. However, in 1876, the Younger luck ran dry when their attempted bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, went famously awry. Armed townsfolk disrupted the robbery, chased off the gang, and in the ensuing melee, two townspeople were killed. When the Youngers were finally captured, they were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater—a guilty plea saved them from the hangman's noose. After two years of legislative wrangling, a parole bill was passed in Minnesota's legislature and Cole and Jim Younger were freed on July 10, 1901. After his release, Jim became engaged to Alix Mueller, but due to the terms of his parole, Jim was not legally allowed to marry. In 1900 he was listed as a farmer in the census and killed himself on October 19, 1902, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Cora McNeill was born in St. Clair, Missouri, in 1862. She was an admirer of Cole and Jim Younger, and it is believed that she was a sweetheart of Jim's before he went to prison. She continued her correspondence to 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.
The Western Americana auction of Jochen Zeitz.
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