Old West outlaw (1844–1916) associated with Jesse James as a leader of the James-Younger Gang, who eventually turned from a life of crime to Wild West shows and public speaking. ALS, one page both sides, 8 x 12.5, January 4, 1900. Handwritten letter to "Hon. Geo. M. Bennett," a judge active in seeking the release of the Younger brothers, written from the Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater. In part: "Your kind favor of recent date was received with the article inclosed. It is all right and I will return the same in this letter. We have nothing in the way of news at this end of the line. Jim will write Cora to day…him and myself are in the best of health…As I am in the dark as it were I shall not offer any advice but leave you and friends to act on your own judgement and hit or miss we will think it probably all for the best in the long run. I belong to the old guard that never complains, never weakens give up or surrenders the only thing that ever worries me is when I hear of friends quarling among them selves…We are taught to be patient and hopeful. So let us do so." He goes on to relate some further information about recent communications. 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 Younger was freed from his lifetime sentence on July 10, 1901. After his release, Cole wrote a popular memoir, lectured and toured with Frank James as part of a Wild West show, and eventually declared that he had become a Christian and repented for his criminal past.
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