Here's another official document that confirms that "J. Frank Dalton" was Jesse Woodson James.
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From: "The Truth About Jesse James" by Rudy Turilli, Copyright 1967. I transcribed the affidavit for members of our Yahoo group from my copy of the book.
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"AFFIDAVIT OF MARTILLUS EDWIN BALDWIN
STATE OF ILLINOIS )
COUNTY OF WHITSIDE ) )SS
My name is Martillus Edwin Baldwin. My father was M.E. Till Baldwin who was
born in 1842 and lived until January 12, 1912 when he died at the age of
seventy. His first wife was Rachael Gammond who he has told me was a cousin to
Frank and Jesse James. Father has also told me that he went to grade school
with both Frank and Jesse James and knew them well.
My father was a Baptist minister for almost forty years and very dedicated to
living and preaching the Word of God. When I was eight years old I accompanied
father on a preaching tour down through Texas. I can recall that on that trip
we stayed south of Denton, Texas, as guests of a man my father called by the
name of 'Jesse'. Years later and about three years before my father died, he
asked me if I remembered the man we had visited on that trip. He then told me
that the man was Jesse James. I did remember the man quite well and I recall
that the man looked very much like the picture of Jesse James which my father
had. I will remember that all of my life. I had the picture until it was lost
when my house in Ekter burned. Father was very serious, and I will always
remember that occasion when he revealed to me the secret that the man we had
visited was Jesse James because I knew that Jesse was supposed to have been
killed. Father had always told me that his first wife was a cousin to Frank and
Jesse James and that he had gone to school with the boys. He recalled that they
had tried to get him to go bushwhacking with them during the war, but that he
had had his parents sign him into General Lee's Army as an excuse to get out of
going with them. Father said that at times he had heard that the James boys
were coming after him and he knew what they meant by it.
My father was in the army for only a little more than a year, but he didn't
return home after the war and was in St. Joseph, Missouri when Jesse James was
supposedly shot and killed by Bob Ford. Father told me that he was there and
actually sat up with the corpse that was supposed to be Jesse. But Father says
that it positively was not Jesse James. The body did not have the scars that
Father knew Jesse to have. Also, Father says that he knew Jesse had two teeth
shot out, but that the corpse had a full set of teeth; and not as a result of
dental work either. Father recognized Jesse James by his forehead, too, and he
told me that the man they buried was definitely not him. In fact, according to
Father, Jesse sang at his own funeral, and Father says he knew Jesse well and
would recognize him anywhere.
I can also recall my father telling me that after the death of his first wife he
was making a trip South and happened to meet Frank James. Frank then told my
father that he too was going South for a few days to 'visit with some friends'.
Father says he asked Frank about Jesse being killed and Frank replied, 'You know
Baldwin, if Bob Ford had shot Jesse James he wouldn't have lived 'till sundown.'
Frank told my father how to get to Jesse's ranch south of Denton, Texas.
These things were told to me by my father when I was about twenty years old, but
father did not want to reveal this secret to anyone else as he was a minister of
the gospel. He told me not to tell the secret until after his death, and I kept
faith with him and told no one about Jesse James being still alive.
When I was twenty-three years old I met Frank James and Cole Younger at a picnic
in Whitewright, Texas. My brother-in-law was with me and I shook hands with
Frank and asked him if he had remembered Baldwin. Frank James' immediate reply
was, 'Yes, you are the son of Till Baldwin; I went to school with your father.'
He said that he was glad to see me, but I could not spend much time talking with
him as there was a large crowd and everyone was shoving and pushing to get to
shake hands with those two gentlemen.
Years later when I was living in Bonham, Texas I met an old gentleman called J.
Frank Dalton who many people said was Jesse James. Upon meeting the man I could
immediately see the resemblance to the picture of Jesse which my father had
given me and to the man my father called 'Jesse' at the ranch south of Denton,
Texas. This J. Frank Dalton told me that he knew my father, Till Baldwin; had
gone to school with him and that my father's first wife was related to him.
This verified what I had always been told, I knew then that J. Frank Dalton was,
in truth, Jesse James.
In March, 1965 I visited the Jesse James Museum and for the first time met Mr.
Rudy Turilli. I recognized the photographs of J. Frank Dalton as being the old
gentleman of the same name that I had talked with years earlier in Texas. I
told Mr. Turilli all that my father had told me and now relate the same facts in
this Affidavit which I am giving of my own free will and without any
compensation or promise of any whatsoever.
(Signed)
MARTILLUS EDWIN BALDWIN
On this 18 day of October, 1965 there appeared before me, the undersigned Notary
Public, Martillus Edwin Baldwin, proven to me to be the same, and after being
first duly sworn upon his oath executed the above statement and states to me
before God as his Witness that the contents thereof are true to his best
knowledge and belief.
Martin E. Lockhart
Notary Public Within and for the County of WHITSIDE, State of Illinois.
My Commission expires 9-2-69"
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