“A Terrible Quintette”

By

John Newman Edwards

“A Terrible Quintette” first appeared in the St. Louis Dispatch on November 22, 1873 and purported to be a series of interviews with the notorious outlaws Frank and Jesse James, Cole and John Younger, and Arthur McCoy. Newman, who rode with General Joseph Shelby during the American Civil War, was one of  Missouri’s greatest newspapermen - reporter with the St. Louis Republican and editor of the Kansas City Times. Now is the opportunity to read the complete article, without doubt the seminal piece of work behind the legends surrounding the James-Younger Gang and is the quintessential example of the writing of John Newman Edwards. 

Through the words of the five Confederates the bitterness of the warfare along the Missouri-Kansas border is highlighted: the hanging of Dr. Samuel and Jesse; the imprisonment of Zerelda Samuel and her daughter; the Centralia massacre; the murder of Henry Younger. Lengthy sections of “A Terrible Quintette” may also be found, word for word, in Edwards’ later work, Noted Guerrillas, or the Warfare on the Border, published in 1877. 

The post-war activities of the ‘boys’ are also covered in this lengthy article: the robberies of the banks at Russellville, Gallatin, Corydon, and Ste. Genevieve; and the train at Adair; plus the killing of Sheriff Nichols in Texas by John Younger. A Foreword and Notes by Bob Wybrow, a prolific writer on the Jameses, completes the 32-page A4 publication. 

Copies of “A Terrible Quintette” are available priced £3.50/$8.00 (excludes postage) from Robert J. Wybrow, 76 Millfield Road, West Kingsdown, Kent, TN15 6BU, United Kingdom. Cheques, etc. should be made out to 'English Westerners' Society'. This is a limited edition of 125 individually numbered copies which will surely be sold out. (PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE AND MAIL TO ADDRESS ABOVE).

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