Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510310042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT CHARTON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: KEARNEY, MO. LENGTH: Medium
Thanks to modern science, Jesse James may finally rest in peace.
The remains of the notorious outlaw were carried by horse-drawn hearse Saturday to his grave on a windswept slope at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Preliminary DNA tests concluded last month that scraps of bone and strands of hair exhumed from the grave probably belonged to James, who was shot by a gang member in 1882 at age 34. The tests were aimed at resolving lingering doubts over who was buried in the grave.
``We say farewell to Jesse James and hope to let him rest in peace,'' Robert L. Hawkins III told a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 600 at the service. Hawkins, a past national commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was the lead organizer of the funeral.
About a dozen people dressed in Confederate-era uniforms took turns standing honor guard over the closed casket, draped in a Confederate flag.
James rode as a Confederate guerrilla during the Civil War before he began his murderous spree of bank and train robberies.
Sermons, prayers and hymns - including James' favorite, ``What a Friend We Have in Jesus'' - highlighted the program at the Knights of Columbus Community Center.
A steady stream of visitors walked by the closed casket Saturday morning, including Jim Conley and his 8-year-old grandson, Michael Jeffries.
``Years later, he'll remember Grandpa taking him to the funeral of Jesse James,'' Conley joked.
``I think it's pretty neat,'' Michael said.
After the service, two horses pulled the glass-enclosed white hearse to the cemetery in Kearney, 20 miles northeast of Kansas City. The grave was exhumed in July.
A hundred years ago, detectives doggedly pursued the James gang, and the governor put a $5,000 price on its leader's head.
On Saturday, dignitaries on the funeral guest list included Gov. Mel Carnahan's wife and a U.S. marshal.
Marshal Brad English, an honorary pallbearer, smiled and shrugged over the inability of authorities to catch the outlaw.
``I just wanted to be certain that Jesse James is finally in his grave,'' English said.
Six great-grandchildren of James' attended the service
James first was buried in his mother's yard to discourage grave robbers. The remains were reburied in 1902 next to his wife at Mount Olivet.
Professor James Starrs of George Washington University, who led the team that exhumed the grave, said final DNA results won't be announced until Feb. 23, when he makes a presentation to a meeting of forensic scientists.
However, Starrs said there was no reason to delay the funeral.
``All factors are in favor of it's being Jesse, although our final tests haven't confirmed that,'' Starrs said.
by CNB