If his wife’s recipe books are any indication, Frank James—the infamous outlaw—must have been a happy man. After all, with his sweetheart making such special treats as “Love Cakes,” “Chocolate Jumbles” and home-made “Blackberry Wine,” what man would want to stray far from home?
Frank James didn’t. He and brother Jesse were America’s most hunted desperadoes during the wild and wooly post-Civil War era. Newspapers described the brothers as “cold-blooded killers,” yet each man was a father and a happily married man—despite being the nation’s most hunted outlaws for over 15 years.
For Jesse, the end came in 1882, when he was shot in the back of the head by an ex-gang member, eager to collect a $10,000 reward. Brother Frank went into seclusion and vowed to never be taken alive. Yet just a few months later, the bandit unstrapped his guns and turned himself in, his love and concern for his wife and young son overriding his desire to fight to the end. The biggest gamble of his outlaw life paid off: Within a few months, Frank was acquitted of murder charges and returned home to Annie a free man.
Annie Ralston was 22 years old when she ran away from home in 1874 to marry the charismatic Frank James. Though he was branded a hardened criminal, the man Annie knew was a kind and gentle person who loved to read the Bible and quote Shakespeare. Annie’s most cherished memories were the nights spent along the outlaw trail, listening to husband Frank as he quoted Shakespeare.
To Annie, Frank was a little boy in a man’s body, yet someone who could feel emotions on a much deeper level than the average man. He never talked down to her, but treated her with respect as an equal. It wasn’t so much a case of Annie being “his” woman, as it was Frank being “her” man. He would open up to her and share his innermost thoughts and feelings. Falling in love with Frank James was an easy thing to do. Leaving home wasn’t. But when the “law” started closing in on the man she loved, the young Missouri farm girl opted for the excitement of life on the outlaw trail.
Her departure was swift. Packing one suitcase and one valise, Annie boarded a train in Independence, and made good her escape. And safely packed away were two of Annie’s most cherished possessions—recipe books containing her favorite meals and treats. She’d started entering special family recipes into the first book as a teenager in 1867, and added more as the years went by. Some were the very meals she later prepared for Frank and Jesse as they lived their wild and reckless days on the “dodge-em” trail.
After Frank’s acquittal in 1882, the bent and tired one-time outlaw hung up his guns for good. Returning to Annie, Frank worked a variety of jobs until his death in 1915. A heartbroken Annie immediately went into seclusion, and was rarely seen in public. When she died nearly 30 years later, in 1944, her two worn and weathered recipe books were still on a cupboard shelf in her little kitchen. Though most of the recipes are in her handwriting, some were written by Annie’s mother Mary, her sister Rowena, and several were even entered by none other than the old outlaw himself, husband Frank.
James Family descendants kept the two books until 1989, when both were sold to a private collector. The recipes include meat dishes, pies, cakes, vegetables, preserves, breads and home remedies.
Readers, though we tried to find these cookbooks, we were unable to.
The last information we had said they were called ‘Outlaw Cookin’. In all, nearly 120 recipes had been collected and published in the 70-page book. An address for the publisher was P.O. Box 461, Provo, UT 84603. There was a picture of Annie Ralston’s book from July 22, 1867 in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. Let us know if you are able to locate this book or picture. We will be glad to update our readers. Thanks for your help.
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