{{Short description|American outlaw (1828–1908)}} {{Infobox person | name = Reuben Samuel | image = ReubenSamuel.jpeg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1828|1|12}} | birth_place = Owen County, Kentucky, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1908|3|1|1828|1|12}} | death_place = St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S. | occupation = Doctor, farmer | spouse = {{marriage|Zerelda James|September 25, 1855}} | children = 4 (possibly 5) }}
'''Reuben Samuel''' (January 12, 1828 – March 1, 1908) was the stepfather of the American outlaws Frank and Jesse James. He was married to the pair's mother, Zerelda James, from 1855 until his death in 1908.
== Early life == Reuben was the son of Fielding and Louisa Samuel, and was born and raised in Kentucky in 1828. He traveled to Cincinnati to attend medical school.
The third husband of Frank and Jesse James' mother, Zerelda, Samuel was 27 years old when he married the 30-year-old Zerelda on September 25, 1855. He left behind the medical profession upon marrying Zerelda and moved onto a farm,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/40098151 |title=1860 United States Federal Census |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1860 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} Line 3.</ref> raised tobacco, and acquired a total of seven slaves by 1860.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668/records/94522059 |title=1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1860|website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} Line 22.</ref> He took on Zerelda's three living children, Frank, Jesse, and Susan, as well as having four more with Zerelda:
* Sarah Louisa Samuel (April 7, 1858 – July 14, 1921) * John Thomas Samuel (December 25, 1861 – March 15, 1934) * Fanny Quantrill Samuel (October 18, 1863 – May 3, 1922) * Archie Peyton Samuel (July 26, 1866 – January 26, 1875)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Woog|first1=Adam|title=Wild West For Kids: Jesse James|publisher=Sky Pony Press|page=8}}</ref>
==Civil War==
During the American Civil War, militiamen searching for Frank James (who had joined the South) raided the Samuel farm, and briefly (though not fatally) hanged Dr. Samuel, torturing him to reveal the location of the guerrillas.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Kathleen|title=25 Little-Known Facts About the Outlaw Jesse James|url=http://www.whizzpast.com/25-little-known-facts-about-the-outlaw-jesse-james/|website=www.whizzpast.com|date=21 July 2014 |accessdate=25 November 2017}}</ref> Some researchers believe that Frank joined William Quantrill's pro-Confederate guerrillas in the August 21, 1863, Lawrence Massacre, but it has never been proven.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Woog|first1=Adam|title=Wild West For Kids: Jesse James|publisher=Sky Pony Press|page=15}}</ref>
==Pinkerton Raid== On January 25, 1875, Allan Pinkerton, the Pinkerton Agency's founder and leader, attempted to capture the outlaw James brothers. He staged a raid on Samuel's homestead, throwing an incendiary device into the house; it exploded, killing James's young half-brother Archie (named for Archie Clement) and blowing off the right arm of Zerelda. Samuel himself almost died and suffered brain damage from the explosion.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://truewestmagazine.com/a-deadly-kitchen/ |title=A Deadly Kitchen |date=22 January 2016 |access-date=15 January 2019 |first=Sherry |last=Monahan |journal=True West Magazine |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116045805/https://truewestmagazine.com/a-deadly-kitchen/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Though Pinkerton denied that the raid's intent was arson, a letter written by Pinkerton was discovered in the Library of Congress in which he declared his intention to "burn the house down."<ref name="yeatman128">{{cite book |last=Yeatman |first=Ted P. |title=Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend |publisher=Cumberland House Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=1-58182-325-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4WlW39O8-UC |pages=128–44}}</ref><ref name="stiles272">{{cite book |last=Stiles |first=T.J. |title=Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAINAAAACAAJ |publisher=Knopf Publishing |year=2002 |pages=272–85 |isbn =0-375-40583-6}}</ref>
== Death == Samuel died in 1908 after spending seven years at the St. Joseph State Hospital for the Insane, in St. Joseph, Missouri.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/859142321 |title=Happenings in Missouri: James' Boys Stepfather Dead |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 13, 1908 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Ancestry Operations Inc.|access-date=March 22, 2025}}</ref> He was 80 years old.
Some of Reuben Samuel's family still live in the Kansas City, Missouri area.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * Official website for the Family of Frank & Jesse James: Stray Leaves, A James Family in America Since 1650: http://www.ericjames.org {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228205815/http://ericjames.org/ |date=2019-02-28 }} *{{cite web|last1=Harris|first1=Kathleen|title=25 Little-Known Facts About the Outlaw Jesse James|url=http://www.whizzpast.com/25-little-known-facts-about-the-outlaw-jesse-james/|website=www.whizzpast.com|date=21 July 2014 |accessdate=25 November 2017}} *{{cite book|last1=Woog|first1=Adam|title=Wild West For Kids: Jesse James|publisher=Sky Pony Press|page=8,15}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Reuben}} Category:1828 births Category:1908 deaths Category:James–Younger Gang
{{US-crime-bio-stub}} Category:American torture victims