The State Historical Society of Missouri
Famous Missouri Journalists
John Newman Edwards (1839 – 1889)
[SHS 001139]
John Newman Edwards was a pro-Confederate journalist who helped create the image of Jesse James as a heroic bandit. He was born on January 4, 1839, in Virginia and moved to Lexington, Missouri, around 1855. He was a soldier of the Confederacy during the Civil War and served under Joseph O. Shelby. Edwards wrote Shelby’s military reports, presenting Confederate soldiers and bushwhackers as heroic warriors defending a just cause.
After the Civil War, Edwards lived in exile in Mexico for about two years during which time he wrote the first of three books: Shelby and His Men. He returned to Missouri and newspaper work in 1867. He helped found the Kansas City Times in 1868 and served as its editor. His colorful and fiery editorials tried to persuade ex-Confederates to return to politics. Confederates had been banished from holding office at the end of the war.
In 1869 Edwards became aware of Jesse James. He saw James as the symbol of the defeated Confederate who was an innocent victim of Northern aggression and whose crimes were only meant to correct the wrongs of the past. Edwards made contact with the James brothers and started printing Jesse’s letters in the newspaper. Jesse’s letters often proclaimed his innocence or explained his actions. Edwards glorified James as a good-hearted, Robin Hood figure.
Edward’s glorification of Jesse James is seen as part of his larger plan to instill pride in ex-Confederates and help them regain political power. By 1880 many ex-Confederates had returned to Missouri’s legislature and congressional delegation.
When Jesse James was killed in 1882, Edwards wrote a flattering obituary and tried to arrange for Frank James to surrender to Missouri authorities. Edwards, a heavy drinker, died in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1889. His flattering treatment of Jesse James undoubtedly formed the basis of the heroic legend that is still associated with the outlaw.
Text by Carlynn Trout with research assistance by Elizabeth Engel
References and Resources
Society Resources
Newspaper from the Newspaper Collection
- Kansas City Times, 1872-1882.
John Newman Edwards was editor of the newspaper during this period.
Books
- Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. pp. 276-277. [REF F508 D561]
- Edwards John N. Noted Guerrillas: or, The Warfare of the Border. St. Louis: H.W. Brand & Co., 1879. [REF F554.1 Ed96n 1879 IN CASE]
- Edwards, Mary Virginia Plattenburg. John N. Edwards: Biography, Memoirs, Reminiscences and Recollections. Kansas City: J. Edwards, 1889. [REF F508.1 Ed96 1889]
Manuscript Collection
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Edwards, John Newman (1839-1889), Letters, 1865-1866 (C1973)
Letters from Mexico, where Edwards went with Shelby and other Confederates after the Civil War. Edwards invested in land and published the Mexican Times, a Confederate English paper. -
Edwards, John Newman (1839-1889), Letters, 1882-1885 (C1531)
Letters to Frank James, giving him information and advice about public opinion, reward for his capture, and negotiations for his surrender to Governor Crittenden.
Outside Resources
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American Experience: John Newman Edwards and Confederate Myth-making
This PBS Web site provides a brief biography of John Newman Edwards.
