My Genealogy Hound

Richmond, Missouri, Bob Ford tombstone and grave, Assassin of Jesse James

Richmond, Missouri, Bob Ford tombstone and grave, Assassin of Jesse James, photo

A photo of the grave and tombstone of James Gang member, Bob Ford, who assassinated Jesse James on April 3, 1882 at the home of Jesse James, St. Joseph, Missouri. The Ford grave is in the Richmond Cemetery, Richmond, Missouri. The stone behind the marker is what is left of the original tombstone that has been chipped away for souvenirs. Note that the birth date on the tombstone is incorrect, Bob Ford was born December 8, 1861, not 1841, in Ray County, Missouri.

Ford, who was only 20 years old at the time, assassinated Jesse James in the hopes of collecting a reward that had been placed on James, dead or alive. To his surprise, he and his brother, Charles Ford who was an accomplice and fellow gang member, were charged with murder, found guilty and sentenced to hang. Governor Crittenden of Missouri granted them a full pardon. In the end, the Ford brothers received only $500 of the $10,000 reward money that had been posted for James.

Bob Ford afterward spent some time attempting to make money from the killing of James by reenacting the assassination. His attempts were largely unsuccessful as most did not approve of the killing by shooting him in the back while unarmed. After several different occupations, Ford opened a saloon in Creede, Colorado where he was in turn assassinated on June 8, 1892 by Edward O'Kelley. Ford was 30 years old. He was originally buried in Creede, Colorado but his body was later removed to the Richmond Cemetery, Richmond, Missouri, near the area that Ford was originally from.

Richmond is in Ray County, Missouri.

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View an historic 1904 map of Ray County, Missouri

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