American outlaw (1848-1902) and member of the James-Younger Gang who was the brother of Cole, John, and Bob Younger. ALS signed “Jim,” one page, 5.5 x 8.5, no date but circa 1899. Written while incarcerated at Minnesota State Prison, a letter to Carano, in full: "This might be of service to you some day—by way of identification in a strange place." Stamped "Permitted" in the upper portion. Reverse features a letter written by prison surgeon and physician Dr. A. E. Heback addressed to Sara McNeil, dated October 17, 1899, in full: "Expected to see you today but sickness here prevents. May success attend you." In very good to fine condition, with light creasing and intersecting folds.
A botched bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, resulted in the downfall of the James-Younger Gang on September 7, 1876, after an alarm was quickly sounded and the gang was forced to retreat under a hail of bullets from enraged townsfolk. The James brothers escaped but the three Younger brothers, starving and seriously wounded, surrendered to authorities after two weeks on the run. Jim, Cole, and Bob all pleaded guilty to avoid hanging, with the latter dying in prison in 1889. A little over a year after his release, Jim Younger took his own life on October 19, 1902, despondent over parole terms that restricted him from marrying his girlfriend Alice Miller. Younger's autograph is extremely rare in any format.
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