That was all our great aunts told Uncle Dick when he asked if we were related to Jesse James. But uncle Dick did hear our relatives in Kentucky say that we were definitely related to Jesse James. They just couldn't define how. The great aunts remained a barrier to the subject until they died. It simply was not an acceptable topic to talk about.
So it went until 1995 & 1996 when my father and mother died within 9 months of each other. I and my cousins felt our family shrinking. Once more the question came up. I used a small inheritance I received to buy a computer and get on the internet. I started my own genealogy research. Maybe more James family existed who my uncle Dick didn't find. Feeling the loss of family, I wanted to find them. Maybe they could provide an answer to that nagging question. I needed to find out for myself.