"On one occasion Jesse James and his gang sought food and rest at a lonely farmhouse. The woman there gave them what food she could and apologized for the poor hospitality. A widow and deeply in debt, she was even then waiting for the debt collector to visit her to demand $1,400, which she could not possibly afford to pay.

"Jesse James had the spoils of one of his bank raids with him. He gave the astonished woman enough money to pay off her debt, telling her to be sure to get a receipt from the debt collector. Then he and his gang withdrew to watch the road leading to the farmhouse.

"Along came the debt collector, looking very grim. A short while later he emerged from the farm, looking altogether more pleased with himself. Jesse James and his men stopped him, recovered their $1,400, and rode off."

[Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was also "selectively generous." Every bank he robbed was scoured for first mortgages -- which he destroyed on the chance that they had not been recorded. He also tossed money from the windows if his getaway car.]

[The first person to play Jesse James in a film? His own son, Jesse James Jr. -- in Jesse James Under the Black Flag (1921) and Jesse James as the Outlaw (1921).]