LIFE AND CONFESSIONS 
 
 JAMES GILBERT JENKINS 
 
 MURDERER OF EIGHTEEN MEN. 
 
 UI'.I'OR TED AND ARRANGED FOR THK TRESS BY 
 
 R . K . WOOD. 
 
 l;V 
 C. II. A LLKN AM. \l. K. WOOD. 
 
 XAI'\ CITY. 
 
 ]'l;l.NTKI> V WILLIAM P. IIAIMMsn.N 
 
 : 17 Cl;iy Strc.'t, S:iu 1-Vain- 
 
 1864. 
 
 CO 
 
 THET1EKARY 
 
 LOS ANGELED
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 ROBERT 
 
 ERNEST COWAN 

 
 JAMES GILBERT JENKINS.
 
 LIFE AND CONFESSIONS 
 
 OP 
 
 
 
 JAMES GILBERT JEMISS: 
 
 THE 
 
 MURDERER OF EIGHTEEN MEN. 
 
 Containing an account of the murder of eight ichitc men and ten Indians; together 
 with the particulars of highway robberies, the stealing of several horses, and 
 numerous other crimes, committed in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Vir- 
 ginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska and 
 California : as narmttd by himself to Col.. C. H. ALLEN, 
 Sheriff of Napa County, ichilc. in jail under sentence of 
 death for the murder of PATRICK O'BRIEN. 
 
 PHONOGRAPBICALLY REORTED AND ARRANGED FOR THE PRESS BY 
 
 R. E. WOOD. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 C. H. ALLEN AND R. E. WOOD, 
 
 IST-A-IP-A. OIT~5T. 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM P. HARRISON & CO., 
 
 No. 417 Clay Street, San Francisco. 
 
 1SG4.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-four, 
 
 BY R. E. WOOD, 
 In the Clerk's office of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
 
 -hrV 
 
 PREFATORY. 
 
 IT has been said that " we are creatures of circum- 
 stance;" that we are tossed about here and there upon 
 the great sea of life without rudder or chart, and finally 
 driven into such port to which the ever changing wind of 
 circumstance may waft us. It would seem that in some 
 cases such is the result of human life. Whether this be 
 so or not, it certainly is the fact that circumstances influence 
 o us to a greater or less degree, for good or for evil, and it 
 ""I becomes every well wisher of the human race every one 
 I who would wish to see crime decrease to endeavor to 
 
 X3 
 
 ' draw around himself or herself, or others, (especially the 
 gj young), such circumstances as shall cause them, or at least 
 influence them, to act in accordance with that divinely 
 bestowed Monitor that acts with unmistakable power in every 
 human breast. There is more or less crime being enacted 
 every day; and these golden shores have been stained with 
 the blood of hundreds of human beings, that need not 
 have fallen victims to the assassin's hand, had the proper 
 circumstances been thrown around the perpetrators ol these 
 bloody deeds while yet their plastic mirths were being 
 molded by that inconceivable power education! The 
 principal object of this little work is not to pander to the
 
 4 Prefatory. 
 
 taste for tragedy, but to cause the people to see and more 
 fully realize the effects and ends of the many enticing vices 
 that on every hand are alluring the youth of this coast on 
 in paths of crime. 
 
 The following pages tell the history of a child of cir- 
 cumstance. The parents of James Gilbert Jenkins, ac- 
 cording to himself and others whom I have conversed with 
 who knew them, were good, honest, upright people ; his 
 sister and brothers were the same; and up to the time when 
 he fell a victim to the accursed influence of that gambler, 
 thief, robber, murderer, John Forbes, and his associates, 
 there was nothing that marked him from the commonality 
 of his fellows, unless it be that his mind was a little more 
 active, and his physical system better developed. For all 
 any one at that time could have seen, he gave promise of 
 being a good and intelligent man. But these blighting cir- 
 cumstances were thrown about him ; they drew him from 
 the school he loved so well, and trained his naturally pow- 
 erful mind in ignorance of everything except the criminal 
 arts : and when he arrived at mature manhood, saw the po- 
 sition he occupied, and realized the fact that his life thus 
 far had been one of error and wrong, prompted by the 
 natural goodness of his nature, he resolved and vowed to 
 lead a better life. But again a powerful influence is thrown 
 around him ; circumstances that his nature, already familiar 
 with crime, could not withstand, and the last great error of 
 his life is worked out. Society, to protect itself, dooms 
 this unfortunate man to death ; and while he stands on the
 
 Prefatory. 5 
 
 very brink of eternity, just ready to step into the unknown 
 future, he takes a retrospective view of his past life, ;m<l 
 with the mind's clear eye sees the causes that have led him 
 to the place where he now stands. With an aeliiiii: In-art 
 and an earnestness known only to one in his position, he 
 tells his simple story, and warns others from a similar 
 career, asking that parents and guardians shall look well to 
 the influences and circumstances that may surround the 
 children under their care. He said that since being under 
 sentence he had become a different man, and his only wish 
 was that he might be the cause of doing some little good, 
 and thus partly atone for the wrongs he had done. He 
 thought that perhaps his story and warnings might be the 
 means of saving more persons from a criminal's life than 
 he had caused to suffer by his crimes, and thus his life 
 might still not be all a blank. He felt what he said, and 
 the warm tears quite frequently coursed down his cheeks 
 as seals to the earnestness and truthfulness of what he 
 said. He looked over his past life with sorrow and regret. 
 One Sunday morning I was reading his account of his early 
 life m the presence of Col. Allen to him, and when I 
 reached that point in the story when he left home, and 
 school the turning point of his whole career he pulled 
 his hat down over his face, (in manly pride) to hide tin; 
 hot tears that flowed thick and fast as In- thonirlit of ti 
 young and innocent days. He sat there a minute or two 
 trying to check his feelings, but he was unable to do so, 
 and soon went into his cell and gave them full vent in sobs
 
 6 Prefatory. 
 
 and moaning for nearly half an hour, when the Colonel 
 went in and persuaded him to come out. With great ear- 
 nestness he warned the boys against drinking spirituous 
 liquors, and said he never committed a crime, or never 
 could commit one, unless under the influence of alchoholic 
 spirits ; and it was that bottle of whiskey that caused him 
 to kill O'Brien at that time, and in so reckless a manner as 
 he did. 
 
 We claim no literary merit whatever in this work. It 
 is given to the public pretty much as it was taken from the 
 lips of this unlettered man, in phonographic notes, and we 
 only hope it may accomplish the object he desired. Kind 
 words from the lips of so hardened a criminal as he was, 
 should be treasured, remembered and followed. The boys, 
 especially of this coast, will do well to heed his warning, 
 and have nothing to do with horse-racing, gambling, whiskey 
 drinking, or keeping bad company, for these will, as he said, 
 and every man of sound sense will sanction it lead to 
 crime, and it may be to the gallows. 
 
 K E. WOOD. 
 
 Napa City, March 1st, 1864
 
 LIFE AND CONFESSIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES GILBERT JENKINS. 
 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 
 I was born in Green county, North Carolina, on the llth of 
 August, 1834. My father's name was John Jenkins, and my 
 mother's Sally Jenkins; her maiden name was Underwood. 
 In the early spring of 1836, when I was about one and a half 
 years old, my parents emigrated to Tennessee, where we lived 
 about a year and a half more, and then emigrated to Livingston 
 county, Missouri, during the summer of 1837. I was but 
 three years old, but I can remember how the cars looked, and 
 how they scared me, and how I ran from them ; and I can re- 
 collect that on tin; way we went to see a menagerie of wild 
 animals, and I remember the lions, tigers, and other animals; 
 I also recollect that we went to a river that was diflirult to 
 cross, and some people were swimming their cattle across, and 
 a man was there with a canoe; a white cow went down stream, 
 and this man went after her with his canoe, and got her out on 
 shore again. These little incidents serve to show that my 
 memory is quite good. When at our journey's end, father 
 rented a place from a man by the name of Livingston, that the 
 county was named alter. Wo lived there during that winter, 
 and the next spring father put in a crop of corn, wheat, and 
 oats. Father was an honest, hard-working man, and mother 
 was a good woman. We lived in the simple style of the
 
 8 Confessions of James Gilbert Jenkins. 
 
 country in those early days, with nothing of particular note 
 taking place to vary the general routine of our lives. I re- 
 member when the corn was gathered in the fall, I used to ride 
 on the loads up to the barn, and, in passing under a large 
 timber that was placed across the top of the tall gate posts, I 
 was knocked off twice, by letting my head come in contact 
 with this beam. 
 
 In the early part of the winter, father went to Gentry 
 county to build a couple of chimneys (he was a mason by 
 trade), leaving his family at home. While he was there, he 
 took up a piece of government land and built a house on it. 
 Just about Christmas, father returned home ; the snow at that 
 time being about two feet deep. It was not common for father 
 to be away from home, and his coming was looked for with 
 much anxiety by the whole family. When he returned home, 
 a little incident happened that I well remember. We had all 
 gone to bed, and all were sleeping, except mother; the night 
 was cold and still ; she heard him whistling a long way off, and 
 called to us children, and told us he was coming. It was ten 
 o'clock at night, but we jumped out of bed and went waddling 
 through the snow, which was up to our knees, to meet him ; 
 (when I say we, I mean my sister, who was next younger than 
 me, and a brother, still younger than her) ; we went without 
 other clothes than our night clothes, just as we got out of 
 bed, and were nearly frozen, but father picked us all three up 
 in his arms, and packed us into the house. We sat up about 
 two hours, talking with father about the country where he had 
 been, and then went to bed about midnight, feeling glad and 
 happy that father had come home. 
 
 We lived there until spring, with nothing of particular 
 note taking place, and then went into Gentry county to the 
 land father had bought and the house he had built. He broke 
 up some land and put in a crop that spring. The country was 
 new and but few people lived there, neigbors being five or six 
 miles apart, consequently we had no school, and I had no 
 chance to learn anything with the exception that sometimes of
 
 My First and Only Term at School. 9 
 
 nights mother would hear us spell, having us all that v, 
 large enough sit down while she taught us. The summer 
 passed away, and in the fall, father went away to be gone 
 three months, to work at his trade, and mother lived alone with 
 the children, while he was gone the family now consisting of 
 myself, my sister Nancy, and two brothers, Albert and George. 
 Towards spring, father came home, and everything went on 
 happy and pleasant, without anything of note taking place. I 
 used to go and help the neighbors plant corn, by dropping it 
 for them, for two or three bits a day. Thus time went on until 
 the summer that I was nine years old. By this time, the 
 country had become settled enough so that then; were, children 
 enough to make up a school ; a teacher was hired, and we had 
 a school of twenty-five scholars. 
 
 MY FIRST AND ONLY TKUM AT SCHOOL. 
 
 The teacher's name was Linville, and they paid him three 
 dollars a month for each scholar. Well, the school opened, 
 and our parents sent me and my sister to school ; it was five 
 miles away, and we had this to walk every night and morning. 
 The school opened on Monday morning, and me and my sister 
 fixed up in our nicest clothes, took our dinners in a little basket 
 and started for school. We had a little pet deer, nearly half- 
 grown, with the spots still on it, and as we started oil' to school 
 on the run, this deer followed us. We run most of the way 
 that morning, hurrying for fear of being too late, but we got 
 there in time the little deer making number three. We ar- 
 rived just as the teacher did, and lie opened the door and told us 
 to go in, which we did, sister taking one side of the room and 
 I the other. The rest of iho scholars soon came in, and the 
 master rapped on the desk wiili his ferule and called the school 
 to order. He was a tall, slim, ugly-looking t'rllow, with a long 
 nose, freckled face, very long teeth, and jet black hair; but 
 though he was ugly looking, we all soon learned to like him, 
 for he was a good, clever fellow. After he called the school to 
 order, he came to me the first one and said, " Bub, what is
 
 io Confessions of James Gilbert Jenkins. 
 
 your name ? " I told him my name was James Gilbert Jenkins. 
 He then said, "you are a nice little boy, I believe ; " and asked 
 me if I knew my A B C's. I told him I did ; and, by his re- 
 questing me to do so, I said them all for him, and then he said, 
 " you are a fine boy." After this he went around the room in 
 the same manner. I remember the boy he next went to was 
 named George Foster. When he asked him if he knew the 
 alphabet, he answered, " No sir ; I d-o-n-'t ;" and the em- 
 phatic manner in which he spoke the word "don't," and the 
 long time he dwelt on the sound, made us laugh. I went to 
 school every day, and took much interest in it ; the little deer 
 always keeping us company. It would come into the school- 
 house and lay down by me, and, when I went to the teacher 
 for anything, it would go along with me, and sometimes it 
 would rear up on its hind legs and put its fore legs on my back, 
 and causing the whole school to laugh. The teacher did not 
 seem to care much for this, and would only tap on the floor 
 with his foot to stop the laughing, and let the deer remain in 
 the room. He was a good teacher, and did not whip any of us 
 for a month after school commenced. We were all small 
 scholars, and he would sometimes give us as much as three 
 hours at noon, thereby cutting short the hours of study. If 
 any of us fell asleep, he would carefully fix us on the linn- 
 wood benches, which were only thick planks hewed out with 
 legs stuck in them. The master whipped me twice while I 
 was at school, for having little fights with the boys. I loved 
 to study, and was always at the head of my class ; got my les- 
 sons well, and was there every day for three months, just as 
 regular as the days came. 
 
 We used to run foot races quite often the master as well 
 as the boys ; and one night after school, master and I set out to 
 run one. I could beat all the boys running, and I could whip 
 them all in the little boy fights, and I could throw them all 
 wrestling, so I felt very smart, and was quite willing to run 
 with the master. We started at the word, but the master soon 
 stubbed his toe, fell down, and I came out ahead. I always
 
 Went Away with John Forbes. i i 
 
 had the grin on him after that, and every night, after school 
 was out, I would ask him if he wanted to run another race. 
 
 Thus three months of school passed pleasantly away, and 
 one night, when I came home from school, I found a man talk- 
 ing with my father out in the door-yard a little ways from the 
 house. As I came up, father spoke to me and said: "Jimmy. 
 here is a man that wants you to go with him and ride his re 
 horses." I said to father, "I can't, for I am <:oing to school." 
 The stranger then spoke and said: "I will take you and give 
 you a better schooling than you could get here." I then went 
 on into the house; supper was soon ready, and we all took 
 supper. This man's name was John Frbts. lie stayed with us 
 that night, and made an agreement with lather to give me a 
 good schooling, and at the end of such a time, (I forget the 
 length of time,) he was to give me five hundred dollars in cash 
 and a good horse, saddle and bridle. 
 
 WKXT AWAY WITH .lolIN Fol; 
 
 The next morning, one of Forbes' horses was fixed up for 
 me, and I started off with him, leaving my lather and mother, 
 sister, brothers and school, to go with this stranger, when I 
 was but nine years old, to be schooled in the black and bloody 
 art of thieves and murderers. This man Forbes, ; ,< I after- 
 wards learned, was the head of a company of horse-racers, 
 gamblers and highwaymen. The only other man's name that 
 I remember as belonging to this company was J'eters. We 
 started off on a trip, and went into lireckenridge county, in tin- 
 edge of Kentucky, and there we had a race for one thousand 
 dollars; the race was run, we won it, and got the money; but 
 we had two fights over it, and John Forbes shot one man dead 
 on the ground. The men were am -ted, had their trial, and 
 came off clear. After this we went to Illinois ami stayed about 
 three months, and while there, we made a race for three hun- 
 dred dollars; this was a sham race, which we got up on pur- 
 pose to lose, in order that we might do better; the race was 
 run, and of course we lost. In about three weeks, the r