Manuscripts Collection
The collection contains letters, reminiscences, and related materials about the robbery and subsequent manhunt, primarily from southern Minnesota residents. It also includes correspondence from Cole Younger and copies of correspondence from W. C. Bronaugh, who was instrumental in securing Jim and Cole Younger's parole from prison. This collection was originally collated to facilitate microfilming.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics
should
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Bronaugh-Younger papers, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri; 920 South College Avenue, Columbia, MO 65201-7298.
Accession numbers: 1805A1; 5985; 6930; 7559; 7808; 8901; 9337; 9490; 10,799; 13;645
Digitized by: Christopher G. Welter, April 2011
Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 7366268
This collection, excepting the envelopes from Cole Younger's correspondence to Dr. Newman, is also available on the microfilm edition of the Northfield (Minnesota) bank robbery of 1876: selected manuscript collections and government records (M468).
Digital version
Armstong's essay conveys his fear prior to the bandits' capture and their subsequent arrival in Madelia. Salient points include a woman bringing a handkerchief to the wounded Jim Younger and Cole Younger's praise for the capturing posse—yet threatens posse member Willis Bundy, who supposedly inflicted Jim Younger's jaw wound.
Digital version, undated-September 23, 1891.
Digital version, March 19, 1893-January 20, 1925.
Letters reflecting efforts made by Missouri and Minnesota citizens to obtain
pardons for the Younger brothers. Addressed mainly to Bronaugh, the
movement’s leader and author of
Fannie is Cole's aunt, Frances Fristoe Twyman.
Digital version
Contains data on the robbery, particularly the removal of Bill Chadwell’s body to the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, as a study cadaver.
Anecdotes of pioneer days in Northfield, and reminiscences of the Butler family, especially his grandfather, Patrick, who emigrated from Ireland in the late 1840s, settled in Illinois, and in 1863 homesteaded near Waterford, Minnesota.
Digital version
Itemizes each expense, including board, clothing, and medical and surgical accommodations.
Digital version
Brief account of the burning of fourteen Rice County mills shortly after the Northfield robbery, all believed to have been ignited by members of the James gang. The author, then three years old, recalls seeing two of the mills—the Beans and Grange mills in Faribault—burning.
Digital version
Describes the experiences of Henkle, a Faribault resident, as a member of one of the many volunteer groups organized to aid in the pursuit and capture of the Northfield robbers. Also details a visit to Madelia to view the captives.
Digital version
LeVesconte (Prior Lake, Minnesota) to Jacob Hodnefield (St. Paul) relating her recollections, as a ten-year-old St. Paul girl, of the robbery and the transfer of Charlie Pitts’ body to a St. Paul doctor.
Digital version
A card containing illustrations of the seven men who captured the Younger brothers on front, with McKenzie’s account of the capture on back. McKenzie unknowingly played pool with Bob Younger in Owatonna shortly before the robbery and visited the Youngers in the Faribault jail following their capture.
Digital version
Thomforde's reminiscence of a stop made by the Northfield robbers the evening prior to the daytime robbery, as related to her niece. The robbers occupied the nearby schoolhouse in Featherstone Township, Goodhue County. Includes a hand-drawn map of the area.
Digital version
Newman, serving his medical internship, befriended Cole Younger, who worked as an orderly at Stillwater's Minnesota State Prison. Newman was practicing in Wells (1896-1897) and New London (1898-1900), Minnesota, during this friendly correspondence.