On July 6-11, 1908, Cole Younger, a member of the James-Younger gang, hosted a carnival on the square around the Nodaway County Courthouse. During the visit, the outlaw revealed that his family was a party to the very first deed filed with the Nodaway County Recorder of Deeds on May 14, 1845.
After Younger was paroled in 1901 from Minnesota prison for their part in the 1876 Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery, he began touring initially with outlaw Frank James. Subsequently, he worked with Lew Nichols in the Cole Younger and Nichols Amusement Company. Initially, they were booked on the east side of Maryville, but they petitioned to be on the Square, and all merchants supported the move.
An advertisement called the carnival Cole Younger’s Big Roman Coliseum. It offered 10 Big Clean Moral Shows, 2 Brass Bands, Balloon Ascension, High Dive, Free Aerial Acts, Girl from Dixie, Mysterious Edna, Old Plantation, Electric Theatre (this could have been the theater on the south side of square which is still there), Monkey House, Den of Horror, House of Mystery, Big Ferris Wheel, Steam Merry Go Round.
On Jun 18, 1908, the Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune published an item headlined “Cole Younger’s Father Took Out First Warranty Deed Filed in County.” The article said that a Coleman Younger received a deed from Recorder Amos Graham on May 14, 1845 (presumably at the first courthouse, which was a log cabin on a site just north of the Methodist Church). The deed was from Martin and Sarah Noland and Felix and Ann Blakley in the area around what is today Guilford/Barnard.
On his visit, Cole Younger took issue with some details in the initial report but said the deed did go to a family member. He said his father, who lived in Lee’s Summit, never owned any Nodaway property. Instead, he said, it was to his uncle who lived in Liberty.
Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune 1908 Jul 09 Page 1 City Council Approves Cole Younger Carnival
https://www.newspapers.com/article/weekly-democrat-forum-and-maryville-trib/188055840/
SHOW ON THE STREETS CITY COUNCIL GRANTS COMPANY USE OF THE STREETS. The city council permitted the Cole Younger and Nichols Amusement Company shows on Friday night to use the north, south, and east sides of the square. The company requested permission through its press agent. L. A. Von Erichsen. He came here on Friday and found that the advance agent had assigned the show to East Second Street. Near the Harrison brothers’ barn, but he secured the signatures of most of the merchants to have the show around the square, and the council granted permission. Not a single businessman refused to sign the petition. Five per cent of the company’s gross receipts will be given to the city for charitable purposes.
The Maryville Tribune
Maryville, Missouri · Thursday, July 16, 1908 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-tribune-cole-younger-clari/188033920/
THURSDAY. JULY 16. 1908. of COLE YOUNGER EXPLODES STORY OF OLD DEED Says Father Never Owned Land In This County Nor Never Resided Here. LAND WAS PURCHASED BY UNCLE. Former Bandit Discusses Politics, but Will Not Talk of War Times Or Raids Following Civil War. During al conversation Thursday Cole Younger,, who is here with the Nichols Amusement company,, took occasion to puncture a pretty little romance which has been handed to every new reporter who will bite at it and which years, ago became a chestnut, but which was recently revived and circulated by a Maryville paper towit: That Cole Younger, the man who filed the first deed for record in the recorder’s office, was the father of Cole Younger the former bandit, and that the man who filed the deed was then a resident of Graham. Cole Younger says that his father never owned an inch of land in this county, that he never resided here, and that the Cole Younger who filed the deed for record was his uncle, who lived at Liberty in Clay County. The land in question is situated near Barnard and was, in some way, acquired by Judge Younger of Clay County. Cole Younger was born and reared near Lee’s Summit in Jackson County, where his father resided during all his residence in Missouri. To gaze on the former bandit, one would never see in the refined and gentlemanly older man who talks intelligently, a companion of the James and Ford gang of outlaws. There is no mark on his person indicating the dreadful carnage of the Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery and the subsequent fight at St. Peter’s and the sequel of twenty-five years imprisonment at Stillwater penitentiary. Of the sentence served by Cole Younger, 12 years were spent in hard labor, and the remainder was spent as the prison hospital’s jail librarian and head nurse. Younger, 15, now pardoned from the Minnesota penitentiary, the only stipulations being that he never again voluntarily visit Minnesota or go on the lecture platform. For eighteen months, Younger and his brother Jim were out on parole. Then came a full pardon and Jim Younger’s suicide. Robert Younger died in the Stillwater penitentiary. Cole Younger is a great observer of politics, and not a very warm admirer of the political principles which Governor John Johnson of Minnesota stands for. Personally, Younger is A great admirer of the Minnesota governor.
Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune 1908 Jun 18
https://www.newspapers.com/article/weekly-democrat-forum-and-maryville-trib/188031388/
COLE YOUNGER’S FATHER TOOK OUT THE FIRST WARRANTY DEED FILED IN THE COUNTY. An interesting bit of early Nodaway County history can be found in the records of the office of Recorder L. E. Carpenter. It is the first warranty deed filed in the recorder’s office, and it is of special importance because Coleman Younger, the father of Cole Younger, a member of the James boys gang, filed it. The deed was made on May 14, 1845, by Martin and Sarah Noland and Felix and Ann Blakely, pioneer Nodaway County settlers. The deed conveyed 320 acres of land in Washington township near where Guilford now stands to Coleman Younger. The warranty deed was filed three months after the organization of Nodaway County on February 14, 1845. The purchase price paid for the land was $700. Today, the same tract of land, which would sell at $75, would bring $24,000. The deed was recorded by Recorder Amos Graham, the husband of Mary Graham, after whom Maryville was named. Many relatives of the Younger family still live in Nodaway County. The Younger families of Lincoln township are closely related to Cole Younger, and other relatives of the famous family live near Graham.
The Maryville Daily Forum July 3, 1908
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-cole-younges/188022817/
CARNIVAL ALL NEXT WEEK Cole Younger and Nichols Amusement Co. will Exhibit at Maryville July 6 to LEW NICHOLS 10 Big Clean Moral Shows | 2 Brass Bands Balloon Ascension High Dive Free Aerial Acts Cole Younger’s Big Roman Coliseum Something doing all the time. Free acts in the afternoon and night—fun, frolic, Amusement. Look for the – -Girl from Dixie -Mysterious Edna -Old Plantation -Electric Theater -Monkey House -Den of Horror -House of Mystery -Big Ferris Wheel -Steam Merry go-round -and a good time. Remember all next week.
