Kearney, Missouri

Kearney, Missouri, started life in eighteen fifty-six as Centerville, founded by David T. Duncan and W. R.

Cave. When the Kansas City and Cameron Railroad came through, the town was renamed Kearney in honor of Charles E. Kearney, the railroad company's president.

But Kearney is known today for a far more famous resident. Jesse James was born on a farm just outside town in September of eighteen forty-seven, the son of a Baptist minister. He went on to rob banks and trains across the country before being shot by his own gang member, Bob Ford, in eighteen eighty-two.

Jesse is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, right here in Kearney. The birthplace farmhouse still stands as a museum.