Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843[1] – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla; in the post-Civil War period, he was an outlaw.

The secessionists in Missouri, including Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, attempted to drive the Union army out of the state, but were eventually defeated.

After the withdrawal of regular Confederate troops in the fall of 1861, a bitter guerrilla conflict soon began between bands of pro-Confederate irregulars (commonly known as bushwhackers) and the Union homeguards.

By early 1863, Frank, ignoring his parole and oath of allegiance, had joined the guerrilla band of Fernando Scott, a former saddler.

Shortly afterward, Frank took part with Quantrill's company in the August 21, 1863, Lawrence Massacre where approximately 200 mostly unarmed civilians were killed.

Five months after the killing of his brother Jesse in 1882, Frank James boarded a train to Jefferson City, Missouri, where he had an appointment with the governor in the state capitol.

Placing his holster in Governor Crittenden's hands, he explained, 'I have been hunted for twenty-one years, have literally lived in the saddle, have never known a day of perfect peace.

[2]In the last thirty years of his life, James worked a variety of jobs, including shoe salesman in Nevada, Missouri and then burlesque theater ticket taker in St. Louis.

In 1902, former Missourian Sam Hildreth, a leading thoroughbred horse trainer and owner, hired James as the betting commissioner at the Fair Grounds Race Track,[6] in New Orleans.

The Tacoma Times reported in July, 1914,[7] that he was picking berries at a local ranch in Washington state, and planned to buy a farm nearby.