Independence, MO
Posted on OHD: 12/12/19. As of 8/1/22, it was no longer for sale. It is archived here for historical reference and educational purposes.
Please use the links below to see current listing information.
2100 S Hedges Ave, Independence, MO 64052
GREAT B&B or AirBNB OPPORTUNITY! LARGE HOME! Historic Ralston homestead, wealthy Independence business man of the 1800s, whose daughter, Ann, married Frank James brother of Jesse of the James-Younger gang. The south end of the home is the first original home that supposedly is the oldest standing home on the Santa Fe trail. Other historic facts can be gathered at the historical society. This home has been gutted so you can start with your vision. Includes 3/4 acre lot to the south (add lot home is on = ~1 acre).
5 Bed · 5 Bath · 1 Ac.
Listed With
Loni Louise Bernard, Lotus Key Homes :: (816) 699-7646
Reference Links
Mr. Ralston came of a stock of Irish patriots, his father and mother being imprisoned for taking part in the Irish rebellion of 1798. At one time they were taken from their place of imprisonment to view the heads of some relatives that were stuck up on posts in the prison yard.
After his parents were released young Ralston was spirited out of the country by his uncle, who paid his passage on a ship sailing for a port in North Carolina. When he arrived there he began farming, and married. In 1840 he moved to Jackson county, settling on a farm two miles east of Independence. His first wife died, and he remarried in 1844, his second wife being a Miss Hill.
He had one child by his first marriage, John Ralston, who resides in St. Louis. Four children were born after his second marriage, Harry Ralston, Madge Ralston, Samuel Ralston and Mrs. Frank James.
The Ralston homestead is situated on the electric line at a place called Evanston and is frequently pointed out to strangers as the place where Frank and Jesse James used to stay when the detectives were looking for them. Some stirring scenes were enacted at the place when the hunt was most active for the bandits, the house being frequently surrounded by officers who had received information that the James boys were hiding there.
Although frequently accused of harboring Frank and Jesse James, it could not be proved against him and he was never placed under arrest. He was an ardent Southern sympathizer but did not join the army and saw no fighting except on one occasion when Southern and Northern sympathizers met near Independence at a place called Rock Creek. Someone accidentally fired a gun while both sides were lined up for battle and both armies ran away. In the fight another gun was discharged and Mr. Ralston was accidentally wounded. His open sympathy with the South drew the attention of the government to him and he was ordered to leave. He went to Omaha and returning after the war was over was made a deputy sheriff of Jackson county under Sheriff Charles Dougherty.”
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