Who is the Quail Hunter??
The Beginning... Sort of?
Let’s start this off with some introductions.
My name is Cameron Lee, I’m a lifelong Kansas Citian, recently enrolled graduate student, comic book writer, and general nerd for all things history, mythology, and pop culture. I’m also the great-great-great-grand-nephew to John F. Kennedy! Before you start doing the math on that let me clarify, not THAT JFK. John F. Kennedy aka Jack “The Quail Hunter” Kennedy is the relative we’re here to talk about rather than his presidential doppelganger.
So who was Jack? Like everyone, he was a number of things. A First-Generation immigrant born in Independence, Missouri to Irish parents fleeing the horrors of the Great Famine. A bartender prone to drinking the merchandise and giving out free samples. A fireman, brakeman, and engineer for the Southern-Pacific Railroad. But most notoriously, and what Jack is remembered for by those few who remember, he was the “last great train robber.”
Jack was born in 1866(probably) in a district of Independence, Missouri formerly called “Cracker Neck” that ran alongside the Little Blue River. The Kennedy’s were a large family with 11 children in total being raised by John Sr. and Bridget McGowan Kennedy. Cracker Neck is the same part of Jackson and Clay County where a slew of criminals you’ll surely recognize also grew up and hung around, Jesse and Frank James and the Dalton boys. In fact, Jack claimed that in 1879 he could hear the James Gang robbing the Chicago and Alton train on the Blue Cut line from his childhood bedroom. If true, it surely lodged in his young mind and never let go.
Let’s skip ahead a bit to the good part. Between the years of 1896 and 1899 Jack is known to have robbed seven trains with varying results. I say “is known” because many speculate that he committed more robberies in which he was never a named suspect. Starting during his career as an engineer in Texas, then during his attempted gang-building time in California with Bill “Whiskeyhead” Ryan of James Gang fame, and back to Kansas City and Missouri at large Jack robbed more trains than the James Gang, Dalton Gang, and Wild Bunch combined just with the cases we know! Something that further sets Jack apart from his contemporaries and predecessors, however, is the lack of blood spilt on his jobs. Jack was accused, and nearly found guilty, of one murder after a botched grocery store robbery but somehow none of his train robberies lead to gun battles.
Now that we’ve got the basics down for who Jack was and what Jack did I’d like to better explain what this newsletter/blog/project is going to be. I’ve been digging deep into Jacks story for the past couple years now and have managed to debunk some claims, confirm others, find dead-ends, uncover new stories, and so much more in just a short time researching. To mention Jack Kennedy to my great-grand-fathers generation was as taboo as swearing in church. It wasn’t until my fathers generation dug more into family history that Jack was even proven to be more than a myth! After all, how many families in Missouri dubiously claim to be related to Jesse James? But Jack DID exist. Something about that struck a cord with me. This man, separated from me by over a century and nearly struck from the family tree, grew up barely half an hour north of where I now live. He brushed elbows with some of the most notorious, cut-throat, bloodied criminals of his time. He witnessed the drastic change from post Civil-War and the remnants of the “Old West” to the “Roaring Twenties”.
Jack’s story is a time capsule, and I’d like to crack it open. So join me as we see what exactly Jack got up to in his 54 or so mortal years! My goal is to write an entry once per week, starting with my earliest findings and eventually catching up to what I’m digging into as we speak. If you know anyone who loves history (especially local) or crime dramas then share this with them as well! This is going to remain a free substack so don’t fret about any impending paywalls. I’ll be sharing all the documents I have found as well so y’all can read along as we HUNT THE QUAIL HUNTER!
Thanks folks and see you next week with a deep dive into the handful of books published about Jack!