Collecting American Outlaws
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang’s history in more ways than one.
By: Jana Bommersbach 08/25/2009
The homestead is a two-story, pre-Civil War home with a small front porch and four bedrooms upstairs. A simple house, it is constructed of wood with lapped shingles.
Its lifetime not only included housing the Younger family, but also being transformed into an antique shop before sitting empty for several years. “Somebody poked a large hole on one end, and it was in bad shape,” Zink remembers.
The development of a new sub-division meant the old Homestead was scheduled for demolition. That’s when Zink and his collaborator, author Marley Brant, stepped in. She has also written about the Youngers and also wanted to see this piece of history saved from the bulldozer. She put up the money to buy the decrepit house, while Zink supervised the tearing down and cataloging of every board. Then he stored all the pieces of the house in his barn for two decades before he and Brant donated it all to the Cass County Historical Society, which plans to reconstruct it at a proper site someday.
Meanwhile, Zink has the equivalent of a museum in his own home. “We have an 11-room house in Springfield, but my wife doesn’t like having all this stuff around, so most of it is packed up in the basement,” Zink says. He is keeping good records of it all, writing notes for his son and daughter, detailing the items that they will inherit one day.
“I collected all this stuff to work on when I got old, and I’m there,” Zink says with a laugh. He still has the collecting bug. He’s working on a collection of letters from Jesse and Frank’s parents: Robert, who was a minister, and his wife Zerelda. Perhaps material for another book? Who knows? What he does know is that his collections mean something special. “It’s important to preserve history for our children or grandchildren, or it will be lost,” says Zink, sounding very much like an Old West Savior.
Comments (2)
We have a pair of Cole Younger spurs. In silver it says CY. My husband obtained them about 40 years ago from a guy who's dad was first cousin to the Youngers. He left his son by the last name of Hanes (I don't know if the spelling is correct) Anyhow the son paid by husband with this spurs for doing some machine shop work at a shop that he had in Shandon CA. I am trying to find a picture of Cole Younger with these spurs on to authicate them. He may have had more than one pair!
I have authentic wanted posters of belle star and jesse james; also a newspaper clip from late 1800
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