Charles Wilson "Charley" Ford (July 9, 1857 – May 6, 1884) was an outlaw, and member of the

James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

. He was the lesser known brother of Robert Ford, the killer of

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

. Charlie Ford was introduced to Jesse and

Frank James Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla; in the post-Civil War period, he was an outlaw. The older brother of outlaw Jesse James, Frank was also part of the James–Younger ...

Wood Hite Robert Woodson "Wood" Hite (1850 – December 4, 1881) was an outlaw and cousin of Frank and Jesse James. He was a member of the James-Younger gang, participating in a number of robberies and other crimes. He was shot dead by Robert Ford du ...

and he joined the gang. In 1882 Jesse James recruited Robert and Charles Ford to help with a planned robbery of another bank. Thomas T. Crittenden offered $10,000 for the capture of Jesse James, and on April 3, 1882, Robert Ford shot Jesse James. He and Charles Ford were convicted and were sentenced to be

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

, but were pardoned by Crittenden. Afterwards, Charles heard a rumor that Frank James was searching for both with plans of mortal revenge. Two years later, after a period of deep depression following James' death, terminal illness from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, and a debilitating

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

addiction, Charles Ford died by suicide on May 6, 1884. He was interred in

Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. The cemetery opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Act of Parliament the previous year. The cemetery has been expande ...

Family

Charles Ford was one of the eleven Ford children born to James Thomas Ford and Mary Ann Bruin: * Sarah J. Ford (b. abt. 1841) * Georgiana Ford (b. abt. 1843) * Mary T. Ford (b. abt. 1845) * John Thomas Ford (b: November 6, 1847) * Martha Elizabeth Ford (b: April 22, 1849) * Harriet Ford (b. abt. 1851) * Elias Capline Ford (b: July 10, 1853) * Amanda Francis Ford (b: April 1, 1855) * Charles Wilson Ford (b: July 9, 1857) * Wilber Pottuck Ford (b: November 19, 1859) * Robert Newton Ford (b: January 31, 1862)

In popular culture

Charles Tannen Charles David Tannen (October 22, 1915 – December 28, 1980) was an American actor and screenwriter. Career A general purpose actor who worked primarily at 20th Century Fox, Tannen had mostly bit and/or supporting parts in movies, appea ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

'' (1939) and ''

The Return of Frank James ''The Return of Frank James'' is a 1940 Western film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney. It is a sequel to Henry King's 1939 film ''Jesse James''. Written by Sam Hellman, the film loosely follows the life of Fran ...

'' (1940). *

Tommy Noonan Tommy Noonan (born Thomas Noone; April 29, 1921 – April 24, 1968) was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a number of high-profile films as well as B movies from the 1940s through the 1960s, and he is best ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

I Shot Jesse James ''I Shot Jesse James'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Samuel Fuller about the murder of Jesse James by Robert Ford and Robert Ford's life afterwards. The story is built around a fictional rivalry between Ford and his eventual kill ...

'' (1949) and ''

The Return of Jesse James ''The Return of Jesse James'' is a 1950 American western film directed by Arthur Hilton and starring John Ireland, Ann Dvorak and Henry Hull. It was produced and distributed by the independent Lippert Pictures. The film's art direction was by ...

'' (1950). *

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sour ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

The Great Missouri Raid ''The Great Missouri Raid'' is a 1951 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and written by Frank Gruber. The film stars Wendell Corey, Macdonald Carey, Ellen Drew, Ward Bond, Bruce Bennett, Bill Williams and Anne Revere. The film w ...

'' (1951). *

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...

portrayed Charles Ford on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio show

Crime Classics ''Crime Classics'' is a United States radio docudrama which aired as a sustaining series over CBS Radio from June 15, 1953, to June 30, 1954. Production Produced and directed by radio actor and director Elliott Lewis, the program was a histor ...

on July 20, 1953 in the episode entitled ''The Death of a Picture Hanger.'' *

Frank Gorshin Frank John Gorshin Jr. (April 5, 1933 – May 17, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and impressionist. He made many guest appearances on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' and ''Tonight Starring Steve Allen''. As an actor, he played the Riddler on the ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

The True Story of Jesse James ''The True Story of Jesse James'' is a 1957 American Western drama film adapted from Henry King's 1939 film '' Jesse James'', which was only loosely based on James' life. It was directed by Nicholas Ray, with Robert Wagner portraying Jesse Jam ...

'' (1957). *

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

The Long Riders ''The Long Riders'' is a 1980 American Western film directed by Walter Hill. It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Cooder won the ''Best Music'' award in 1980 from the L ...

'' (1980). *

Alexis Arquette Alexis Arquette (born Robert Arquette; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress. Early life Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi ...

portrayed Charles Ford in '' Frank & Jesse'' (1994). *

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (199 ...

portrayed Charles Ford in ''

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' is a 2007 American epic revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt as Jesse James. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same ti ...

'' (2007), based on the novel by Ron Hansen. *Charles Ford is mentioned in the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

song ''Tennessee Jed''. *Alex Rose portrayed Charles Ford in the '' Timeless'' episode, ''The Murder of Jesse James'' (2017).

References

1857 births 1884 deaths James–Younger Gang Suicides by firearm in Missouri 1880s suicides {{OldWest-bio-stub

Family

In popular culture

See also

References