Robert Newton Ford: Jesse James’ killer had a Fauquier connection

Robert Newton “Bob” Ford, best known for killing outlaw Jesse James, is usually associated with Missouri. Some Fauquier County sources, however, identify him as having been born in the county, in the Hume area, before his family moved west during his childhood.

Robert Newton “Bob” Ford, Courtesy of The Gott Library

At one point, the Ford family resided at Waveland, a large farm owned by John Augustine Washington III, George Washington’s great-grandnephew, which lies on Carter’s Run Road, three miles south of Marshall and 13 miles northwest of Warrenton.

Robert is, however, not a historical figure to be proud of.

Waveland’s nomination form for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places reads:

“Robert Ford resided with his father James Thomas Ford and brother Charley in [Waveland’s] no longer extant overseer's house in the south field above the former slave houses in the 1860s. R. D. Flynn, Robert and Charley's friend, wrote in his 1894 memoirs that he often visited them during their childhood at the late Col. J. A. Washington's “Waverley” [Waveland]. He noted that Charles Wilson Ford and his brother Robert Newton Ford enjoyed tormenting dogs, cats and livestock at Waveland and would later become the infamous thieves who betrayed Jesse James, with the latter [Bob Newton] killing the bandits… Noted Fauquier County historian John Gott has found more supporting primary-source evidence that the Ford family was from the county and at Waveland.”

Waveland's main house, circa 1936, Works Progress Administration photo.

Contemporary photo of Waveland’s main house. FauquierNow.com

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