Clay County Bank Killing

by Kathleen Mero
kmero@ix.netcom.com

Alright Black Bart here's the real deal on the victim of the Liberty Bank murder. His name was George Clifford Wymore, born Feb 2, 1849; died 2/13/1866. Most accounts ignore completely the identity of the victim. However just this evening my husband was watching an A & E special biography on the James boys and they did in fact identify George, though they may have given his age as 19 rather than 17. It is generally claimed that the shooter was Frank James, though I have never seen actual proof of this. The real mystery is why George was killed. There were several others in the street that morning who witnessed the exit of the gang from the bank. George was purportedly with a friend just leaving his home to walk to school, when the gang members mounted their horses one of them turned and looked at George, then shot him, George tried to run into the door of his house and was shot again. (Another version is that he turned to run and was shot in the back, only one shot. I have not seen autopsy or any other official analyses so not sure which is accurate account.) There has always been family lore that says members of the Wymore family were acquainted with members of the James family. If true then my theory is that of the people in the street that morning, only George made eye contact and recognized the man on the horse. No attempt was made on the life of George's friend who was standing next to him. This was such a cold blooded act, and apparently senseless that there has to be some explanation for it. George's parents were: William Harrison Wymore and Elizabeth Jane Kellar. Married April 18, 1838 in Clay Co., MO. Since they were married eleven years before George was born I assume there were siblings but do not have them in my database as of now.
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