Robert Woodson, 5th Great Grandfather of Jesse & Frank James
Robert Woodson b. 1634 m. Elizabeth Ferris, d. ca. 1707. Last known to be living in 1707, Henrico Co., VA. when he made a deed to his grandson, William and Joseph Lewis Woodson.
He married Elizabeth Ferris, daughter of Richard Ferris, of Henrico, with whom, among others, received a patent, 21, October 1687, for 1785 acres at White Oak Swamp in Varina Parish, in that county.
This man was the direct ancestor of Jesse Woodson James, and his brother, Alexander Franklin "Frank" James, the famous James Boys.
Robert2 Woodson married Elizabeth Ferris:
son Benjamin3 Woodson, married Sarah Porter;
their son Robert4 Woodson (d. 1748/50) married Rebecca Pryor.
Their daughter Elizabeth married Shadrach Mims (1734-1777) and became the mother of
Elizabeth Mims (b. 1769) who married Robert Poor (1763-1801), a cornet in the American Revolutionary War. Their daughter in turn,
Mary Poor, (died 1825) married John James (1775-1827), son of William and Mary (Hinds) James of Goochland County, Virginia.
Their son Robert Sallee James, who died in the Gold Rush area of California, married Zerelda Cole and they had sons Frank James and Jesse James.
(See: Background of a Bandit, by Joan M. Beamis and William E. Pullen (1971).
Jesse Woodson James, the bandit, married his cousin Zerelda "Zee" Amanda Mims.
She was also a descendant of Elizabeth Woodson Mims, who married Robert Poor.