Folk Figure. Al Jennings wore many hats during his long and colorful life: cowboy, lawyer, gunslinger, train robber, jailbird, evangelist, politician, author, and finally Hollywood-hyphenate. But he was most successful at creating his own myth. "The fastest gun on the range", as he often proclaimed himself, was an even faster talker. He boasted that he killed 18 men, "and I always shot 'em in the throat so they couldn't talk back". Historians say there is no record that Jennings killed anyone. He also claimed that he bested Jesse James in a shooting match, which would have been easy since James happened to be dead at the time Jennings said the contest took place. Real desperadoes like Fred Dalton of the Dalton Gang scoffed at Jennings as "the guy who held the horses" during bank robberies, and his outlaw exploits were marked by such ineptitude that comic moments from films like "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" were based on them. Jennings may have been small fry in the western badlands, but as a teller of tall tales he was World Class. This pint-sized cowpoke (he stood only 5'1" with his boots on) was born Alfonso Jackson Jennings in Tazewell County, Virginia. He ran away from home at 11 and made his way to Indian Territory, where he worked as a ranch hand and learned to sling a gun while supposedly encountering such legendary figures as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. "When I was 14, I was standing around Dodge City with Bat Masterson and the boys", a typical Jennings anecdote began. "An actor wearing a stovepipe hat got off the train. Bat pulled his gun and said, 'I'll plug that hat'. He fired and the man fell dead. 'Guess I shot too low', said Bat". Although he felt drawn to outlaw types, Jennings was also fascinated with the legal system. He moved to Kansas, where he studied law and was admitted to the Comanche County bar at age 21. In 1892 he was elected District Attorney in El Reno, Oklahoma. And that's where his days as a badman began---if his memoirs are to be believed. It seems that Jennings had a brother named Ed who was also a lawyer. One day Ed was shot in the back by three men who were angry over his victory in a trial. Swearing vengeance, Jennings claimed he tracked down the killers to a frontier general store, where he filled 'em full of lead. Then, as an afterthought, he robbed the store. "That was my first act of banditry", he crowed. It left him with a $5000 bounty on his head. Falling in with a band of outlaws, Jennings took to stealing cattle and horses, then graduated to robbing trains. By his own estimate he robbed between 15 and 20 trains in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arkansas. He wasn't very good at it, though. During one attempted holdup, Jennings stood menacingly on the tracks, guns drawn, attempting to flag the train down. The engineer ignored him and nearly ran him over. Another exploit was recorded by author Louis L'Amour: "The gang boarded a train and a conductor with a deep, booming bass voice yelled from another car, 'What's going on up there?' At that the gang jumped off the train and walked miles back to their horses". Jennings' biggest single haul netted him $27 and a jug of whiskey. "There wasn't a lot of money on those trains", he recalled, "so we had to take up a collection from the passengers, just like in church". In 1895 the law finally caught up with Jennings when, with typical bumbling, he blew up a train's U. S. Mail car while trying to open the safe. He was captured without a shot being fired, tried and sentenced to life in prison. But he still had influential friends in legal circles, and in 1904 Jennings was pardoned by President Theodore Roosevelt. Two years later he married a lady named Maude who had taken to visiting him in prison. Although she stood half-a-foot taller than he was, he always referred to her as "The Little Woman". Restless as ever, Jennings dabbled in evangelism, did the lecture circuit, and resumed his law practice. In 1914 he ran for Governor of Oklahoma on the platform, "If elected I promise to be honest for a year, if I can hold out for that long". He lost, and the experience caused him to grumble, "There's more honesty among train robbers than among some public officials". Then Hollywood beckoned. Jennings had written a book, "Beating Back" (1914), based on his criminal activities, and an enterprising movie producer offered to film it with the author starring as himself. Jennings found himself at home in this new land of fool's gold, where show business folks were charmed to be in the presence of a "real-life outlaw". He stayed to work as a technical consultant, screenwriter, and character actor in over 100 silent and early talkie westerns, including such oater epics as "Hands Up!" (1917), "The Ridin' Rascal" (1926), and "Loco Luck" (1927). He even played a pirate in an early version of "The Sea Hawk" (1924). His autobiography, "Al Jennings of Oklahoma", was filmed in 1951 with Dan Duryea in the title role. Jennings used his Hollywood gains to buy a modest ranch in Tarzana, in the western end of the San Fernando Valley. There he raised chickens and sat on his front porch reminiscing about the bad old days. But he still had plenty of gumption left. In 1945 he sued the producers of the "Lone Ranger" radio serial for defamation of character, claiming the show's writers had belittled his prowess as a gunman. "They had this Lone Ranger shooting a gun out of my hand, and me an expert", he griped in court. The jury was entertained by Jennings' stories, but he still lost the case. In his nineties Jennings resumed having run-ins with the law, who were frequently called to investigate reports of gunfire at his home. One night he chased a chicken thief off his property and ended up blasting one of his own roosters. On another occasion he accidentally shot a neighbor in the elbow while cleaning his old Colt six-shooter. He had neglected to remove the bullets. In November of 1961 Jennings' beloved wife Maude passed on. The heartbroken 98 year-old bandit took to his bed and died a month later, having earned at least an amusing footnote in the history of the Wild West.
Folk Figure. Al Jennings wore many hats during his long and colorful life: cowboy, lawyer, gunslinger, train robber, jailbird, evangelist, politician, author, and finally Hollywood-hyphenate. But he was most successful at creating his own myth. "The fastest gun on the range", as he often proclaimed himself, was an even faster talker. He boasted that he killed 18 men, "and I always shot 'em in the throat so they couldn't talk back". Historians say there is no record that Jennings killed anyone. He also claimed that he bested Jesse James in a shooting match, which would have been easy since James happened to be dead at the time Jennings said the contest took place. Real desperadoes like Fred Dalton of the Dalton Gang scoffed at Jennings as "the guy who held the horses" during bank robberies, and his outlaw exploits were marked by such ineptitude that comic moments from films like "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" were based on them. Jennings may have been small fry in the western badlands, but as a teller of tall tales he was World Class. This pint-sized cowpoke (he stood only 5'1" with his boots on) was born Alfonso Jackson Jennings in Tazewell County, Virginia. He ran away from home at 11 and made his way to Indian Territory, where he worked as a ranch hand and learned to sling a gun while supposedly encountering such legendary figures as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. "When I was 14, I was standing around Dodge City with Bat Masterson and the boys", a typical Jennings anecdote began. "An actor wearing a stovepipe hat got off the train. Bat pulled his gun and said, 'I'll plug that hat'. He fired and the man fell dead. 'Guess I shot too low', said Bat". Although he felt drawn to outlaw types, Jennings was also fascinated with the legal system. He moved to Kansas, where he studied law and was admitted to the Comanche County bar at age 21. In 1892 he was elected District Attorney in El Reno, Oklahoma. And that's where his days as a badman began---if his memoirs are to be believed. It seems that Jennings had a brother named Ed who was also a lawyer. One day Ed was shot in the back by three men who were angry over his victory in a trial. Swearing vengeance, Jennings claimed he tracked down the killers to a frontier general store, where he filled 'em full of lead. Then, as an afterthought, he robbed the store. "That was my first act of banditry", he crowed. It left him with a $5000 bounty on his head. Falling in with a band of outlaws, Jennings took to stealing cattle and horses, then graduated to robbing trains. By his own estimate he robbed between 15 and 20 trains in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arkansas. He wasn't very good at it, though. During one attempted holdup, Jennings stood menacingly on the tracks, guns drawn, attempting to flag the train down. The engineer ignored him and nearly ran him over. Another exploit was recorded by author Louis L'Amour: "The gang boarded a train and a conductor with a deep, booming bass voice yelled from another car, 'What's going on up there?' At that the gang jumped off the train and walked miles back to their horses". Jennings' biggest single haul netted him $27 and a jug of whiskey. "There wasn't a lot of money on those trains", he recalled, "so we had to take up a collection from the passengers, just like in church". In 1895 the law finally caught up with Jennings when, with typical bumbling, he blew up a train's U. S. Mail car while trying to open the safe. He was captured without a shot being fired, tried and sentenced to life in prison. But he still had influential friends in legal circles, and in 1904 Jennings was pardoned by President Theodore Roosevelt. Two years later he married a lady named Maude who had taken to visiting him in prison. Although she stood half-a-foot taller than he was, he always referred to her as "The Little Woman". Restless as ever, Jennings dabbled in evangelism, did the lecture circuit, and resumed his law practice. In 1914 he ran for Governor of Oklahoma on the platform, "If elected I promise to be honest for a year, if I can hold out for that long". He lost, and the experience caused him to grumble, "There's more honesty among train robbers than among some public officials". Then Hollywood beckoned. Jennings had written a book, "Beating Back" (1914), based on his criminal activities, and an enterprising movie producer offered to film it with the author starring as himself. Jennings found himself at home in this new land of fool's gold, where show business folks were charmed to be in the presence of a "real-life outlaw". He stayed to work as a technical consultant, screenwriter, and character actor in over 100 silent and early talkie westerns, including such oater epics as "Hands Up!" (1917), "The Ridin' Rascal" (1926), and "Loco Luck" (1927). He even played a pirate in an early version of "The Sea Hawk" (1924). His autobiography, "Al Jennings of Oklahoma", was filmed in 1951 with Dan Duryea in the title role. Jennings used his Hollywood gains to buy a modest ranch in Tarzana, in the western end of the San Fernando Valley. There he raised chickens and sat on his front porch reminiscing about the bad old days. But he still had plenty of gumption left. In 1945 he sued the producers of the "Lone Ranger" radio serial for defamation of character, claiming the show's writers had belittled his prowess as a gunman. "They had this Lone Ranger shooting a gun out of my hand, and me an expert", he griped in court. The jury was entertained by Jennings' stories, but he still lost the case. In his nineties Jennings resumed having run-ins with the law, who were frequently called to investigate reports of gunfire at his home. One night he chased a chicken thief off his property and ended up blasting one of his own roosters. On another occasion he accidentally shot a neighbor in the elbow while cleaning his old Colt six-shooter. He had neglected to remove the bullets. In November of 1961 Jennings' beloved wife Maude passed on. The heartbroken 98 year-old bandit took to his bed and died a month later, having earned at least an amusing footnote in the history of the Wild West.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8036563/al-jennings: accessed
), memorial page for Al Jennings (25 Nov 1863–26 Dec 1961), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8036563, citing Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth,
Los Angeles County,
California,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Al Jennings
Fulfill Photo Request for Al Jennings
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.