Jesse James Pane of Glass
Bardstown, Kentucky
Outlaw Jesse James was in hiding, eating dinner in Kentucky roadhouse, when someone walked in with a newspaper and said that the James Gang had just robbed a bank in Kansas. Angered, Jesse stood up, announced who he was, and carved his name and the date -- Oct. 18, 1881 -- into a windowpane with his diamond ring to prove that he could not have robbed that bank in another state. Then he ran away.
When the house was torn down 50 years later the pane of glass was preserved. It was displayed in Florida in a special case that "even an earthquake could not penetrate," according to the pane's accompanying text. The glass was then returned to Kentucky, although the Bardstown Historical Museum subsequently misplaced it and currently only displays a photograph of the windowpane, with Jesse's etching clearly visible. It is in fact more visible in the photograph than it is in the actual pane of glass, which is now on display in the Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort.
Also on display here are Jesse's hat and wine bottle, two additional leftovers from his abbreviated Kentucky meal.