When Jesse James was young he rode with a Confederate guerrilla group called Quantrell's Raiders. It's leader used to call him "Dingus." Does anyone know the origin of that name?

He was known as a very liable young man, always dressing well, reading his bible and regularly attending church. He never swore or took the Lord’s name in vain, preferring when he was angry to make up his own swear words. His favorite was "Dingus" which became his brother Frank quickly nicknamed him. - http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-JesseJames3.html

Sometime in the year 1863, the mid-teen Jesse James lost the tip of his left middle finger. No fewer than three theories have been postulated as to how this occurred. The general consensus of historians is that he got careless and shot it off by accident with one of his Navy Colts, perhaps while loading the gun. There is a lesson here: even if you are destined to be one of the great gunfighters of history, you need to take constant and scrupulous care in the way you handle firearms.

James biographer Marley Brant has a different take on the accident that amputated the young outlaw's distal digit. In "Jesse James: the Man and the Myth," he notes, "Jesse had been given the nickname Dingus' by his guerrilla buddies he had pinched off the tip of his finger while cleaning his gun. The boy reacted to the injury by claiming that the weapon responsible for the accident was the 'dodd-dingus pistol' he had ever seen. The nickname would stick to Jesse for the rest of his life." (6) - http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_164_27/ai_101879030

Jesse was, naturally, well liked by his peers, for both his bravery and his easy-going manner (that is, when not enraged at the sight of a blue tunic). One evening, when cleaning his Remington revolver around a campfire, the handgun accidentally discharged blowing off a tip of one of his fingers. He coolly studied the damage, never winced, but only shook his head. "Now ain't that the most dingus-dangest thing you ever seen?" he replied, drawing laughter from those around him and inspiring Cole Younger and others from then on to nickname him "Dingus" in fond memory of the burlesque. - http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/james/9.html

Another explanation is more plausible. Some believe Jesse James' finger was shot off by opposing gunfire in 1864, when the guerrilla band under the leadership of Anderson lieutenant Fletcher Taylor surrounded two brothers named Bigalow, one of whom had founded the Enrolled Missouri Militia, a group which opposed the Quantrill/Anderson/Taylor band. The Bigalow brothers were killed after an intense firefight, which some historians believe was actually young Jesse James' first taste of return fire. - http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_164_27/ai_101879030/pg_2

Your call.

quote:

Your call.

That's why I love history; its answers are always definitive. Thanks for the spadework, Dingus, er, I mean, DG.