Ralph A. Monaco II Bio

Ralph Monaco is a lifelong resident of Raytown, Missouri. He graduated from Rockhurst University in 1978, earning bachelor degrees in history and political science. In 1981, he received his law degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law. 

Monaco has been active in political, historical and civic communities in Jackson County. He continues to remain active with historical organizations and in historic portrayals. He has a passion for living history and Civil War reenacting. For well over 20 years, he has portrayed Abram Comingo, a 19th century attorney and US Provost Marshal for the Sixt Congressional District durng the Civil War.   His other first person performances has included Manuel de Lisa, a Spanish fur trader who helped outfit the Lewis & Clark Expedition, James Slover, Frank James’ defense attorney, Edgar Allan Poe, poet and master of the macabre, George Caleb Bingham, the Missouri 19th Century artist and politician, Col. Thomas H. Swope, Kansas City philanthropist and alleged murder victim, Alexander William Doniphan, Mexican War Veteran, Attorney and Statesman and Jesse E. James, the son of the bandit Jesse James. 

Mr. Monaco is also the author of six non-fiction books:  The Strange Story of Col. Swope & Dr. Hyde (Two Trails Publishing, Independence, Mo. 2010), Son of a Bandit, Jesse James & The Leeds Gang (Monaco Publishing, LLC, Independence, Mo. 2012), Blood on the Streets: The Civil War Comes to Jackson County, Missouri, August 1861 (Monaco Publishing, LLC, Independence, Mo. 2012), and Scattered to the Four Winds (Monaco Publishing, LLC and Jackson County Historical Society, Independence, Mo. 2013), Son of a Bandit, Jesse James & The Leeds Gang, Last Hand at Park Manor (Monaco Publishing, LLC and Jackson County Historical Society, Independence, Mo. 2015) and The Bandit Rides Again, Jesse James, Whiskeyhead Ryan & the Glendale Train Robbery (Monaco Publishing, LLC and Jackson County Historical Society, Independence, Mo. 2017). He received the coveted John Newman Edwards Literary Award from the James Farm for his book, Son of a Bandit, Jesse James & The Leeds Gang. His gripping tale of the history of the tragedy surrounding General Order No. 11 and martial law in Jackson County, Missouri during the American Civil War in his book Scattered to the Four Winds was recognized as the 2013 book of the year by the Jackson County Historical Society.  His latest work, The Bandit Rides Again, Jesse James, Whiskeyhead Ryan & the Glendale Train Robbery garnered the Don Hale Literary Award.