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Alton Hardin Biography & Facts

John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming he did so in self-defense. Pursued by lawmen for most of his life, in 1877 at the age of 23, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder. At the time of sentencing, Hardin claimed to have killed 42 men, while contemporary newspaper accounts attributed 27 deaths to him. While in prison, Hardin studied law and wrote an autobiography. He was well known for exaggerating or fabricating stories about his life and claimed credit for many killings that cannot be corroborated. Within a year of his 1894 release from prison, Hardin was killed by John Selman in an El Paso saloon. Early life Hardin was born in 1853 near Bonham, Texas, to James Gibson "Gip" Hardin, a Methodist preacher and circuit rider, and Mary Elizabeth Dixson.: 100–108  He was named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination of the Christian church.: 238  In his autobiography, Hardin described his mother as "blond, highly cultured ... [while] charity predominated in her disposition.": 5  Hardin's father traveled over much of central Texas on his preaching circuit until he settled his family in Sumpter, Trinity County, Texas, in 1859. There, Hardin's father established and taught at the school that John Hardin and his siblings attended. Hardin was the second surviving son of ten children.: 1  The Hardins were Southerners and politically prominent. His great-grandfather was North Carolina provincial Congressman Colonel Joseph Hardin, the cousin of Senator Martin D. Hardin of Kentucky and father of Congressman John J. Hardin; relatives included Congressman Benjamin Hardin, Revolutionary war Colonel John Hardin of Virginia, and opposing Civil war Generals Martin Davis Hardin and Benjamin Hardin Helm. At the outbreak of Civil War, Hardin's father was elected a Confederate Captain; In 1862, at age nine, Hardin tried to run away from home and join the Confederate army.: 10–11  Trouble at school In 1867: 7  while attending his father's school, Hardin was taunted by another student, Charles Sloter. Sloter accused Hardin of being the author of graffiti on the schoolhouse wall that insulted a girl in his class. Hardin denied writing the poetry, claiming in turn that Sloter was the author. Sloter charged at Hardin with a knife, but Hardin stabbed him with his own knife, almost killing him. Hardin was nearly expelled over the incident. First killing In November 1868, when he was 15, Hardin challenged his uncle Holshousen's former slave, Major "Maje" Holshousen, to a wrestling match, which Hardin won. According to Hardin, the following day, Maje "ambushed" him as he rode past shouting at him and waving a stick. Hardin drew his revolver and shot Maje five times. Hardin wrote in his autobiography that he rode to get help for the wounded man, but Maje died three days later.: 13  Hardin further wrote that his father did not believe he would receive a fair hearing in the Union-occupied state (where more than a third of the state police were former slaves), so he ordered him into hiding. Hardin claimed that weeks later the authorities eventually discovered his location, and three Union soldiers were sent to arrest him, at which time he "chose to confront his pursuers" despite having been warned of their approach by an older brother, Joseph:; at a creek crossing Hardin claimed to have killed two white men with a shotgun and killed a negro with a pistol: ... I waylaid them, as I had no mercy on men whom I knew only wanted to get my body to torture and kill. It was war to the knife for me, and I brought it on by opening the fight with a double-barreled shotgun and ended it with a cap and ball six-shooter. Thus it was by the fall of 1868 I had killed four men and was myself wounded in the arm.: 14  Locals hid the victims in the creekbed about 100 yards from the ambush. : 11–14  Fugitive from justice Hardin knew that he would be arrested if he returned home. As a fugitive, he initially traveled with outlaw Frank Polk in the Pisgah area of Navarro County, Texas. Polk had killed a man named Tom Brady, and a detachment of soldiers sent from Corsicana, Texas, were pursuing the duo. Hardin escaped, but the soldiers apprehended Polk and jailed him temporarily. Hardin also briefly taught school in Pisgah. While there, he claimed he shot a man's eye out to win a bottle of whiskey in a bet.: 16  Hardin also claimed that he and his cousin, "Simp" Dixon, encountered a group of soldiers and each killed a man.: 17  Allegedly, Hardin killed a black man in Leon County, Texas. On January 5, 1870, Hardin was playing cards with Benjamin Bradley in Towash, Hill County, Texas. Hardin was winning almost every hand, which angered Bradley, who threatened to cut out Hardin's liver if he won again. Bradley drew a knife and a six-shooter. Hardin said he was unarmed and excused himself but claimed that later that night, Bradley came looking for him. Bradley allegedly fired a shot at Hardin and missed; Hardin drew both his pistols and returned fire, one shot striking Bradley in the head and the other in his chest.: 20  Dozens of people saw this fight, and from them there is a good record of how Hardin had used his guns. His holsters were sewn into his vest so that the butts of his pistols pointed inward across his chest. He crossed his arms to draw. Hardin claimed this was the fastest way to draw, and he practiced every day. A man called "Judge Moore", who held Hardin's stakes of money and a pistol, refused to give them up without Bradley's consent and later "vanished".: 20  Hardin eventually admitted killing two men in Hill County. After killing Bradley, Hardin claimed that when a posse of fifteen men came after him, he captured two of them and took a shotgun, two six-shooters, a rifle, and two derringers from his captives. He then ordered the two men to join the other members of the posse at Jim Page's and wait for him to come along, stating, "I reckon they are waiting for me yet.": 22  Later that month, on January 20 in Horn Hill, Limestone County, Texas, Hardin claimed he killed a man in a gunfight after an argument at the circus.: 23  Less than a week after this incident, in nearby Kosse, Texas, Hardin was accompanying a prostitute home when they were accosted by her pimp, who demanded money. Hardin threw money on the ground and shot the would-be thief when he bent over to pick it up.: 24  Arrest and escape In January 1871, Hardin was arrested for the murder of Waco, Texas, city marshal Laban John Hoffman; however, he denied committing this crime.: 30  Following his arrest, he was held temporarily in a log jail in the town of Marshall, awaiting transfer to Waco for trial. While locked up, he bought a revolver from another prisoner. Two Texas state policemen, Captain Edward T. Stakes and an off.... 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