Outlaw John Wesley Hardin ~ Julie Lence

 Hubby & I married when he was an airman in the Air Force, assigned to Scott AFB in Illinois. Just before the wedding, he secured an apartment for us off base. Two doors down was another young, married couple. They were the 1^st people we met, and the husband introduced himself as, ‘John Wesley Hardin, like the outlaw’. I had never heard of John Wesley Hardin, but Wes and Sonya were wonderful neighbors, so nice and always willing to help. I wish we had kept in touch with them, but through military moves, we lost contact. I always remembered Wes’ introduction of himself and because of that, I introduce you to the John Wesley Hardin, the outlaw.

Born on May 26, 1853 in Bonham, Texas to Methodist preacher James Gibson Hardin and Mary Elizabeth Dixson, John Wesley was named after the founder of the Methodist denomination of the Christian Church. His childhood years, his father traveled the preaching circuit through central Texas before moving the family to Sumpter, where he established and taught school. John Wesley and his siblings attended, and in 1867, John Wesley and another boy engaged in a knife fight. The boy accused Hardin of scrawling a poem on the outside of the schoolhouse about a female classmate. Hardin denied the accusation and the two went at it, resulting in Hardin being expelled from school for having nearly killed the other boy.      

At age 15, John Wesley challenged his uncle’s former slave, Maje, to a wrestling match, which John Wesley won. According to his biography, the following day, Maje (Major Holshousen) ambushed him, to which Hardin shot him five times. He rode for help, hoping to save Maje, but Maje died three days later. With Texas now a Union occupied state, Hardin’s father was of the notion Hardin wouldn’t get a fair trial and told Hardin to go into hiding. He did, and weeks later, lawmen discovered his hiding place. Union soldiers were dispatched to arrest him, and Hardin killed them.

Knowing he would be arrested if he went home, he fell in with outlaw Frank Polk. Polk had killed Tom Brady, and soldiers from Corsicana, Texas were in pursuit of the duo. Polk was captured. Hardin escaped and went on to teach school for a short time in Pisgah, where he claims to have shot out man’s eye to win a bottle of whiskey. Through his own words, the next few years he recounts shooting others, but January 1870, there were plenty of witnesses to a duel between him and Benjamin Bradley. The two were playing cards and Bradley wasn’t happy that Hardin was winning and went looking for Hardin later that night. He drew first and missed. Hardin’s shots hit Bradley in the head and chest.    

January 1871, at 17, Hardin was arrested for the murder of Waco marshal Laban John Hoffman, which he denies doing. While in jail, he states he bought a gun from another prisoner. Later, two Texas lawmen were escorting him back to Waco when he claims he was able to overpower one of them and escape on the lawman’s horse. On the run, Hardin stated three lawmen, Smith, Jones and Davis, caught up with him and arrested him. In Bell County, he killed the trio when they imbibed too much alcohol.  

Jane Bowen Hardin

After these shootings, Hardin moved on to Pilgrim, Texas where he met up with his cousins, the Clements. They talked him into saddling up for a cattle drive to Kansas, convincing him he could make some money. Liking the idea, plus the fact a cattle drive was a good way to escape those pursuing him, he saddled up… and met with more scuffles and killings on the trail to Abilene and afterward. While in Abilene, it’s noted he met up with Wild Bill Hickock and took on the alias Wesley Clemons. By 1872, he was back in central Texas and married Jane Bowen. Jane’s brother, Robert, was a cattle rustler. Hardin moseyed around with him, as well as meeting up with his cousins. August of the same year, John Wesley was wounded in a gambling dispute at Gates Saloon in Trinity. Two buck shots sank into his kidneys and for a long time he thought he wouldn’t live. It was then he decided to settle down and surrendered to Sheriff Reagan from his bed, asking to be tried for his crimes to clear his slate. But Reagan was going to charge him for more crimes than he committed and Hardin escaped from his jail cell, a reward of $100 offered for his capture.

Caught up in a feud between the Suttons and Taylors, thanks in part to his cousins alliance with the Taylors, Hardin admitted to an involvement to the gunning down of two Suttons. He fled to Florida for a spell, then found his way back to his wife and daughter under the name of Swain. Shortly after, he met with his own gang in Comanche, Texas to celebrate his 21^st birthday. While at the saloon, he met up with Sheriff Charles Webb, who, when asked, assured Hardin he was not there to arrest Hardin. Accounts of the meeting between the two suggest that Webb was indeed there to arrest Hardin, that he was reaching in his pocket for the warrant. Hardin’s friends shouted a warning and Hardin killed Webb, with the help of his cousin Bud Dixon and Jim Taylor. Hardin fled. His parents and wife were taken into protective custody, and his brother, Joe, and two cousins were arrested. Later, all three were killed in jail. Hardin parted ways with Taylor, but in 1875, the leader of the Suttons, marshal Rueben Brown, was killed. Historians do not know if Hardin was involved in this, as his bio only mentions Brown twice.  January 20, Governor Richard Hubbard offered a $4,000 reward for Hardin’s arrest.     

Hardin again went to Florida.  From there he was involved in other scuffles until August 24, 1877 when Rangers and local lawmen caught up with him on a train in Pensacola. He was found guilty of killing Webb on June 5, 1878 and sentenced to 25 years in Huntsville Prison. While there, he attempted an unsuccessful escape, was found guilty of other crimes, settled into prison life and became the superintendent of prison Sunday School. He studied law, and became bedridden for two years when an old wound became infected. (In 1892, he was described as 5.9 foot and 160 lbs, with hazel eyes, dark hair, and several scars.) His wife died while he was incarcerated, and Hardin went on to write his autobiography, of which some is overly exaggerated; he liked to fabricate details of his life and the people he shot, of which a lot cannot be proven.

John Selman, Sr. 

At the age of 40, John Wesley was released from prison on February 17, 1894 after serving 17 of his 25 years. He went back to Texas and was pardoned that same year on March 16 and went to live with his children. July 21 he passed the bar and began practicing law. He had a brief marriage to a 15 year old in 1895 then moved to El Paso where lawman John Selman arrested him for brandishing a gun in public. The two engaged in an argument, with Selman’s father, also a gunman, approaching Hardin the afternoon of August 19, 1895. Hardin had words with him, and that night, in the Acme Saloon, while Hardin played dice, the elder Selman entered and shot Hardin in the back of the head, killing him instantly.             

Hardin’s last words were reported to be, ‘Four Sixes to Beat’.

August 27, 1995, a confrontation took place at Hardin’s gravesite. Several of his great-grandchildren wanted him relocated to Nixon, Texas, to be interred next to Jane. The other group, locals from El Paso county, moved to prevent this. Both groups had their own legal support, resulting in a lawsuit ruling in favor of El Paso county.