John Wesley Hardin was born on May 26, 1853 near Bonham, Texas.  He was born to a Methodist preacher and circuit rider named  James Hardin.  His mother's name was Elizabeth.  He was named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination of the Christian church.  Hardin’s family did a lot of traveling until they finally settled down in Trinity County, Texas in 1859.  There, Joseph Hardin (John Hardin’s older brother) taught at the school that John and his other siblings went to.  When he was nine years old, he tried to run away and join the Confederate Army.  While in school, a child named Charles Sloter accused him of graffiti that insulted a girl in their class. Hardin denied writing the graffiti and then accused Sloter for it.  Sloter then charged at him with a knife, but Hardin pulled out his own knife and stabbed him which  almost killed Sloter.  He was almost expelled for the incident.  During November of 1868 when John was 15, he challenged his uncle Holshousen’s former slave to a wrestling match and won.  According to John, the former slave ambushed him while riding past and he shot the former slave 5 times with his revolver.  John wrote that he rode to try to help the wounded man but he ended up dying three days later.  He wrote that his father did not think he would get a fair hearing in the Union-occupied state (where more than one third of the state police were former slaves) so he told him to go into hiding.  As a fugitive, John teamed up with an outlaw named Frank Polk.  Polk killed a man named Tom Brady, so soldiers were sent from Corsicana, Texas and pursued the duo.  John had escaped the soldiers but Polk got captured.  He later allegedly killed a African American man in Leon County, Texas.  On January 5, 1870, John was playing cards with a man named Benjamin Bradley.  John kept beating him at cards so Bradley threatened to “cut out his liver” if he won again.  John claimed that Bradley was looking for him that night.  Bradley allegedly shot at John and missed.  Hardin drew both of his pistols where one hit Bradley in the head and the other hit him in the chest.  Many people were there to see the fight and that’s how John was known for using his guns. In September of 1872, John was arrested for the murder of Laban John Hoffman even though he claimed not to kill him.  On October 1872 he escaped from prison.  On May 26, 1874, John met up with his “gang” and went into a Comanche saloon to celebrate his 21st birthday.  There he saw Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb and asked if he had come to arrest him.  He replied no, so John invited him into the hotel for a drink.  When Webb pulled out a gun, John shot him dead.  It wasn’t until three years later that he was caught by the Texas Rangers in Pensacola, Florida.  John was then tried for the killing of Webb and was sentenced to 25 years at Huntsville prison.  He made several attempts to escape but at no prevail. John soon adapted to his prison life where he became the superintendent at a Sunday school and studied law.  John was then released on February 17, 1894 after serving 17 of his 25 years in prison.  He was later pardoned on March 16 and on July 21st he got permitted to practice law.  After that, he moved to El Paso, Texas.  While in El Paso, John Selman Jr. arrested Hardins acquaintance M’Rose for “brandishing a gun in public”.  The two men argued with one another.  Later, John Selman Sr. exchanged heated words with Hardin and that night killed Hardin in Acme saloon.  He was later buried in Concordia cemetery.