The Day John Wesley Hardin Came to Town
- Old Brooksville
- May 19, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 6
The Wild West gave us many bad men in folklore. In the history of the west, there was no one as despised, feared and prolific a killer as John Wesley Hardin. Legend has it he killed at least 44 men in his lifetime. An 1873 news item in a Savannah, Georgia newspaper led us to this story of his visit to Brooksville, Florida where he killed a man. It is amazing that the deadliest killer in western history would visit Brooksville. Here is the rise and fall of John Wesley Hardin. Enjoy.
Thanks to the following for their contributions
John White
George Allen Jr.
Sharon Muldar
Lou Charity
Pola Lanier
In the annals of western history, there was no deadlier gunfighter than John Wesley Hardin. Western historians consider him a legendary, almost mythical figure in American culture. Even Bob Dylan released an album in 1968 called John Wesley Harding (sic). On TV westerns, the mere mention of his name would send shudders throughout the town.
Born in Bonham, Texas in 1853, and ironically named after the famous Methodist preacher, John Wesley, it was tabulated that before his capture in 1877, he had killed 44 men during his violent rampage in the southwest, extending even as far as Florida. He killed more men than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Doc Holliday or Wyatt Earp combined. A mean-spirited man with a chronic chip on his shoulder, Hardin was a product of the Civil War and hated most all Yankees, Mexicans, Native Americans and Blacks. Growing up during the turbulent Civil War didn't help his disposition as he harbored a hatred for those who upset his family's way of life. He would routinely kill anyone over a card game he felt was rigged, a perceived insult, or when cornered by the law.
In 1871 while in Abilene, Kansas, he looked up Wild Bill Hickok at a hotel and crossed attitudes with the reigning peace officer of that time. Wild Bill knew better and didn't want to rile Hardin, so he drank and joked with him. Later that night while staying at the American House Hotel in Abilene, Hardin shot and killed a man in the adjacent room for snoring too loud. This time he knew Wild Bill would be after him with his four deputies and Hardin fled.
The road to Brooksville started when he killed Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb in Comanche, Texas on May 23, 1873. Hardin and his wife Jane then checked out of town and headed east by train to Alabama. He got off at the Pensacola station and joined cattle drives from there, working under the alias of J.W. Swain in Florida. Back again in Cueto, Texas he flew into a rage at a restaurant waiter who brought him wine instead of beer, turning over tables and starting a fight, killing the waiter and another worker.
Wherever he went, it was the same old story - too many killings, too numerous to mention. He escaped to Alabama, then back to Texas and so on. Hardin and his wife left Texas in 1873 by wagon and on horseback to New Orleans, with a couple of relatives for protection. Registered as J. H. Swain at the Prince Francis Hotel, the couple enjoyed their stay in the French Quarter. From there they boarded a steamer to Alabama where they stayed awhile and then on to Florida along the Gulf. Mr. J. H. Swain soon became a very popular man in Florida. Based now in Jacksonville where the poker games had rich stakes, he did very well there, going into the cattle business and bought a butcher shop with both businesses prospering. Hardin also operated a saloon in Micanopy near Gainesville with Shack Wilson, the Gainesville sheriff, one of his best customers. The alias J. H. Swain worked so well that one day Hardin was invited by local police officers to help round up suspected criminals. One of those men was in Brooksville ... Allen May.
Hardin would take cattle drives throughout the state as well. Passing near Brooksville, he remembered the description of the troublemaker as a brash talking Negro and former slave. May was pointed out to Hardin. As the shadows settled down during dusk of the September 4th calm, clear evening, Hardin spotted the big man carrying a gun and talking loud in front of a country gathering of carousing young men. Hardin yelled at him "May? I've been looking for you, May. Hello, May." May spotted Hardin, a thin almost delicate frame in the saddle and replied. "What you want cracker?" May attempted to draw on Hardin but Hardin's speed overtook him as he drew his weapon, shooting May twice in the stomach and lung. May lived for a few more agonizing hours, then died.
Sheriff Ben Saxon of Brooksville reported one month later that no arrests had been made, but the Sheriff was still looking for Hardin. Four years later in 1877, Hardin was physically subdued by Texas Rangers in a smoking car waiting to leave a Pensacola train depot. He was transported back to Texas and tried for the killing of Sheriff Webb and sentenced to 25 years in Huntsville Prison. While in prison he studied algebra, theology, and the law. In 1892 his faithful and unwavering wife, Jane, died.
Upon his release from prison in 1894, Hardin opened a law office in Gonzalez, Texas. Living in fear of a trigger-happy punk wanting to make a name for himself, he found solace in drink and a new girlfriend, flirtatious and pretty, Callie Lewis. He courted her for a month, then married her, even though she was only 16 and he was 41. The marriage they say lasted a month or maybe an hour. The breakup was a blow to Hardin who then moved to El Paso and opened another law office. He returned to the saloons and gambling halls. One day he got into an altercation with John Selmon, Jr., over a woman, Mrs. McRose. When a group reported to Selmon's father, policeman John, Sr., what Hardin had said about his son, he went looking for him. On August 18, 1895, he found Hardin tossing dice at the Acme Saloon. Hardin never turned as Selmon drew his gun, aimed carefully and shot him in the back of the head, a justifiable ending to one of the most ruthless killers in American history
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1967 Ambush ad found in local magazine. Ambush was a popular perfume for young ladies in Brooksville during the 1960s
Very rare photo of the corner of Brooksville Avenue and Broad Street (1913). The house on the corner is Cappeman's restaurant and the A-frame building on the far right is the old Brooksville Christian Church, now the brick Johnston Law Office.
A February 1916 celebration for the construction of the Confederate statue in front of the court house. Only 50 years removed from the end of the Civil War, emotions still ran high for the South.
1942
Folks during World War II had to sacrifice for our soldiers. Above is a Brooksville ration book from 1942. A different design and color for certain items such as red for meat, green for produce, blue for sugar etc. They were illustrated with tanks, bombers, ships and cannons.
1950 Dodge ad for General Garage on West Broad behind the King Insurance building where Hogan Law and Granddad's Records are today. Also a Chrysler dealer, it operated here from 1937 to 1954.
Top - Asst Coach - Fred Farmer, Ted Farmer, Tim Jinkins, Steve Helms, Rodney Shafer, Alan Chatman, Coach Ernie Chatman
Second Row - Mike Hill, Curtis Lashley, Mark Steponaitos, Calvin Saxton, Gary Wright
Front - Shelton Lee, Jeffrey Duvall, batboy, Tom Browning
A proud new owner of a 1949 Ford shows off their new car on Orange Avenue, downtown. The new Ford design was considered cutting edge back in 1949.
A look inside the Davant and Davant Law Office (1912), located on Brooksville Avenue
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