Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 38, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 7, 2000 Page: 16 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. ; page 25 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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ARCTIC CAT
A WMOlf DifffRfNT ANIMAl
EE Bains County Leader
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2000
We need your old photos to
continue the Looking Back page
LOOKING BACK
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HOME/OFFICE: 903-473-4131
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CHATSUR
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Owner
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Hwy. 69 North
Emory, Texas 75440
2950 • 473-3657
473-2950
d
(7//«fisSAIM
“UNCLE JOE BURLESON” with his last wife, Millie, and baby, Huby. jonn
Joseph Burleson was deputy sheriff under Rains County Sheriff Gus
Orsborn during the early 1900s. Photo courtesy ot Louis Burleson
Donna Fletcher (Owner) • 24-Hour Service
903-447-4089 «•». • 903-473-6365 Mobil*
(903) 885-3646 Sulphur Springs
TAYLOR
BAIL BONDS
2503-A Washington St.
I Greenville, TX 75401 I
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■ 208 W. North St.H
Emory, TX 75440fl
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ALL THINGS HISTORICAL
A WEEKLY IOOK AT EAST TEXAS HISTORY FROM
THE EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
711 Joe Ramsey, Greenville
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UXE
Down
$214 mo.
903-454-1930
V Just South of 1-30 oil Hvvy. 69jriren\_ille_
JOHN WESLEY HARDIN
by Bob Bowman
One of East Texas’ most famous
figures was a gunfighter once
described as “the dark angel of
Texas.”
John Wesley Hardin killed some
40 men in a reign that ended with
his own turbulent death at El Paso
in 1895.
Although he was born at Bon-
ham, Hardin grew up as a teenager
at Moscow and Sumpter, two com-
munities in Polk and Trinity coun-
ties. At Moscow, he took the first
violent steps leading to his gun-
read theological books, and was
admitted to the bar.
In 1895, Hardin moved to El
Paso to establish a law practice, but
his old habits were hard to break.
He took as his lover the wife of a
client and then hired several law
officers to kill the husband.
On August 19, 1895, one of the
hired killers. Constable John Sel-
man, shot Hardin in the Acme
Saloon, probably because he was
ne1 er paid. Hardin died instantly
and was buried in Concordia
Cemetery in El Paso.
Hardin was an unusual type ot
killer—a handsome, gentlemanly
fightmg career . man who considered himself a pil-
The third child of preacher Jame f soaety He always main-
Gipson Hardin, John Wesley con-
sidered himself a child of nature
and often took his gun snd dogs to
hunt in the surrounding Big
Thicket.
When an irate schoolteacher
threatened to whip a boyhood
friend, Hardin stepped in front of
the student with an open knife and
threatened to kill the tutor. The
teacher retreated.
During the Civil War, young
Hardin developed strong feelings
about the South and later witnessed
his first killing, a neighbor slain by
a man who owned him money.
Hardin often visited relatives in
Polk County, carrying with him a
favorite firearm, a Colt .44 cap-and-
ball pistol, a model which had
gained wide acceptance during the
Civil War.
During one of his visits in 1868,
he and a cousin agreed to a
wrestling match near Moscow with
a black freedman, who soon pinned
the boys. Hardin took the loss badly
and vowed to get even. The next
day. Hardin encountered the former
slave on a road. The two exchanged
insults and Hardin shot the man
with his Colt .44. He died a few
days later.
Fearful the slaying would not go
unnoticed by Texas’ reconstruction
authorities and the Freedman's
Bureau. Hardin fled to a community
25 miles north of Sumpter, where
his brother Joe was teaching school.
In December of 1868. six weeks
after the Moscow shooting, Joe
warned John Wesley that three sol-
diers from the Sixth Cavalry at
Livingston were asking questions
about Hardin.
Taking a double-barreled shotgun
and his Colt .44, Hardin waited for
the soldiers along the bed of Brushy
Creek and killed two soldiers with
one blast each from the shotgun.
Another soldier fled, but Hardin ran
up and demanded his surrender in-
the name of the Confederacy." The
soldier fired wildly, wounding
Hardin in the arm, and John Wesley
killed him. Fanners sympathetic to
the young gunman buried the sol-
diers in the creek bed.
Thus, in the winter of his first
year as a gunman, Hardin had slain
four men and been wounded once.
In 1877, after killing dozens
more, Hardin was captured by the
Texas Rangers in Florida, tried in
Texas for killing a deputy sheriff,
* and sentenced to 25 years in prison
at Huntsville. There, he studied law.
lar of society. He always main-
tained he never killed anyone who
did not need killing and that he
always shot to save his own life.
(Bob Bowman is a former presi-
dent of the East Texas Historical
Association and the author of 25
books on East Texas history and
folklore. He lives in Lufkin.)
Frank
Construction Co.
Roger & Kim Frank
General Contractors/Owners
Emory • (903) 473-1451
Custom Home Building
& Remodeling
Metal Storage Buildings,
Garages & Barns
All Work Guaranteed
Over 30 Years Commercial
& Residential Experience
Business & Personal References Available
Nine Years in Rains County
Quality Craftsmanship
When
elected
will vote:
To Pay Off The National Debt
To Reduce Federal Government
To Eliminate The Marriage Penalty
For Community Control Of Education
For Individuals To Keep More Of Their Hard Earned Income
For Farm Protection, Farm Friendly Financing And Open Markets
To Restore'Our Military And Protect Our Deterrence Superiority
To Keep The Promises Made To Veterans And Social Security Recipients
FREEDOM 8 OPPORTUNITY ARE NOT SPECTATOR SPOR TS
PLEASE VOTE!
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Hill, Earl Clyde, Jr. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 38, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 7, 2000, newspaper, March 7, 2000; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth768212/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rains County Library.