![]() He did it for his own protection, since he was slim and frail and no match physically for most of the clientele in saloons.Īccording to legend, Holliday was already a killer before he came to Texas. Holliday encouraged the stories that made him out to be a skilled gunman ready to kill at the drop of a hat. He soon developed a reputation as a man who could handle weapons, as well as cards and liquor. Holliday faithfully practiced with a revolver and knife. In the Frontier West, a gambler had to be able to protect himself, for he usually stood alone. He had discovered that he possessed a natural ability for gambling, and it quickly became his principal means of support. It appears that he had also lost interest in the business. As a result, his dental business gradually declined. Holliday’s office is over the Dallas County Bank, corner of Main and Lamar Street.” Coughing spells were wracking Holliday’s thin frame and often occurred at inopportune times, such as in the midst of a filling or an extraction. Seegar will remain at the old office, over Cochran’s Drug Store, Elm Street. Holliday will be responsible for the two debts against the firm. On March 2, 1874, the Dallas Daily Commercial reported: “Upon mutual consent the firm of Seegar and Holliday have dissolved. Not long after hiring the young man, Seegar made him a partner. (Seegar & Holliday) Elm between Market and Austin Streets.” John Seegar, also from Georgia and a friend of Henry Burroughs Holliday, helped John Henry to get established in Dallas. A listing in the 1873 Dallas business directory reads: “Holliday, J.H. His first stop was in Dallas, Texas, the last bastion of civilization before the “uncivilized” West. They did say, however, that he would do better in a dry climate. He consulted a number of doctors, and all of them predicted a short future. ![]() A short time later, Holliday discovered that he had tuberculosis. At the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery’s 16th annual commencement in Philadelphia’s Musical Fund Hall on March 1, 1872, the college conferred a “Degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery” upon 26 men, one of whom was John Henry Holliday. He wrote his thesis on “Diseases of the Teeth.” Lucian Frink, who practiced dentistry in Valdosta from 1868 until 1879, served as his preceptor. He enrolled in dental college in 1870, attending lecture sessions in 1870–72. Rachel was only a few years older than John Henry.īecause of his family’s status, John Henry was compelled to choose some sort of profession. It did not help that his father married Rachel Martin only three months later, on December 18, 1866. Her death was a terrible blow to 15-year-old John Henry, as he and his mother had been very close. In 1876, he was elected mayor.Īlice Holliday died on September 16, 1866, after a long illness. Two years later he moved his family to Valdosta, Ga., near the Florida line, when he realized that his old home was in the path of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” The senior Holliday quickly became one of Valdosta’s leading citizens. He rose to the rank of major during the Civil War, but sickness caused him to resign his commission in 1862. Henry Holliday volunteered to fight Indians in Georgia in 1838, Mexicans in 1846 and Yankees in 1861. Holliday, received the ordinance of baptism on Sunday, March 21, 1852, at the First Presbyterian Church in Griffin.” John Henry’s mother was a Southern beauty, and his father was a druggist, planter and soldier. According to church records, “John Henry, infant son of Henry B. The Hollidays’ first child, Martha Eleanora, had died on June 12, 1850, at 6 months, 9 days. John Henry was born in Griffin, Ga., on August 14, 1851, to Henry Burroughs Holliday and Alice Jane Holliday. Still, the true story of John Henry Holliday‘s short life is an exciting one. Many Holliday stories are sensational tales that won’t hold up to investigation. One writer said Holliday won “more than thirty duels to the death.” More than one historian has written that Doc killed 16 men. Much has been written about Holliday (including “The West’s Deadliest Dentist,” by Robert Barr Smith, in the April 1994 Wild West), and in most accounts, inaccuracies abound. It is doubtful that even Doc Holliday drank three quarts of whiskey a day, and he didn’t kill many men with his six-gun, but that was the tribute paid to Doc by Wyatt Earp, who was his friend and something of a tough character himself. Doc Holliday: The Facts Behind the Tombstone Legend | HistoryNet CloseĪlthough he sometimes drank three quarts of whiskey a day, he was the most skillful gambler, and the nerviest, fastest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever saw.
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