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Doc Holliday lived in Lowndes County and in the city of Valdosta, Georgia,
approximately during the years of 1864 -1872. It is assumed that he was born in
the latter part of 1851 or early part of 1852. The earliest known authentic
document concerning Doc is the infant baptismal record on March 21, 1852, which
is on file at the First Presbyterian Church in Griffin, Georgia.
Doc's father was
Major Henry Burroughs Holliday and his mother was Alice Jane McKey.
After a short tour in the Confederate Army, Major Henry Holliday moved his
family from Griffin, Georgia to Valdosta, Georgia near to a section which is
known as Bemiss south of Moody Air Force Base. Doc finished grade school at the
Valdosta Institute where he had some Greek, much Latin, and considerable French.
During his first two years, his favorite study was advanced English called
rhetoric.
Major Holliday served as mayor of Valdosta, Georgia for two
terms, and he also served in the Cherokee Indian War, Mexican War, and Civil
War. After the Mexican War, he brought back a Mexican boy who had been orphaned
by the war. He married Alice Jane McKey January 8, 1849. The Mexican boy's name
was Francisco Hidalgo. Major Holliday and his wife had a little girl that died
in infancy, and later they had a second child who was a boy - John Henry Holliday.
Mrs. Holliday died of tuberculosis (called consumption at that time) in 1866. Doc was only 12 years old
when his mother died.
Doc's adopted
brother, the Mexican boy, also died of tuberculosis. Doc must have caught
tuberculosis from his mother or his brother, or both.
For many years it was believed that he went to school in Baltimore, Maryland
to learn Dentistry. However, the three main dental schools in Baltimore had no
record of a J. H. Holliday ever attending school there. Through the efforts of
Dr. L.C. Holtzendorff (Valdosta, Georgia), Dr.
Donald Washburn (American Dental Association Librarian Services, Chicago,
Illinois), and Mr. John Whittock (Librarian, School of Dental Medicine,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), it has been verified
that John H. Holliday graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery
in 1872.
There have been
many rumors as to why Doc left Georgia and went out west. One persistent
rumor is that he killed some Negroes that were
swimming in the white's favorite swimming hole. But according to Susan McKey's
uncle, who was with Doc at the time, no such thing happened. He says they were swimming in the
hole and Doc was outraged. He went and got his pistol and started shooting in
the air over their heads. One of the Negroes got a gun and shot back but no one
was killed. The probable reason for his move to the west is that the dry climate
was better suited for his health.
Out west Doc was a most unusual character of his time. He was an extremely
educated man in a place where education was not that important. He was fluent in
Latin and played the piano (his mother taught piano for many years). He loved
being a dentist and desperately tried to make a living out of it, but because
his patients didn't like their dentist coughing in their face, it was hard for
him to keep customers.
That's when he discovered that he had a real talent for
playing cards; it was a lot more fun too. Doc established himself as quite a
good gambler and was well respected around town. But he was a miserable man
dying from an awful disease. He was moody, drank a lot, and always wanted to
die.
Preferring to die
in a gun battle rather than having his body slowly 'consumed' by his disease
made him a very dangerous man. He was fearless. He was quick to get involved in the battles with the Earps. Doc dressed fancy and
behaved in a sophisticated manner. It has been said
about him he was quite a funny gentleman with a good sense of humor.
Wyatt Earp came to like Holliday's style, and after they met in
Shanessy's
saloon in Fort Griffin, they became instant friends. Wyatt has said that
Holliday was, "the nerviest, speediest man with a six-shooter he ever knew" and
was, "probably the most dangerous man in Tombstone, [Arizona]." When they made
their way to the OK Corral, it is said by witnesses that the three Earp brothers
were all dressed in black with firm, mean grimaces on their faces while Doc was
nattily clad in grey and was whistling.
Doc went to Dodge City in 1877 and this is how he got there: He became
involved in a gambling episode with Ed Bailey in Fort Griffin. Texas, which resulted in
Doc's leaving there. Bailey drew a gun and Doc let him have it with a knife.
Bailey collapsed and died. (if you have ever seen the movie Tombstone this is the opening
scene with Doc in it). Even though according to law Doc was in the right, he was
arrested and incarcerated in a local hotel room, there being no jail in the
city. It was evident that Bailey was a popular man among the townspeople, and it
seemed that Doc's fate was doomed in spite of the circumstances. Kate Elder came to
Doc's rescue by setting fire to the back of the hotel, thereby creating a
diversionary action in attracting the citizens' attention to the fire. Kate,
armed with a pistol, proceeded to the hotel room, "got the drop" on the deputy
town Marshall who had been left in charge of the prisoner, and set Doc free.
Kate and Doc hid out during the night. When morning came, they mounted their
horses and headed to Dodge City. Once in Dodge, Doc renewed his friendship with
Wyatt. This was around 1877.
Doc had a falling out with another terminus outlaw named
Mike Gordon in late
August 1879. Inviting Gordon out into the street, Doc then shot him dead. Doc
had to skip town real fast because of a plan to arrest him. This led Doc to
return to Dodge
City. He arrived back in Dodge to find that
Wyatt had resigned his job on Dodge City's force of marshals and had headed
toward Tombstone. Doc then headed toward Tombstone to meet up with his friend.
According to Doc Holliday by John Myers, "Doc had traveled in haste
- would
have entailed driving the wagons up some awkward grades. Leaving Trail City in
the number two rig of the Earp caravan, Wyatt heard hoof-beats in pursuit.
'where are you going, Wyatt?' the rider who caught up with him asked.
'Tombstone' Earp said. 'That's what they told me in Dodge,' Doc replied. 'Guess
I'll go with you.'"
May 1887 "Doc Holliday," by John Myers: "By then the consumption so racked
him that he could hardly keep on his feet. As a realist, Doc was not one to
believe in miraculous cures, but as a man of action he refused to stop in his
tracks while there was a chance of going on. The sulphur vapors at Glenwood
Springs, Colorado were ballyhooed as being medicine's final answer to the evil
challenge of tuberculosis. On the off-chance that this was true, Doc went out to
the health resort to play his last chip.
It is important to understand that tuberculosis killed Doc and not so much
the alcohol. In fact, he didn't drink as much as everyone says he did. He did however have remarkable stamina with drinking.
He could out drink some of the biggest, toughest, burliest men there were
without the slightest hint of intoxication.
Doc Holliday
died on November 8, 1887 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado at a Sanatorium for the
sick. He is buried in Linwood Cemetery.
It is said that
the last couple of months of his life that he got out of bed maybe twice.
Witnesses by his bedside say that just before he died he asked for a glass of
whiskey, sipped it down and smiled, then he looked at his bare feet and said,
"this is funny." He always figured he would be killed someday with his boots on.
~ from The Kansas Heritage Server -
Source: "Doc Holliday" by John Myers
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