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Our Arklahoma Heritage: Man who killed notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin was born in Madison County

Writer's picture: Dennis McCaslinDennis McCaslin

Updated: Oct 16, 2024


A native son of Arkansas, born in the long-ago forgotten and abandoned community of Hilburn Township in Madison County, was either a notorious outlaw or a stellar lawman -- a man whose actions straddled the line between justice and lawlessness


John Henry Selman’s life was as tumultuous as the rugged landscape of the American Old West. Born November 16, 1839, to Jeremiah Permelia Norwood Selman is best remembered as the man who shot and killed the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin in El Paso, Texas, on August 19, 1895.



However, his life story is far more complex than that single act.


It appears from census records that both his parents were from Alabama and came to Arkansas sometime in the mid-1830s. It appears the family homesteaded in an area about three miles northeast of St. Paul that is now a wooded area due east of Baldwin Creek. That marriage produced at least eight, and possibly nine, children with all but two of his siblings being born in Madison County.


When John Henry was nineteen the family moved to Grayson County, Texas in the fall of 1958. Following his father's death in 1861, Selman joined the 22nd Texas Cavalry, serving during the Civil War. In August 1865, he married Edna Degraffenreid, with whom he had four children. The family eventually settled in Fort Griffin, Shackelford County, Texas.


John M. Larn

In 1877, Selman was appointed deputy inspector for hides under John M. Larn, the ex-Shackleford County sheriff. Together, they fought rustlers and vigilante justice in the lawless expanses of northwest Texas. Their partnership, however, ended tragically when Larn was killed by vigilantes in 1878, leading to Selman being implicated in theft and becoming a hunted man.


Selman's first wife, Edna, died in 1879 shortly after he "went on the scout" leaving her to find forherselffand theirr four-year-old son. Fleeing from both vigilantes and charges of desertion from the Confederate Army, Selman crossed into Mexico. With the end of the Civil War nullifying previous charges, he returned to the United States, settling in Lincoln County, New Mexico.


There, he led a band known as "Selman's Scouts," accused of numerous violent crimes, including rape and murder, although charges were never filed.


Texas Ranger Bass Outlaw

After a period of hiding and evading capture, Selman moved to El Paso, Texas, where he married Romula Granadine in 1893. He resumed his work as a lawman, serving as a constable. During this time, he killed a former Texas Ranger, Bass Outlaw, in a justified shooting.


Selman’s most infamous act came on August 19, 1895, when he shot and killed John Wesley Hardin in the Acme Saloon. The incident stemmed from a confrontation between Selman's son, John Jr., and Hardin over the arrest of Hardin’s mistress. That night, Selman walked into the saloon, approached Hardin from behind, and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly.


Selman was arrested and charged with murder, but a hung jury resulted in his release on bond, pending retrial.



On April 5, 1896, Selman was killed in a shootout with U.S. Marshal George Scarborough. Reports on the motive for the killing vary, but Scarborough testified that the altercation arose after Selman attempted to involve him in a plan to break his son out of a Mexican jail. The encounter ended with Scarborough shooting Selman in self-defense.


News accounts at the time stated Selman was buried in an unmarked grave in the Catholic section of El Paso's Concordia Cemetery, despite not being known as a Roman Catholic. However, the tombstone in the cemetery bearing his name is in the Baptist section of the graveyard on a gravesite that records indicate belongs to a three-year-old child.



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