UNHEARD OF LETTER FROM JAIL BY INFAMOUS OUTLAW, JOHN WESLEY HARDIN, TO HIS SON FULL OF IRONY ON RIGHTEOUS PRINCIPALS TO LIVE BY. HE SHOT A MAN JUST FOR SNORING!

“Now my son there is but one way to protect the character… and that is by strict adherence to truth to justice”

Hardin, John Wesley. Autograph letter signed twice (“John W. Hardin”) at the head, 1 page (14 x 8.5 in.; 356 x 216 mm.), Texas State Prison at Huntsville, 3 July 1887, with sepia ink on prison stationery, to his son.

While in prison, John Wesley Hardin offers touching words of encouragement and sincere advice to his son.

Hardin writes in full: My dear Son. Your father is again permitted to write his noble his brave boy. Then with gratitude to god for this privilege together with the many blessings and benefits received by me during these many years. I offer with reverence that divine one, my sincere thanks, and bestow upon him my praises with the hopeful assurance that his blessings his comforts will not be withdrawn from me or mine in the near or distant future. Now my dear boy you remember several years ago I sent you a pair of boots. Oh how your young heart leaped with joy, how you boasted of your good fortune for being good enough for a prints [prince] indeed you had a right to be proud of those boots for they were given to you by your father, not so much for the purpose of adorning your feet, but to make your young strong heart leap with joy, and as a memento of your father’s love.

Now my son your father’s affections for you have not decreased with the advance of years, but have rather grown brighter and brighter his love for you is as high as the thoughts of man, and they reach to heaven. I have no jewels to send you my boy to adorn to deck your shapely form but I wish to speak to you of principles which if you will observe cling to them will be of far more value than the boots or any jewel I could send you even if I was able to crown you from head to foot with brilliant diamonds of the first waters. Truth my son is a rare and precious gem. It has nothing to hide. It lifts a burden from the heart. It illuminates the face. It is all sunshine and glee. It is brave, it fears no foe and dreads no danger. It is self sustaining and is respected by all. There is nothing a man a boy can do which will strengthen his own judgment, that will gain for him the respect the admiration of all who know him as a strict adherence to the truth. Then pluck it my boy, and carry it with you to your work, to school, at home, lie down to rest with it, get up with it, keep it, and it will keep you. Justice is a gem rich and rare, a full brother to truth, implying in its general sense meaning to give to every one his due rights. The common meaning or acceptation is the duty of being fair and honest in all our dealings, but it has another meaning which not only requires us to deal fair in matters of property but requires urges us to respect the feelings and character of others. If you take an unfair advantage in a trade by misrepresentation or otherwise you cheat, if you take property or goods without the consent of the owner you steal. If you by force take away a man’s money his goods or property you rob him.

Now in the 1st you are a fraud a cheat. In the 2nd you are a thief a scoundrel. In the 3rd you are a robber a villain. These are all acts of injustice for which human laws provide punishment. There will be few comparatively speaking who will commit these crimes. Yet there are persons who would be horrified at the idea of cheating stealing robbing a person of his wealth, that would not hesitate to cheat another out of his good character, stealing away his good name or robbing him of his fair fame. But my dear son it is just as bad in the one case as the other and on. Justice demand it, but while human laws protect property the all seeing eye of justice guards the dearer the more precious rights and possessions of the heart. He that steals my purse steals trash but he that robs me of my good name leaves me poor indeed. Now my son there is but one way to protect the character …wealths you possessions, and that is by a strict adherence to truth to justice. Then let me today urge upon you the great necessity of observing and adhering to truth and justice. These will make you the most noble the most generous the most manly the bravest boy in you neighborhood! Just what your father would have you be, and by the love of god you can be. Then you will be the pride of your father, your mother, the joy of your sisters and you will be respected and admired by all who know you. Engrave this upon your heart and embrace your mother and sisters with a kiss, for your father.

Hardin was an American outlaw in the late 1800’s. At age 12, he murdered a slave, and by age 24, he killed at least 23 (and as many as 40) men. He married his sweetheart, Jane Bowen, in 1872, and fathered 3 children on his rare trips home; she died in 1892. During his only trial for the murder of Sheriff Charles Webb in Brown County, Texas, 1874, an eloquent speech to the jury in his defense resulted in only a second-degree murder conviction. Hardin was sentenced to 25 years hard labor and was paroled in l894. He was shot in the back of the head while playing poker by Old John Selman, a marshall, and died.

At the time of this writing, Hardin was in prison for nine years. The deprivation of contact with his family is painstakingly evident throughout this letter.