You know him as Wyatt Earp's

pal.

History knows him as "Doc"

Holliday, a former Fayetteville resident and dentist who went west for

his health and took up cards, whiskey and a deadly handgun.

Years after the famous 1881

shoot-out with the Clantons at Tombstone, Arizona's OK Corral, former

Marshal Earp said of Holliday, "He was the most skillful gambler,

and the nerviest, fastest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever saw."

The man a Denver newspaper of the day labeled as one of the West's deadliest

gunfighters died 114 years ago in Colorado at age 35 of tuberculosis.

He may be famous, but Fayette

and Spalding county folks know him as Henry and Alice Jane Holliday's

only son, John Henry, and they're throwing him a party in nearby Griffin

Aug. 11 on the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The celebration of his birth

will take place at Jasmine's in Griffin at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday in

the upstairs banquet room.

Doc's parents, Henry Burroughs

Holliday and Alice Jane McKey (pronounced Mackey) took out their marriage

license in Fayette County Jan. 8, 1849. She was living in south Henry

County, and it is believed that is where they were married.

They settled down in Griffin

and their first child was Martha Eleanora. Unfortunately, she died at

age 6 months and is buried in Griffin.

Their next child and first

son was John Henry, born Aug. 14, 1851. His baptismal certificate, on

record at the First Presbyterian Church in Griffin, notes that on March

21, 1852, John Henry Holliday was baptized.

The Holliday and McKey families

emigrated to Fayette County from Laurens, S. C., in the late 1830s or

early 1840s. In the 1850 Fayette County census, John Henry's grandfather

was listed as a hotel keeper.

Before John Henry was born,

it had been determined that if the baby was a boy he would be named for

his father. His uncle, Dr. John Stiles Holliday, a doctor in Fayetteville,

was called to Griffin to deliver his nephew.

It was evident at birth that

the new boy had a cleft palate. Dr. Holliday taught Alice the proper way

to feed her new son with the aid of an eyedropper and a small teaspoon.

If not fed properly, the newborn could choke to death. The new father

prevailed upon his brother to perform surgery as soon as the infant was

able.

Dr. Holliday sought advice

concerning the future surgery from his wife's cousin, Dr. Crawford W.

Long, the first physician to use ether as an anesthetic.

When John Henry was 8 weeks

old, the two doctors performed the successful surgery. Grateful for saving

their son's life, the new parents named their baby for his physician uncle.

Determined that her son would not speak with an impediment, Alice spent

many hours teaching her son to speak sounds correctly. She was assisted

in this endeavor by ladies of the First Presbyterian Church.

Dr. John S. Holliday built

the home in Fayetteville in 1855. The historic house, currently being

remodeled, is just off the courthouse square on Ga. Highway 54 West. He

had a son, Robert, who was just one year older than John Henry. The two

were inseparable while growing up and both attended and graduated from

the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, Doc graduating March 1, 1872.

Near the end of the War between

the States, Doc's father felt it best to move his family to south Georgia,

near Valdosta. Soon after their arrival, Alice became ill and died Sept.

16, 1866. It is believed she died from tuberculosis.

dental school, he too was beginning to feel ill, experiencing weight loss

and a nagging cough. When it did not go away, and after considerable discussion

with family members, it was decided he should go west for his health.

Carrying a recommendation to a dentist in Dallas, Texas, in September

1873, Doc Holliday boarded a train and began his trip west, expecting

to make his living as a dentist.

Information for this article

was taken from "Doc Holliday, A Family Portrait" by Karen Holliday

Tanner; "In Search of the Hollidays" by Albert S. Pendleton

Jr. and Susan McKey Thomas; and "The Chronicles of Tombstone"

Back

to News Home Page |