Doc Holliday's Dark Secret

Gone to Texas

John Henry “Doc” Holliday graduated from the Pennsylvania School of Dentistry on March 1, 1872.

John Henry Holliay

He worked for a dentist in Atlanta for a while before returning to his hometown of Griffin, Georgia, possibly with hopes of opening his own practice.

Fate, however, had other plans. By the following summer, Holliday was in Dallas, where, by his own admission, he “slipped from the path of rectitude.” In other words, he started drinking and hanging out in gambling joints.

But why? Why trade his family and burgeoning career for the smoke-filled saloons of Texas?

Nobody can say for certain, but there are three very plausible theories.

The first is that Doc came down with tuberculosis—the same disease that took his mother and adopted brother—and headed West for a drier climate. This could very well be the case, as Holliday was indeed diagnosed as a consumptive around the same time he was working in Atlanta.

That said, Dallas isn’t exactly known as a mecca for dry air. While not quite as humid as Georgia, Dallas does experience very muggy summers. So, if he really headed west for a dry climate, I’d say that Dallas was a poor choice.

Another theory is that Doc was spurned by his first cousin, Martha Anne “Mattie” Holliday.

Martha Anne “Mattie” Holliday

Evidence suggests that the pair were very close, but Mattie’s family disapproved of their relationship. She was also a devout Catholic (she’d later become a nun), and canon law forbade marriage between first cousins. It’s thought by many that Doc pressed Mattie for her hand in marriage, she refused, and he left Georgia on account of a broken heart.

The third, and much more macabre theory, is that Holliday murdered two freedmen at a swimming hole outside of Valdosta, Georgia. He warned them away, but they ignored his commands, so he returned with a shotgun. After another warning went unheeded, Doc thumbed back both hammers and opened fire, killing two and wounding several.

While this is certainly a possibility, and even backed up by anecdotal stories from the Holliday family (some claiming that Doc simply fired over their heads without injuring anyone), there are no contemporary news articles or even legal documents to prove it.

Holliday biographer Gary L. Roberts opines that it was possibly a combination of all three events that drove Doc to the frontier:

“Perhaps the truth was some combination of all these issues. Perhaps John Henry learned he had tuberculosis, pressed Mattie for an answer, only to be turned down, returned to Valdosta, and was forced west by the shooting incident.”

Whatever the case, one thing’s for damn certain: John Henry, the promising young dental student, quickly morphed into Doc Holliday, the deadly shootist with “death gnawing at his lungs.”

Doc Holliday

If you’d like to learn more about Doc’s early life, I just released the first installment of the Holliday series. We not only examine Doc’s upbringing in Georgia, but also his adventures in Texas and his path to Dodge City. Also discussed is his first gunfight, his association with Big Nose Kate, and his initial contact with Wyatt Earp.

Here’s the link to part 1. Part 2 will be released next Wednesday (January 28, 2026), but if you’re the impatient sort, it’s already available on the Wild West Extravaganza Patreon (both audio and video).

Thanks for reading! There’s a pretty severe winter storm scheduled to hit a good portion of the U.S. this weekend, so please stay safe and warm if you’re in the target area. Till next time, adios!