Maysville Kentucky: Six Degrees From Billy the Kid
John William Poe was born on October 17, 1850 and was raised on his grandfather's farm in Maysville Kentucky. By the age of 15, he had developed a yearning to go West and his travels took him to Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and eventually the New Mexico territory. He was a buffalo hunter, cattleman, stock detective for Charles Goodnight, lawman in Texas and New Mexico, and banker. John William Poe married Sophie Alberding on May 5, 1883. Their only child lived a few hours.
While serving as Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, Poe became friends with Pat Garrett and John Chisum. His most famous experience occurred when he accompanied Garrett to Pete Maxwell's ranch near Fort Sumner. Garrett went inside. Waiting outside, Poe saw William Bonney (Billy the Kid) enter the ranch house, though he did not recognize him. Moments later, he heard the gunfire when Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Pat Garrett. Later he wrote several articles for newspapers and books about the death of Billy the Kid and his experiences.
Note: There was a follow up to this article on 1/25/2007. You can find that here.
posted at 7:02 PM by Jeremy Parnell 
Thank you so much for dropping us a line Martha. That's what this whole thing is really about, finding people like yourself that have a connection to our little town.
I did a follow up on this story here:
http://maysvillexplorer.com/blog/1/entries/473/2007-1-Follow-Up-On-Billy-The-Kids-Maysville-Connection
My brother sent me the link to this blog, and I really need to thank him. I've enjoyed reading, found the article on John William Poe neat, since my brother and I are 1st cousins twice removed from him. We still have family in Maysville, our father grew up there in the early teens and twenties on Pleasant Ridge. This is a great site for someone looking for Maysville history, or just looking into the day to day goings on in Maysville.
Please continue writing, we're eating up your words, and liking every one.
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