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The Early Life of Billy the Kid

Much of Billy the Kid's early life is unknown. Sources disagree on many things from his early years, such as his parents and his birthday. Britannica states, “Billy as a child migrated with his parents to Kansas; his father died there,” while PBS states, “Henry probably lived alone with his mother.” He is believed to have been born in the year 1859; however, no one is certain as to when he was born. Even less of his early life is known. According to Britannica, he “migrated with his parents to Kansas … and the mother and her two boys moved to Colorado, where she remarried. The family moved to New Mexico.” According to PBS, however, he “lived alone with his mother in the slums of New York City before moving to Indianapolis sometime in the next decade… Catherine McCarty marries William Antrim in Santa Fe, New Mexico… the family settles in Silver City.” Despite Billy the Kid being a well-known legend, little is known of him at all, and the articles written of his life are conflicting and not well documented. When he was younger, his mother died of tuberculosis in September of 1874 and left him to survive with an absentee stepfather. His stepfather had extraordinarily little interest in taking care of the young Henry, and “Henry will move into a local boardinghouse run by Mrs. Sarah Brown,” according to PBS.

According to Biography.com, “Billy had a slim physique, sandy blond hair and blue eyes, and wore a signature sugar-loaf sombrero hat with a white decorative band.” Biography.com also described him as being “charming and polite one moment, then outraged and violent the next.” His first arrest came when he was about 16, when he had assisted a local street gang in stealing laundry from a Chinese laundry. He had hidden the goods in his boardinghouse; however, he had been arrested after the landlord turned him in to the police officers. He had escaped jail after climbing the chimney. He then fled town and became a ranch hand, according to History.com.

The TSHA article written by Hugh Allen Anderson seems to have narrowed down a lot of Henry's childhood, claiming, “McCarty was born to Patrick McCarty and Catherine Devine on September 17, 1949, in New York City, New York.” He was also “baptized on September 28, by Rev. J. Conron, with Thomas Cooney and Mary Clark as sponsors.” After moving away from New York, his mother remarried William Antrim in Santa Fe. After getting married, his mother moved them down to Silver City with her new husband. Just over a year after the move, Catherine Devine passed away from tuberculosis. After getting arrested, he broke out of the jail and fearing his stepfather's reaction, fled for Arizona. Due to his age and size, he soon got the nickname “Kid” while working as a farmhand in Graham County.