He was born on August 14, 1851 in Griffin, Georgia to Henry Burroughs and Alice Jane Holliday. His mother died on September 16, 1866. Three months later, his father remarried Rachel Martin. Shortly after the marriage, the family moved to Valdosta, Georgia.
In 1870 John Henry began enrollment in dental school. On March 1, 1872 he received a degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Pensylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia. Later that year he opened a dental office with Arthur C. Ford in Atlanta.
Not long after beginning his dental practice, he contracted tuberculosis. He was given only a few months to live. Though it was thought moving to the drier western part of the United States could help to reduce the deterioration of his health.
His first stop west was Dallas, Texas. He soon began gambling, and realized this was a more beneficial source of income. After getting into a disagreement and killing a man, Holliday quickly fled to Jacksboro, Texas.
