Much of the information about the early years of Calamity Jane's life comes from the autobiographical booklet which she dictated in 1896, written for publicity purposes. She was about to begin a tour in which she appeared in dime museums around the United States, and it was intended to help attract audiences. Some of the information in the pamphlet is exaggerated or even completely inaccurate. Calamity Jane was born on May 1, 1852 as Martha Jane Canary (or Cannary) in Princeton, within Mercer County, Missouri.
McCormick claim
On September 6, 1941, the U.S. Department of Public Welfare granted old age assistance to a Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick who claimed to be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Cannary and James Butler Hickok. She presented evidence that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill had married at Benson's Landing, Montana Territory (now Livingston, Montana) on September 25, 1873. The documentation was written in a Bible and presumably signed by two ministers and numerous witnesses. However, McCormick's claim has been vigorously challenged because of a variety of discrepancies.  McCormick later published a book with letters purported to be from Calamity Jane to her daughter. In them, Calamity Jane says that she had been married to Hickok and that Hickok was the father of McCormick, who was born September 25, 1873, and was given up for adoption to a Captain Jim O'Neil and his wife. During the period when the alleged child was born, Calamity Jane was allegedly working as a scout for the army, and at the time of Hickok's death, he had recently married Agnes Lake Thatcher.  Calamity Jane does seem to have had two daughters, although the father's identity is unknown. In the late 1880s, she returned to Deadwood with a child whom she claimed to be her daughter. At her request, a benefit was held in one of the theaters to raise money for her daughter's education in St. Martin's Academy at Sturgis, South Dakota, a nearby Catholic boarding school. The benefit raised a large sum; Jane got drunk and spent a considerable portion of the money that same night and left with the child the next day.  Estelline Bennett was living in Deadwood at that time and had spoken briefly with Jane a few days before the benefit. She thought that Jane honestly wanted her daughter to have an education and that the drunken binge was just an example of her inability to curb her impulses and carry through long-range plans (which Bennett saw as typical of her class). Bennett later heard that Jane's daughter did "get an education, and grew up and married well".
What is the relation between Jane and McCormick claim?
Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick who claimed to be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Cannary and James Butler Hickok.
Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick who claimed to be the legal offspring of Martha Jane Cannary and James Butler Hickok.