Roy Bean was born in Mason County, Kentucky in 1825. In 1847 he left for California with his two brothers but ended up as a trading post keeper in Chihuahua, Mexico. He went back to the USA two years later when he killed a man and was accused of stealing cattle and went to live with his brother Joshua in California.
Roy Bean was appointed a ranger but spent his time gambling in cockfights and dueling. His brother Joshua became the fist mayor of San Diego but when he was killed by a romantic rival, Roy slipped out and moved to New Mexico where he joined Sam Bean, who had become a sheriff. He became a saloonkeeper.
During the American Civil War, Bean joined a roving band of guerrillas who fought for the Confederate side. Another tale claims he smuggled guns from Mexico into the CSA through a Union blockade.
After the war, Bean married a Mexican teenager and moved to San Antonio, Texas. He supported his five children by stealing firewood and selling milk with lots of water added. By 1882 he had got tired of that and moved to west Texas into a tent city called Vinegaroon.
County commissioners there appointed him as the justice of the peace. He moved to a camp called Langtry that he claimed to have named after a English actress Lillie Langtry (another tale claims that the name was actually based on name of an old railroad boss). He held his court sessions in a saloon he named Jersey Lily. He was elected to office in 1884 and re-elected many times.
His court methods were arbitrary and comical and inspired many outrageous tales. His court paraphernalia included only one revolver, one law book and a pet bear. He once assessed a dead man a $40 USD fine (all the money the corpse had) for carrying a concealed weapon. He also knew next to nothing about the real law, since he reputedly considered habeas corpus a profanity. He is claimed to have hanged dozens of lawbreakers for numerous different offenses, but apparently only threatened to do so, and even allowed two he did sentence to hang, escape.
In 1898 Bean organized a heavyweight championship fight on an island in the Rio Grande, because organizing a boxing match was illegal in Texas. The resulting sport reports spread his fame through USA.
As for Lily Lantgry, he never actually met her - thought he claimed otherwise. He did write her many times and even received answers. He claimed that she had sent him two pistols. Unfortunately, Langtry found time to visit the town ten months after Roy Bean's death.
Roy Bean died in March 16 1903, peacefully in his bed after heavy drinking. Later legend claimed he was shot by a Mexican outlaw in his porch. He was buried in Whitehead Museum in Del Rio, Texas.
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