Does anyone know if the American folk song "John Hardy" is based on an actual person of that name? I couldn't Google up any results one way or the other. Could the name be a corruption of "John Wesley Harding" who definitely was a historical figure and a notorious outlaw?

Here are the lyrics for the version in the DT.

The following is pretty close to the version that I used to do. Lyrics copied from The Bluegrass Index.

John Hardy was a desperate little man.
He carried two guns every day.
He shot down a man on that West Virginia line.
You oughta seen John Hardy gettin' away.
You oughta seen John Hardy gettin' away.

John Hardy stood in that old barroom,
So drunk that he could not see,
And a man walked up and took him by the arm.
He said, "Johnny, come and go along with me,
Poor boy. Johnny, come and walk along with me."

John Hardy stood in his old jail cell,
The tears running down from his eyes.
He said, "I've been the death of many a poor boy,
But my six-shooters never told a lie.
No, my six-shooters never told a lie."

The first one to visit John Hardy in his cell
Was a little girl dressed in blue.
She came down to that old jail cell.
She said, "Johnny, I've been true to you,
God knows. Johnny, I've been true to you."

The next one to visit John Hardy in his cell
Was a little girl dressed in red.
She came down to that old jail cell.
She said, "Johnny, I had rather see you dead.
Well, Johnny, I had rather see you dead."

I've been to the east and I've been to the west.
I've traveled this wide world around.
I've been to that river and I've been baptized,
So take me to my burying ground,
So take me to my burying ground.