He moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, soon after his 18th birthday, and began working as a police officer.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Arkansas Light Artillery, serving in the 1st Battalion.
After the war's end, Maledon returned to Fort Smith, where he began working as a night guard in the federal jail.
Remembered today as the "prince of Hangmen", Maledon's actual work at Fort Smith is much more difficult to document.
[1] The 1899 publication of "Hell on the Border" documented Maledon's ties to the executions of the Federal Court, and first bestowed the title of "prince of hangmen".