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Hatfield-McCoy feud
The Hatfield–McCoy feud (1863–1891) involved two families of the West Virginia–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River. The Hatfields of West Virginia were led by William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield while the McCoys of Kentucky were under the leadership of Randolph “Ole Ran’l” McCoy. Those involved in the feud were descended from Ephraim Hatfield (born c. 1765) and William McCoy (born c. 1750). The feud has entered the American folklore lexicon as a metonym for any bitterly feuding rival parties. More than a century later, the feud has become synonymous with the perils of family honor, justice, and revenge.
William McCoy, the patriarch of the McCoys, was born in Ireland around 1750. The family, led by grandson Randolph “Ole Ran’l” McCoy, lived mostly on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork (a tributary of the Big Sandy River). Of English origin,[1] the Hatfields, led by William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, son of Ephraim and Nancy (Vance) Hatfield, lived mostly on the West Virginia side. The majority of the Hatfields living in Mingo County (then part of Logan County), West Virginia fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War; most McCoys, living in Pike County, Kentucky, also fought for the Confederacy; with the exception of Asa Harmon McCoy, who fought for the Union. The first real violence in the feud was the death of returning Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy, murdered by a group of ex-Confederate Homeguards called the “Logan Wildcats.” Devil Anse Hatfield was a suspect at first, but was later confirmed to have been sick at home at the time of the murder. It was widely believed that his uncle, Jim Vance, a member of the Wildcats, committed the murder.[2]
The Hatfield clan in 1897.
The Hatfields were more affluent than the McCoys and were well-connected politically. Devil Anse Hatfield’s timbering operation was a source of wealth for his family, but he employed many non-Hatfields, and even hired McCoy family members Albert McCoy, Lorenzo Dow McCoy, and Selkirk McCoy.
Contents [hide] 1 Feud 2 Deaths 3 Hatfields and McCoys in the modern era 4 Media 4.1 Film 4.2 Literature 4.3 Television 4.4 Theater 5 Hatfield genealogy 5.1 Devil Anse Hatfield family tree 6 McCoy genealogy 6.1 Randolph McCoy family tree 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links Feud[edit] Asa Harmon McCoy, who was despised by Jim Vance (uncle of Devil Anse Hatfield) for joining the Union Army during the Civil War, was discharged from the army early because of a broken leg. He returned home to a warning from Vance that Harmon could expect a visit from the County Wildcats, a local militia group with members from the Hatfield family including Devil Anse. Frightened by gunshots as he drew water from his well, Harmon hid in a nearby cave, supplied with food and necessities each day by his slave, Pete, but the Wildcats followed Pete's tracks in the snow, discovered Harmon, and fatally shot him on January 7, 1865.[3]
At first, Devil Anse was suspected, but later, after he was confirmed to have been confined to his bed, suspicion of guilt focused squarely on Vance. However, in an era when Harmon’s military service was widely considered by many of the region’s inhabitants to be in and of itself an act of disloyalty, even Harmon’s own family believed that he had brought his murder upon himself.[citation needed] Eventually, the case withered, and no suspect was brought to trial. Historians now believe that this did not set off the feud but is an act segregated from it.[3][better source needed]
The second recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred 13 years later, in 1878, after a dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of Devil Anse’s, had the hog, but Randolph McCoy claimed it was his,[4] saying that the “notches” (markings) on the pig’s ears were McCoy, not Hatfield, marks. The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace, Anderson “Preacher Anse” Hatfield,[5] who ruled for the Hatfields by the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. In June 1880, Staton was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
A section of the floodwall along the Tug Fork in Matewan, West Virginia, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, depicts the Hatfield–McCoy feud.
The feud escalated after Roseanna McCoy entered a relationship (courtship) with Devil Anse Hatfield’s son Johnson, known as “Johnse” (spelled “Jonce” in some sources), leaving her family to live with the Hatfields in West Virginia. Roseanna eventually returned to the McCoys, but when the couple tried to resume their relationship, Johnse Hatfield was arrested by the McCoys on outstanding Kentucky bootlegging warrants. He was freed from McCoy custody only when Roseanna made a desperate midnight ride to alert Devil Anse, who organized a rescue party. The Hatfield party surrounded the McCoys and took Johnse back to West Virginia before he could be transported to the Pikeville, Kentucky county seat for justice the next day.
Despite what was seen as a betrayal of her family on his behalf, Johnse Hatfield thereafter abandoned the pregnant Roseanna for her cousin, Nancy McCoy, marrying her in 1881.
The escalation continued in 1882 when Ellison Hatfield, brother of Devil Anse, was killed by three of Roseanna McCoy’s younger brothers: Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud. During an election day in Kentucky, the three McCoy brothers fought a drunken Ellison and his other brother in a violent brawl; Ellison was stabbed 26 times and finished off with a shot. The McCoy brothers were initially arrested by Hatfield constables and were taken to Pikeville, Kentucky, for trial. Secretly, Devil Anse Hatfield organized a large group of followers and intercepted the constables and their McCoy prisoners before they reached Pikeville. The brothers were taken by force to West Virginia to await the fate of mortally wounded Ellison Hatfield, and when Ellison finally died from his injuries, the McCoy brothers were killed by the Hatfields’ vigilante justice in turn: being tied to pawpaw bushes, where each was shot numerous times with a total of 5 shots fired. Their bodies were described as “bullet-riddled”.[6]
Even though the Hatfields, and most inhabitants of the area, believed their revenge was warranted, up to about twenty men, including Devil Anse, were indicted. All of the Hatfields eluded arrest; this angered the McCoy family, who took their cause up with Perry Cline. Cline was married to Martha McCoy. Historians believe that Cline used his political connections to reinstate the charges and announced rewards for the Hatfields’ arrest as an act of revenge. A few years prior, Cline lost a lawsuit against Devil Anse over the deed to thousands of acres of land, subsequently increasing the hatred between the two families.
The feud reached its peak during the 1888 New Year’s Night Massacre. Several members of the Hatfield clan surrounded the McCoy cabin and opened fire on the sleeping family. The cabin was set on fire in an effort to drive Randolph McCoy into the open. He escaped by making a break for it, but two of his children were shot, and his wife was beaten and left for dead. The remaining McCoys moved to Pikeville to escape the West Virginia raiding parties.
Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families. On one occasion, the Governor of West Virginia even threatened to have his militia invade Kentucky. In response, Kentucky Governor S. B. Buckner sent his Adjutant General Sam Hill[7] to Pike County to investigate the situation. Nearly a dozen died, and at least 10 people were wounded.[8]
In 1888, Wall Hatfield and eight others were arrested by a posse led by Frank Phillips and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of Alifair McCoy, killed during the New Year’s Massacre.[9] She had been shot after exiting the burning house. Because of issues of due process and illegal extradition, the United States Supreme Court became involved (Mahon v. Justice, 127 U.S. 700 (1888)).[10] The Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of Kentucky, holding that, even if a fugitive is returned from the asylum state illegally instead of through lawful extradition procedure, no federal law prevents him from being tried. Eventually, the men were indeed tried in Kentucky, and all were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, while the eighth, Ellison “Cottontop” Mounts, was executed by hanging.[11] Thousands attended the hanging in Pikeville.
Valentine “Uncle Wall” Hatfield, elder brother of Devil Anse, was overshadowed by Devil Anse’s ambitions but was one of the eight convicted, dying in prison of unknown causes. He petitioned his brothers to assist in his emancipation from jail, but none came for fear of being captured and brought to trial. He was buried in the prison cemetery, which has since been paved over.
William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, the younger and more militant brother of Valentine Hatfield, led the clan in most of their combative endeavors.
Doc D. Mahon, son-in-law of Valentine and brother of Pliant, one of the eight Hatfields convicted, served 14 years in prison before returning home to live with his son, Melvin.
Pliant Mahon, son-in-law of Valentine and brother of Doc,[clarification needed] served 14 years in prison before returning home to rejoin his ex-wife, who had remarried but left her second husband to live with Pliant again.
Fighting between the families eased following the hanging of Mounts. Trials continued for years until the 1901 trial of Johnse Hatfield, the last of the feud trials.
