The story of the Hatfield & McCoy
feud is a combination of love, treachery, and - most of all -
tragedy. It took place in the mountain terrain of Eastern
Kentucky and West Virginia. At the head of the hostilities on
the Hatfield side was William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield.
He was once described as "6 foot of devil and 180 pounds of hell."
On the McCoy side was Randolph, who was known as "Old Randall" McCoy. My family, the McCoys, lived on the Kentucky
side of the Tug River and the Hatfields lived on the West Virginia
side. For several years these families crossed over the river
and courted, married and were friends. That is until the Civil
War, and, as one individual put it--that "damnable pig!"
Both families were pre-dominantly
Southern sympathizers but both sides had Union soldiers as well. Old Randall's younger brother, Asa Harmon McCoy
was one of the Union soldiers. Harmon waited two years
after the war started to enlist in the Union Army where he served
for twelve months. After suffering a broken leg, he was
discharged on December 24, 1864. When he returned home he was
warned by Devil Anse's uncle, Jim Vance, that The Logan Wildcats
(Confederate Raiders) would be "visiting him." One day while Harmon was at his well drawing water, he heard
gunshots. Harmon had instructed his slave, Pete, to hide food
and water in a nearby cave in the event he had to hide from the
raiders. Harmon would become the first tragedy of the feud.
His tormentors tracked his slave Pete's footprints in the snow and
shot Harmon to death on January 8, 1865 while he hid in the cave.
Since Harmon's military service was considered an act of disloyalty,
even his family believed the man had brought his murder on himself.
No one was ever brought to trial but it was always felt that Jim
Vance was involved. It would be over a decade before the next
major incident occurred.
Things remained pretty calm until the
fall of 1878. That's when Old Randall thought he spotted one of his
pigs being stolen by one of his wife's Hatfield relatives, Floyd
Hatfield. Old Randall was enraged and demanded Floyd be
brought to trial. In the end, the final verdict hinged on the
testimony of Old Randall's nephew, Bill Staton. Staton swore it was Floyd
Hatfield's pig. The "jury of his peers" for Floyd's trial was
made up of 6 Hatfields and 6 McCoys. Old Randall would lose the
case. It seems one of the McCoy jurors, Selkirk McCoy,
had bad feelings for the family and sided with the Hatfields. As a result, the Hatfields were acquitted of the crime with a 7-5
verdict in their favor.
From that date on Bill Staton's fate
was sealed. Within a few months Staton was shot to death by
Paris and Sam McCoy. The pair were tried for Staton's murder but
they were acquitted with a plea of self-defense. It was felt
that in order to keep peace between the families, Devil Anse
had arranged for the acquittal. Instead of being grateful, the
McCoys were enraged that Sam and Paris were tried at all.
STAR CROSSED LOVERS
Roseanna McCoy -
Picture courtesy of Buddy Dickens via Edward McCoy
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Johnse Hatfield - Picture courtesy of
Buddy Dickens from the book Tale of the Devil by Coleman
C. Hatfield |
As in any tragedy, there are usually
star-crossed lovers. This story is no different and it became
the 19th century Americanized version of Romeo & Juliet. Old
Randall
had a daughter named Roseanna. She was very pretty and in the
spring of 1880 spied and immediately fell in love with Devil Anse's
son, Johnse Hatfield. At 18, Johnse was already a well
established bootlegger and womanizer. Roseanna slipped
off into the bushes that night with Johnse and the rest is history. Instead of returning home, she went to live at Devil Anse's house.
Later, after Johnse refused to marry her, she went home at the
pleading of her mother. Because of her affair with Johnse,
life in the McCoy home for her was intolerable. A little while
later Roseanna left her parent's home and went to stay with her
aunt, Betty McCoy. This let the lovers continue to meet and rekindle
their affair. One night as they lay in each other's arms,
Roseanna's brothers surrounded them and took Johnse prisoner.
They said they were taking him to jail but Roseanna believed
otherwise. She borrowed a neighbor's horse and rode bareback,
hatless, and coatless to tell Devil Anse. Anse rallied his
sons and neighbors and rescued his son without incident. Roseanna's Johnse never returned to her bed, but the damage was
already done. She was pregnant. She went back to her
father's home even though she knew he felt she had committed an
unpardonable sin. Some reports say she miscarried the child
after having contracted measles. Per Truda McCoy in The McCoy's:
Their Story, Roseanna had a daughter named Sarah Elizabeth who died
as an infant and was buried under a pine tree near Betty McCoy's
home. To add to her shame, Johnse married Roseanna's 16 year old first
cousin, Nancy McCoy.
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE
In August, 1882, three of Old Randall's
sons, Randall, Jr. (Bud), Pharmer and Tolbert, attacked Devil Anse's
younger brother, Ellison Hatfield. According to many accounts
of the incident, the attack was apparently unprovoked. They
stabbed Ellison 26 times and then Pharmer McCoy shot him in the back. The Hatfields ambushed the posse that was taking Pharmer,
Tolbert and Bud to jail and held them in a school pending Ellison's
recovery or death. Devil Anse had said if his brother lived he would
allow Pharmer, Tolbert and Bud to proceed to trial. If he died
he would seek retribution. Ellison lived for 3 days after the
attack. After he died, the Hatfields dragged the three McCoy
brothers across the Tug River, tied them to paw-paw bushes and shot
them to death. Devil Anse was the prime suspect until it was
determined that he was at home in bed ill when the 3 McCoy brothers
were killed.
Soon after this incident, the
Hatfields broke into the home of Mary McCoy Daniels and whipped Mary
and her daughter with a cow's tail. Even though she was
married to a Hatfield relation, they thought she was leaking
information to the McCoys. Her brother, Jeff McCoy, tried to
seek revenge for the whippings. He was promptly shot to death
on the banks of the Tug River.
Things wouldn't end there.
Before it was over 13 would die. It was quiet for almost five
years. That's when an enterprising lawyer who had lost some
land dealings with Devil Anse Hatfield would convince the Kentucky
Governor to reopen the case of the deaths of Tolbert, Bud and
Pharmer McCoy and appointed
"Bad" Frank Phillips to bring the Hatfields to justice.
The Hatfields were eventually tired
of being on the run and thought if they eliminated Old Randall McCoy,
there wouldn't be anyone to testify and bring them to trial.
In an attempt to eliminate Old Randall and any other witnesses, on January
1, 1888 the McCoy's home was raided by the Hatfields. The
raiding party consisted of Johnse Hatfield, Ellison "Cotton Top"
Mounts (a suspected illegitimate son of Ellison Hatfield), Valentine "River Wall" Hatfield, Selkirk McCoy and several other
Hatfield sympathizers. They set the McCoy cabin on fire
and waited outside with rifles.
When the New Year's Day raid was over, Old Randall's son Calvin and daughter Alifair
were dead and his wife, Sarah, had been savagely beaten. According
to the newspaper articles of the time, Sarah's bloody head had been
frozen to the ground with her own blood. When help arrived the next
morning, Old Randall's daughter Adelaide
was found sitting on the floor cradling
her dead brother's head in her arms. On the bed was the body
of her dead sister, Alifair, and her unconscious mother. The February 16, 1888 article in the Ironton Register
stated
Adelaide had "gone stark raving mad."
This is the well where
Alifair was shot by the Hatfields while getting water to help put out the fire in
the cabin. Her mother was beaten trying
to get to her after she heard her call out.
The cemetery where six of the McCoy
children are buried on Blackberry Fork of Pond Creek,
Pike Co., KY is shown below.
The Blackberry Fork Cemetery &
McCoy well
pictures are compliments of Terry Thacker who is also a
McCoy descendant. They were taken in September, 2003.
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This copy of the picture was found in the
West Virginia Archives |
Back row standing: 1.
Rose Browning (daughter); 2. Troy; 3. Betty Caldwell; 4.
Elias; 5. Tom Chafin (nephew); 6. Joe D; 7. Exer Damron
(hired hand); 8. Shephard; 9. Coleman; 10. Levica Emma;
11. Bill Borden (store clerk).
Middle row seated: 12. Mary
Hensely-Simpkins-Howes; 13. Vicie Simpkins; 14. Devil
Anse; 15. Levicy; 16. Nancy Elizabeth; 17. Robert
Elliott; 18. Louise; 19. Cap. Seated in
front: 20. Tennis; 21. Midge (Johnse's daughter). 22.
Willis; 23. Old Yellow
(Identification made by Willis Hatfield) |
The picture above was
taken in 1897. The drawing of the picture shown
on the right came from the Iowa State Press dated
February 11, 1889. The headline read "In A Careless
Moment Devil Anse Allowed It to Be Taken -- The
Hatfields Wrecked the Photographer's Establishment."
It appears that after the
picture was taken, Devil Anse had a change of heart.
The Hatfields went to the photographer's establishment,
took the photo plate and wrecked the establishment.
What they didn't know was that the photographer had
already printed a copy of the picture. This is one
of the few pictures of the Hatfield Clan ever taken.
Notice that in the
first picture above there are several more women and
children as well as a dog that aren't depicted in the
drawing. It appears there were two pictures.
The picture on the top right that was used by the newspaper for the drawing was shared by
Buddy Dickens, a descendant of the Vance Family.
The article went on to say that there were 4
rifles and 4 shotguns showing in the picture and even
more concealed weapons. The Hatfields still
remained this well armed nine years after the feud was
over. The original
of the actual photograph on the right was found in the
family Bible of
Morris
Clark of Spring Hill, Kanawha Co., WV and shared by Tina
Holley. The picture was given to her by a
descendant of Green Ellis. Green's brother, French
Babe Ellis, was said to have participated in the raid on the
McCoy home which resulted in the deaths of Alifair and
Calvin McCoy. Shown in the
picture at the right:
In
The Doorway:
Levicy Hatfield (Devil Anse's Wife) sitting.
Mary (Devil Anse's Daughter)
Back Row: Ock
Damron (hired hand), Elias Hatfield (son), Detroit
or Troy Hatfield (son), Joe Hatfield (son), Cap
Hatfield (son), Bill Borden (store clerk and friend
that arranged for the photo)
Front Sitting:
Tennyson or Tennis Hatfield (son), Devil Anse
Hatfield, Willis Hatfield (son)
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This picture is courtesy of Tina
Holley.
The original is in her possession and was found
in the family Bible of
Morris Clark, of Spring Hill, WV.
Used with permission. |
In all 9 men were arrested
and brought to trial for the killing of the McCoys.
Among them were Johnse Hatfield, Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts (a
suspected illegitimate son of Ellison Hatfield) and Selkirk McCoy.
The governors of Kentucky and West Virginia battled over extradition
and other aspects of the case. It was eventually resolved by
the United States Supreme Court. The men responsible for the
deaths of the McCoys were convicted of their crimes. They were
sentenced to death by hanging, (Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts), or
prison terms. Some were later pardoned (Johnse Hatfield) and
others, such as Valentine "River Wall" Hatfield, would later die in
prison.
Roseanna's old lover Johnse McCoy was
convicted and sentenced to prison. In a twist of fate,
Johnse's wife, Nancy McCoy, divorced him and married Frank
Phillips, the special officer appointed by the Governor of Kentucky
to arrest the Hatfields for the killing of the three McCoys who had
killed Ellison Hatfield five years before. Johnse would later
be pardoned after he saved the life of the Lt. Governor, William
Pryor Thorne. Thorne was at the prison for an inspection and
was attacked by an inmate. Johnse slit the throat of the
inmate thereby saving the Lt. Governor.
What was the fate of
Old Randall and Devil Anse? Old Randall died of burns from a
fire in the home of his nephew on March 28, 1914.
He was 88. Devil Anse would live another 7 years
after Old Randall's death. He died on January 6, 1921 of
pneumonia at the age of 80. To this day his funeral
ranks as the largest attended funeral in Logan County,
West Virginia. His grave at the right has now been
dedicated as a National Monument.
The picture below was taken of Old
Randall
McCoy in his coffin at the McCoy homestead. This
picture is compliments of Terry Thacker who also
descends through the McCoy's via Elizabeth McCoy &
William Scott.
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Devil Anse Hatfield's
Tombstone
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The pictures of the
Hatfield & McCoy Historical Marker & the tombstones of
Old Randall, Sarah & their son Samuel & wife Martha Jackson
were shared by Howard Bohrn. While not a
McCoy or Hatfield descendant, he recently visited
Pikeville, Pike Co., KY and the Dils Cemetery where
Old Randall, Sarah & their son Samuel & his wife Martha
Jackson are buried. Jean
Hounshell Peppers shared the Hatfield Cemetery Marker |
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