The Hatfields and the McCoys

by Otis K. K. Rice

  The principal feudists ended their lives in relative quiet. Randolph McCoy spent his last years as the operator of a ferry at Pikeville. His losses at the hands of the Hatfields continued to engross his thoughts, but as the feud receded into history, his tales of woe struck his acquaintances as somewhat boring. He died on March 28, 1914, at the age of eighty-eight, of burns suffered when he fell into an open fire at the home of a nephew with whom he was living. His wife, Sarah, survived him for several years.12

  Randolph McCoy’s death attracted relatively little attention, but that of Devil Anse Hatfield on January 6, 1921, of pneumonia, received wide newspaper coverage, including a notice in the New York Times. During his last years he appeared very much the prosperous farmer, who supplemented his income with timbering activities and royalties from mineral properties. His house on Island Creek underwent improvements, including weatherboarding and a front porch, but he never failed in his well-known hospitality. During his last years he refused to dwell on the feud or to talk about it. His funeral, held on the Sunday following his death, was the largest ever held in Logan County and drew several thousand people, some arriving from Logan by special train. Mourners, some of whom bore the name of McCoy, entered the house through a back door and filed through a hallway to the front porch, where Devil Anse lay in a golden oak casket. There was no funeral sermon, but the Reverend Green McNeely, the “scriptural son” of Uncle Dyke Garrett, read commitment rites, and Garrett led in prayers, after which the mourners made their way through a chilling rain to the cemetery. Later the family erected a life-size marble statue made in Carrara, Italy, over the grave.13

  The following year Johnse died of a heart attack while riding a horse. Cap died in 1930, reportedly of a brain tumor, but an autopsy is said to have indicated that his death resulted from complications from an old bullet wound. Levicy Hatfield, the wife of Devil Anse, followed her husband in 1929. Jim McCoy, the son of Randolph, died in 1929 in his eightieth year of a lingering illness. Serving in his later years as sheriff of Pike County and as a policeman in Pikeville, he was widely respected and regarded as “a good neighbor.”14

  In 1928, forty years after the New Year’s attack upon the McCoy family, Tennis Hatfield, the youngest son of Devil Anse, was sitting on the porch of a friend in Pikeville, when he saw an elderly man walking down the street. Tennis asked who the man was. Joseph Stanley, the Pike County jailer, replied that the old gentleman was “Uncle Jim” McCoy. Tennis, then sheriff of Logan County, went over to McCoy, declaring, “I’m Tennis Hatfield, Uncle Jim.” He extended his hand, which McCoy grasped with warmth and appreciation. Afterward, the two men, along with three friends, had their picture taken together. By then the Hatfield-McCoy feud lingered on only as a tragedy best forgotten and as the most famous vendetta of the southern mountains.

  Epilogue

  THE FEUDS THAT ERUPTED in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the late nineteenth century have long since receded into history and are but slightly known to most Americans today. The Hatfield-McCoy vendetta has proved a striking exception and has, in fact, become a part of the folk history of the nation. Many of the feuds had political overtones, but the Hatfield-McCoy troubles were rooted in the everyday life of two families who were essentially no different from thousands of others in the southern mountains. Antagonisms born of wartime emotions, anger over relatively trivial incidents such as the alleged theft of a hog, election-day disputes brought on by overdrinking, and family disapproval of the romantic attachments of some member were the kinds of experiences that were shared and understood by countless Americans.

  Although many of its principal events grew out of ordinary situations, the Hatfield-McCoy feud, more than most others, contained all the ingredients of high drama. The persistence of ancient grudges, the total devotion to the clan, the determination that no wrong should remain unavenged, the thirst for blood by high-spirited sons of the hills, and defiance of the law had striking counterparts in the colorful novels of R. D. Blackmore and the history of the Scottish Highlands. Moreover, the chief participants in the feud stand etched in bold relief. Who can forget the patriarchal Devil Anse Hatfield, determined to kill, if necessary, to defend his family and his rights, yet often recoiling at the spreading bloodshed and finally bowing to the simple demands of Christianity? Or Randolph and Sarah McCoy, who lost three sons to a merciless foe in a night of unrestrained revenge? Or the aging Sarah McCoy, stunned and bleeding, dragging herself along the ground on a freezing January night to save a dying daughter? Or the unfortunate Rose Anna, spurned by Johnse Hatfield, rejected by her family, and dying because she lost the will to live? Such characters seize the imagination and remain unforgettable.

  Inevitably, large metropolitan newspapers made the most of the drama that unfolded in the Tug Valley. Correspondents from New York, Cincinnati, and Louisville descended upon the area and provided detailed accounts to their readers. Their reports, often more sensational than accurate, shaped an image of the Appalachian feudists that gained a powerful hold upon pliable American minds. Missionaries, educators, sociologists, and local color writers also discovered the southern Appalachians, which they saw as a region unique and distressingly in need of change. Many of them found the blood feuds peculiarly fascinating and contributed their own interpretations to their causes and events. Still later, dime novelists, motion picture producers, and television programmers found in the feuds source materials for exciting drama. The Hatfield-McCoy feud, more than any other, served as their inspiration.

  With such widespread interest in it, it is ironic, but not surprising, that the Hatfield-McCoy feud has become more encrusted with myth and half-truths than any other southern mountain vendetta. Yet, its human and dramatic qualities need no embellishment. Moreover, the character of the people involved, the geographical and physiographical restraints upon them, the stern demands of a frontier environment, the bitterness and suspicion engendered by the Civil War, the weakness of law enforcement, the scarcity of schools and churches, and the powerful influence of the family and the clan, all of which had their impact, give the feud the character of a social and cultural phenomenon. When all the contributing factors are given proper attention, the study of the feud becomes instructive as well as exciting. As history or as drama, the Hatfield-McCoy feud will unquestionably retain its primacy as the best-known and most interesting of all American family vendettas.

  Notes

  Chapter 1

  1. See, for example, Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette, June 30, 1977.

  2. For Hatfield genealogy, I have relied on G. Elliott Hatfield, The Hatfields (Stanfield, Ky., 1974), pp. 15–22, 183–200. I have generally referred to Anderson Hatfield as “Devil Anse,” a nickname that, despite the uncertainty of its origin, was commonly used during his lifetime and has since become a standard appellation. For its origins, see ibid., p. x.

  3. The best genealogy of the McCoy family is Truda Williams McCoy, The McCoys: Their Story (Pikeville, Ky., 1976), pp. 235–330. For the McCoy lands on Blackberry Fork, see Pike County Deed Books E, pp. 326–27; L, pp. 202–3; and 5, p. 478, Pike County Courthouse, Pikeville, Ky.

  4. William Ely, The Big Sandy Valley: A History of the People and Country from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Cat-lettsburg, Ky., 1887), p. 202.

  5. McCoy, The McCoys, p. 3.

  6. Ely, Big Sandy Valley, p. 203.

  7. Typical McCoy properties are listed in note 3. For Hatfield lands, see, for instance, Logan County Land Book, 1886–1872, passim, Logan County Courthouse, Logan, W.Va. On March 23, 1877, Devil Anse traded Perry A. Cline a tract of land in Pike County for 5,000 acres on the West Virginia side of the Tug Fork. Logan County Deed Book G, p. 538, Logan County Courthouse.

  8. For bootlegging activities, see The State [W.Va.] v. Anderson Hatfield, Logan County Law Order Book A (1868–1875), p. 68, Logan County Courthouse.

  9. T. C. Crawford, An American Vendetta (New York, 1889), reprinted in West Virginia Heritage, comp. and ed. Jim Comstock a
nd Bronson McClung (Richwood, W.Va., 1969), 3:27. A description of the McCoy house may be gleaned from the testimony of Sarah McCoy, Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Ellison Mounts, Case #19602, Kentucky Court of Appeals, Division of Archives and Records, Frankfort.

  10. West Virginia, Biennial Report of the State Superintendent of Free Schools … 1881 and 1882 (Wheeling, 1882), p. 67; West Virginia, Biennial Report of the State Superintendent of Free Schools … 1889 and 1890 (Charleston, 1890), p. 76.

  11. Coleman Hatfield, “The Feuding Hatfields,” p. 121, typescript, West Virginia Collection, West Virginia University Library, Morgan town.

  12. Kentucky, Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction … 1881–1886 (Frankfort, 1886), p. 22.

  13. Crawford, An American Vendetta, p. 32.

  14. McCoy, The McCoys, p. 19.

  15. Quoted materials are from John C. Campbell, The Southern Highlander and His Homeland (New York, 1921; Lexington, Ky., 1969), p. 138.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid., pp. 124–26.

  Chapter 2

  1. Virgil Carrington Jones, The Hatfields and the McCoys (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1948), pp. 249, 280.

  2. Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from Virginia: Forty-fifth Battalion, Infantry. Microcopy No. 324, Roll 891. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

  3. Ibid.; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 272.

  4. Wheeling Intelligencer, November 22, 1889.

  5. Asa P. McCoy v. Henry Davis, Ellison Hatfield, et al., File #2589, Pike County Circuit Court Records, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Library, Lexington.

  6. Basil Hatfield v. Anderson Runyon, et ah, File #2049, ibid.

  7. Thomas Hatfield v. Joseph Smith, et al., File #2038, ibid.

  8. James Lesley v. Pleasant McCoy, File #2606, ibid. See also Fleming Stafford v. James Vance, et al, File #2907, ibid.; Pleasant McCoy v. Randolph and Sarah McCoy, File #1945, ibid., which charges Randolph and Sarah with malicious gossip.

  9. Harmon McCoy’s military record is noted in Kentucky, Report of the Adjutant General …, vol. 2, 1861–1866 (Frankfort, 1867), p. 450. For details of Harmon’s death, I have generally relied on McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 4–11, 221–22. A variant version is Hatfield, “The Feuding Hatfields,” pp. 9–14.

  10. Versions of the conflict regarding the hog may be found in McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 13–19; Hatfield, The Hatfields, pp. 24–27; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 17–24. Contrary to an assertion by Jones, Randolph McCoy and Floyd Hatfield were not brothers-in-law. See McCoy, The McCoys, p. 222.

  11. Accounts of the trouble between the McCoys and Bill Staton, with the usual variations, are contained in Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 21–23; McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 20–24; Hatfield, The Hatfields, pp. 28–32. See also Crawford, An American Vendetta, pp. 13–14.

  Chapter 3

  1. Typical of the indictments against the Hatfields are those in Pike County Order Books L, pp. 204, 397, and N, p. 528, Pike County Courthouse. For the armed bands, see Simon B. Buckner to E. Willis Wilson, January 30, 1888, in Correspondence between the Governors of Kentucky and West Virginia, Kentucky, Legislative Document No. 2 (Frankfort, 1888), pp. 2, 11; hereinafter cited as Kentucky Legislative Document No. 2; Louisville Courier-Journal, February 11, 1888.

  2. Diverse accounts of events at the election are in Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 34–36; McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 25–34; Hatfield, The Hatfields, pp. 33–41.

  3. Hatfield, The Hatfields, p. 34.

  4. McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 35–36, states that John Hatfield served as Randolph’s emissary to Rose Anna. Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 37, errs in referring to Josephine as a younger sister of Rose Anna. Actually, she was nine years older and probably married at the time that Rose Anna was with the Hatfields. McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 308–11.

  5. Louisville Courier-Journal, February 17, 1888; Wheeling Intelligencer, February 18, 1888; Interviews with Cap Hatfield, November 11, 1929, and Dr. Elliott R. Hatfield, November 13, 1929, John L. Spivak Papers, West Virginia Collection, West Virginia University Library.

  6. McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 52, 224; Interview with Cap Hatfield, November 11, 1929, Spivak Papers; Hatfield, The Hatfields, p. 68; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 38, 274.

  7. Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Anderson Hatfield, et al., Case #19601, Kentucky Court of Appeals, particularly testimony of the Reverend Anderson Hatfield.

  8. Ibid., particularly testimony of Randolph McCoy, Sarah McCoy, James McCoy, Joe Davis, Dan Whitt, Jeff Whitt, Plyant Mahon, Dock Mahon, and Ellison Mounts.

  9. Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 56.

  10. Ibid., p. 57.

  11. Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Anderson Hatfield, et al., File #19601, Kentucky Court of Appeals.

  12. Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 59.

  Chapter 4

  1. The description of Cline is in Louisville Courier-Journal, March 17, 1888.

  2. Ibid., February 18, 1890; Pittsburgh Times, February 1, 1888.

  3. Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 70–72.

  4. Ibid., pp. 73–76. For variant accounts, which name Nancy Daniels’s mother as the second victim of the whipping, see McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 114–15; Hatfield, The Hatfields, p. 74.

  5. Pittsburgh Times, February 1, 1888; Louisville Courier-Journal, February 17, 1888; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 76–78.

  6. Anderson Hatfield to P[erry] A. Cline, December 26, 1886. Copy in Special Collections, University of Kentucky Library.

  Chapter 5

  1. Hambleton Tapp and James C. Klotter, Kentucky: Decades of Discord, 1865–1900 (Frankfort, 1977), pp. 386–87.

  2. New York Times, January 26, 1888; Wheeling Register, March 25, 1888.

  3. Charles G. Mutzenberg, Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies (New York, 1917), pp. 254–324; Thomas D. Clark, Kentucky: Land of Contrast (New York, 1968), pp. 207–33.

  4. Mutzenberg, Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies, pp. 187–253.

  5. Ibid., pp. 111–86; Louisville Courier-Journal, February 17, 1888. For an official and somewhat analytical account of the troubles in Rowan County, see Special Reports on Rowan County Affairs, by Sam E. Hill, Adjutant General, and Captain Ernest MacPherson, to the Governor of Kentucky, Legislative Document No. 23 (Frankfort, 1887), pp. 1–23; Majority and Minority Reports and Testimony Taken by the Rowan County Investigating Committee, Made to the General Assembly of Kentucky, March 16th, 1888, Kentucky, Legislative Document No. 3 (Frankfort, 1888), pp. 1–551.

  6. Louisville Courier-Journal, February 9, 10, 17, 1888.

  7. Ibid., February 14, 15, 16, 1888.

  8. Kentucky, Journal of the Regular Session of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky … [1887–1888], (Frankfort, 1888), pp. 908–14.

  9. Louisville Courier-Journal, August 7, 1885.

  10. Ibid., November 30, 1885.

  Chapter 6

  1. Wheeling Intelligencer, February 2, 1888.

  2. For differing accounts of the capture of Wallace and the death of Jeff McCoy, see Mutzenberg, Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies, pp. 52–56; Hatfield, The Hatfields, pp. 74–77; McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 119–27; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 76–78.

  3. Wheeling Register, April 22, 1888.

  4. Buckner to Wilson, January 30, 1888, Kentucky Legislative Document No. 2, pp. 2, 11. See also Louisville Courier-Journal, February 11, 1888.

  5. Louisville Courier-Journal, February 7, 1888; McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 213–14, 227.

  6. Wilson to Buckner, September 30, 1887, Kentucky Legislative Document No. 2, pp. 1–2; Buckner to Wilson, January 9, 1888, ibid., pp. 2–3; Buckner to Wilson, January 30, 1888, ibid., pp. 11–12; Louisville Courier-Journal, February 11, 1888.

  7. New York Times, January 29, 1888; Wheeling Register, April 22, 1888; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 87–88.

  8. Cline’s letter is printed in Wheeling Intelligencer, April 24, 1888.

  9. Walker to Cline, November 21, 1887, Kentucky Legislative Document
No. 2, p. 21.

  10. Buckner to Wilson, January 30, 1888, ibid., p. 15; Louisville Courier-Journal, February 18, 1890.

  11. Phillips to Wilson, December 13, 1887, KenUcky Legislative Document No. 2, p. 8; Wilson to Buckner, January 21, 1888, with affidavits of G. W. Pinson, Johnse Hatfield, and A. J. Auxier, ibid., pp. 3–6; Wheeling Register, April 22, 1888; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 89.

  12. Wheeling Intelligencer, January 27, April 24, 1888; Louisville Courier-Journal, March 6, 1888.

  13. Quoted in Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 92.

  Chapter 7

  1. Louisville Courier-Journal, February 18, 1890; Testimony of Ellison Mounts, Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Ply ant Mayhorn [Mahon], Case #19601, Kentucky Court of Appeals.

  2. For the members of the Hatfield party, see statements of Charles Gillespie, Cincinnati Enquirer, October 14, 1888, and Wheeling Intelligencer, October 17, 1888, and of Ellison Mounts, Louisville Courier-Journal, February 18, 1890. Vance’s words are noted in Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 95.

  3. Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, pp. 95–96.

  4. For details of the attack upon the McCoy home, I have drawn primarily from the confession of Charles Gillespie, Cincinnati Enquirer, October 14, 1888, and Wheeling Intelligencer, October 17, 1888; the testimony of Sarah McCoy in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Ellison Mounts, Case #19602, Kentucky Court of Appeals; the confession of Ellison Mounts, Louisville Courier-Journal, February 18, 1890; and the account of Charles S. Howell, Pittsburgh Times, February 1, 1888.

  5. Louisville Courier-Journal, February 18, 1890.

  6. McCoy, The McCoys, p. 148; Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 102.

  Chapter 8

  1. McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 149–50.

  2. The oaths taken by the Hatfields are noted in Jones, Hatfields and McCoys, p. 104. For the blame that fell upon Cap for the death of Alifair, see Pittsburgh Times, February 1, 1888. For the part of Ellison Mounts, see Cincinnati Enquirer, October 14, 1888; Wheeling Intelligencer, October 17, 1888; Hatfield, The Hatfields, p. 108. An account of the bribe is in McCoy, The McCoys, pp. 147–48.