Hatfield-McCoy feud

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The Hatfield clan in 1897.

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 Hatfield-McCoy feud (1878–1891) is an account of American lore that has become a metaphor for bitterly feuding rival parties in general. It involved two warring families of the West Virginia-Kentucky backcountry along the Tug Fork River, off the Big Sandy River. The Hatfields involved in the feud descended from Ephraim (born c1765), and the McCoys from William (born c1750). Partial family trees for both clans are shown at the end of this article.

[edit] Family origins

The McCoys, led by Randolph "Ole Ran’l" McCoy (1825–1914) (grandson of William), lived mostly on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork (a tributary of the Big Sandy River), and the Hatfields, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield (1839–1921) (great-grandson of Ephraim), lived mostly on the West Virginia side. Both families were part of the first wave of pioneers to settle the Tug Valley and were involved in the manufacture and sale of moonshine. The majority of both the Hatfields and the McCoys fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. However, the first real violence in the feud was the murder of a returning Union soldier, Harmon McCoy. Harmon was killed by a group of ex-Confederates called the 'Logan Wildcats,' among whom was reputed trigger man, Devil Anse Hatfield.^[1]

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 Albert McCoy, Lorenzo Dow McCoy, and Selkirk McCoy.

[edit] The major players

[edit] Hatfield clan

• Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, the younger, more militant brother of eldest Hatfield, Valentine, led the clan in most of their combative endeavors.

• Valentine "Riverwall" Hatfield, the elder brother of "Devil Anse" was overshadowed by Anderson's ambitions but was one of the eight convicted to end the feud. He died in prison of starvation.

• Doc D Mahon, son-in-law of Valentine and brother of Pliant, was one of the eight convicted to end the feud. He served 14 years in prison before returning home to live with his son Melvin.

• Pliant Mahon, son-in-law of Valentine, brother of Doc, was one of the eight convicted to end the feud. He served 14 years in prison before returning home to rejoin his ex-wife who had remarried (she left her second husband to be with Pliant again).

[edit] The feud

[edit] Beginning

According to historian Michel Sellers, the feud began when a Hatfield wanted to marry a McCoy, but the clans disagreed and strife resulted. "Most people believe that the Hatfield-McCoy feud began with the death of Asa Harmon McCoy (Randall McCoy's brother) on January 7, year unknown." The uncle of Devil Anse, Jim Vance, and his "Wildcats" despised Hans Hall McCoy because he had joined the Union army. Harmon had been discharged from the army early because of a broken leg; several nights after he returned home, he was murdered in a nearby cave.

The first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1873 dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield had it and Randolph McCoy said it was his.^[2] But in truth, the dispute was over land or property lines and the ownership of that land. The pig was only in the fight because one family believed that since the pig was on their land, that meant it was theirs; the other side objected. The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace, and the McCoys lost because of the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. The individual presiding over the case was Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield. In June 1880, Staton Hatfield was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, who were later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. But the court decided later that it was not self-defense; it was murder in the first degree.

[edit] Escalation

The feud escalated after Roseanna McCoy began an affair with Johnse Hatfield (Devil Anse's son), 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 kidnapped by the McCoys and was saved only when Roseanna made a desperate ride to alert Devil Anse Hatfield, who organized a rescue party.

Despite what was seen as a betrayal of her family on his behalf, Johnse thereafter abandoned the pregnant Roseanna, marrying instead her cousin Nancy McCoy in 1881.

The escalation continued in 1882 when Ellison Hatfield, brother of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, was brutally murdered by three of Roseanna McCoy's brothers, Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud. Ellison was stabbed 26 times and finished off with a shot. The brothers were themselves murdered in turn as the vendetta escalated. They were kidnapped and tied to pawpaw bushes, where each was shot numerous times. Their bodies were described as "bullet-riddled."

Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families, becoming headline news around the country and compelling the governors of both Kentucky and West Virginia to call up their state militias to restore order after the disappearance of dozens of bounty hunters sent to calm the conflict.^{[citation needed]}

In 1888, Wall Hatfield and eight others were kidnapped by a posse led by Frank Phillips, and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of Alifair McCoy.^[3] She had been shot after exiting a burning building that had been set aflame by a group of Hatfields. Because of issues of due process and illegal extradition, the United States Supreme Court became involved (Mahon v. Justice, 127 U.S. 700 (1888)). Eventually the men were tried in Kentucky and all were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, while the eighth was executed by hanging. Public hangings were illegal in Kentucky, but to evade the law the scaffold was fenced, and was placed at the foot of a hill so it was visible to the throng.^[4] Thousands attended the hanging in Pikeville, Kentucky.

[edit] The feud ends

The families finally agreed to stop the fighting in 1891.

In 1979, the two families united for a special week's taping of the popular game show Family Feud, in which they played for a cash prize and a pig which was kept on stage during the games.^[5]

On June 14, 2003, on the initiative of Reo Hatfield, an actual peace treaty was drawn up and signed in Pikeville by representatives of the two families, even though the feud had ended over a century before. The idea was symbolic: to show that Americans could bury their differences and unite in times of crisis.^[6]

[edit] Tourism

Many tourists each year travel to parts of West Virginia and Kentucky to see the areas and historic relics which remain from the days of the feud.

Bo McCoy, a college student, organized a joint reunion of the Hatfield and McCoy gangs in 1993 which attained national notoriety.^[7]

Additionally, an entire recreation area, the 500-mile Hatfield-McCoy Trails system, has been created around the theme of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.^[8]

[edit] Possible genetic explanation

There has been some recent speculation in the press (Associated Press, April 6, 2007) that the feud may have been fueled in part by a rare tumor, pheochromocytoma ("pheo"), that sometimes leads to "hair-trigger rage and violent outbursts." In the McCoy family, pheos are one of the consequences of a rare disease known as Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL), which is prevalent among McCoy descendants.^[9] The condition sometimes produces tumors of the adrenal gland (pheochromocytomas), leading to excess adrenaline production. According to the National Cancer Institute, most people interpret these surges as panic attacks or palpitations. Pheos occur also in the general population, and in families with any of five other genetic mutations.^[10]

[edit] Deaths

• [1] 1865: Former Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy killed January 7, 1865 probably by the 'Logan Wildcats' led by Jim Vance^[11]
• [2] 1878: Bill Staton (nephew of Randolph McCoy - not shown on family tree) was killed in 1878 as revenge for testifying for Floyd Hatfield in his trial for stealing a McCoy hog.^[12]

• [3] 1880: Ellison was killed from wounds received on election day in the spring of 1880 (he died in 1882).^[13]
• [4] 1882: Tolbert, Pharmer & Randolph McCoy Jr. tied to pawpaw trees & killed August 9, 1882 (the day of Ellison's death) as revenge for Ellison Hatfield's 1880 election day shooting/stabbing.^[14]
• [5] 1886: 'Jeff' killed fall of 1886 following his murder of Fred Wolford^[15]
• [6] 1888: Alifair & Calvin McCoy killed January 1, 1888 at Randolph's house by 9 attackers led by Jim Vance. The attackers failed in their attempt to eliminate witnesses against them.^[16]
• 1889: Ellison Mounts was hanged on February 18, 1889 for Alifair's murder.^[17]

Numbers in square brackets are cross references to names on the family trees below.

[edit] Hatfield family tree^[18]

Names in red indicate those who were killed as a direct result of the feud.
Names in blue highlight intermarriages between Hatfield and McCoy.
Numbers in square brackets are cross references to the timeline in the "Deaths" section above

[edit] McCoy family tree^[19]

Names in red indicate those who were killed as a direct result of the feud.
Names in blue highlight intermarriages between Hatfield and McCoy. Numbers in square brackets are cross references to the timeline in the "Deaths" section above

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Rice, Otis K [1982]. The Hatfields and McCoys]. The University Press of Kentucky, 150 pages. ISBN 0-8131-1459-4. 

• Pearce, John Ed [1994]. Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky, 227 pages. ISBN 0813118743. 

• U.S. Supreme Court Mahon v. Justice, 127 U.S. 700 (1888)

• Jones, Virgil Carrington. The Hatfields and the McCoys. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1948. (Still regarded by local historians as the best and most balanced narrative history of the feud.)

• Feud: Hatfields, McCoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860–1900, Altina L. Waller, University of N. Carolina Press, 1998 ISBN 0807842168

[edit] External links

• Listen online – The Story of the Hatfields and McCoys - The American Storyteller Radio Journal
• Hatfield-McCoy Feud West Virginia Division of Culture and History
• The Hatfield and McCoy Feud — Matewan, West Virginia website
• Hatfield-McCoy Feud; Roseanna: Juliet of the Mountains; from Blue Ridge Country, March/April 1996.
• Official Matewan, WV Website at Matewan.com
• Official Matewan, WV Tourism Website at VisitMatewan.com
• Theatre West Virginia A professional outdoor theatre company that puts on a musicalized version of the story of the Hatifields and McCoys every summer since 1970