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Tag Archives: Devil Anse Hatfield

Tom Chafin Recalls Story of Ellison Hatfield’s Killing (1989)

21 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan

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Allen Hatfield, Anse Ferrell, Beech Creek, Cap Hatfield, Devil Anse Hatfield, Double Camp Hollow, Elias Hatfield, Ellison Hatfield, Estil Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Island Creek, John Hennen, Kentucky, Mate Creek, Matewan, Mingo County, North Matewan, Pigeon Creek, Pike County, Rutherford Hollow, Tom Chafin, Truman Chafin, Vicy Hatfield, Wall Hatfield, Warm Hollow, West Virginia, Williamson, Willis Hatfield

On June 21, 1989, scholar John Hennen interviewed Tom Chafin (1911-1997) of Williamson, West Virginia. What follows here is an excerpt of Mr. Chafin’s story about the death of his grandfather Ellison Hatfield in 1882 and other general memories of the Hatfield family.

JH: Okay, let’s go ahead and just follow that line. Tell me about Ellison Hatfield. And of course Ellison Hatfield was one of the participants in the early days of the so called Hatfield and McCoy feud.

TC: He’s the one that the McCoys killed. Uh, he lived up Mate Creek at the mouth of a hollow they call Double Camp Holler. He came down to Matewan here and got with some of his friends and they had a saloon here. It was called a saloon then, not the liquor store like we call it.

JH: Do you have any idea where that saloon was?

TC: Uh…the saloon was close to where the liquor store is now.

JH: Okay.

TC: I’m…I’m sure it was in the same building. That’s the Buskirk building. And he got with some of his friends and they got to drinking and was a having an election across the river in Pike County, Kentucky. Just across the river here. And he said to them said, some of his friends said, “Let’s go over and see how the elections goin’,” and when they got over there, they got into it with them and he was cut all to pieces with knives. He didn’t die in Kentucky. They loaded him up and hauled him back in a wagon. They hauled him back through the river up here at the upper end of Matewan and took him to Warm Holler. Now this is Warm Holler straight across from the bank on the right goin’ down there. You go across the railroad tracks. Uncle Anse Ferrell lived there. That was Ellison’s uncle. Uncle Anse Ferrell lived there in a big old log house. And they took Ellison there to his house that evening and he stayed there all that evening, all that night, and all day the next day and died the next evening. Just about dark. But in the mean time now, the Hatfields captured the three McCoy boys that they said did the killin’ of Ellison. Cuttin’ him up with knives. They captured them and took them up to a place they call North Matewan just out of Matewan here. They had and old school house there at the mouth of Rutherford Hollow. And they had an old school house there at the mouth of Rutherford Holler and that’s where they kept the three McCoy boys. All this evening, all night tonight, all day tomorrow, until tomorrow evening. And they brought him back down here, took him across the river and then a little drain, I call it, instead of a holler. It’s not a holler, it’s just a drain where water runs out where you go up to the radio station. That’s where they tied them to three papaw bushes. Now, we don’t have any papaw bushes around like we used to. We used to have whole orchards of them but they all disappeared. Why, they was papaws everywhere You could pick up a bushel of papaws anywhere when I was a boy. But you don’t even see a papaw tree any more. They said they tied them to three papaw bushes and killed all three of them.

JH: And this was after Ellison died?

TC: They waited until Ellison died. Say he died this evening and they went up there and got them and took them over there I believe the next morning.

JH: Who were some of the Hatfields involved in this?

TC: Well, to be exact, I’d say Cap… Cap was the head man. He was Devil Anse’s oldest son. 

JH: I’d like you to tell me a little bit more about Cap Hatfield and well, do you have a personal memory of Devil Anse? I know you have been to his house when you were a boy.

TC: No.

JH: You can’t remember anything directly about him?

TC: I’ve been to his house. I know where his house is. I knew what kind of house it was. It was a log house and it had a window in that end of it and a window in this end of it and it was across the creek. I could show you right where it is on Island Creek over there and I can remember goin’ over there with my grandfather Mose Chafin. Now, he was a brother to Devil Anse’s wife, Aunt Vicy. We’d go over and see Aunt Vicy after Uncle Anse had died. I believe he died in 1921 and I was ten years old when he died. And when I would go over there with him, probably I was twelve or thirteen or something like that, after Uncle Anse had died. And we’d ride a horse. I’d ride on the hind and my grandfather Mose Chafin. And I could tell you exactly how to go. We’d go up Mate Creek across the hill into Beech Creek and from Beech Creek into Pigeon Creek and Pigeon Creek into Island Creek.

JH: And Vicy was still living at that time?

TC: Yeah.

JH: So you knew her then?

TC: Yeah. She was a pretty big fat woman. She wasn’t too big and fat. She was about, say, hundred and sixty, something like that, I’m guessin’. I’m gonna guess it. About a hundred and sixty pound. Anyhow, she was a big fat woman.

JH: Now, Cap lived on up into…to be an old man?

TC: Yeah. Willis is the last man that…last one to die.

JH: He was the son of Devil Anse also?

TC: Yeah. I was with him at a birthday party for Allen Hatfield on Beech Creek. That was his cousin. Allen was Elias’ boy* and he was Ellison’s boy**. Willis was. That made them first cousins and Willis was the only Hatfield left on Island Creek so we got him to come to that… Allen’s boy Estil Hatfield got him to come over to the birthday party, and I believe Truman went with me. He died in seventy-eight. I can tell you when he died.

JH: Willis?

TC: Willis died. Last child that Devil Anse had died in seventy-eight. 1978.

*Should read as “Wall’s boy”

**Should read as “Anse’s boy”

New Year’s Raid (1888): Daniel Whitt’s Testimony

23 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, Christmas, Court of Appeals, crime, Daniel Whitt, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, Elliot Hatfield, feuds, Frankfort, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry Mitchell, history, Jim McCoy, Jim Vance, Johnse Hatfield, Kentucky, Pike County, Pocahontas, Randolph McCoy, Tom Chambers, Tom Mitchell, true crime

Daniel Whitt’s testimony in the Johnse Hatfield murder trial provides one version of the Hatfield raid upon Randolph McCoy’s home on January 1, 1888:

Q. “Do you know Randolph McCoy?”

A. “Yes sir.”

Q. “Do you know Cap Hatfield?”

A. “Yes sir.”

Q. “Do you know Robert Hatfield, Ellison Mounts, Elliot Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, Thomas Mitchell, and Anderson Hatfield?”

A. “Yes sir.”

Q. “Do you remember of the old man McCoy’s house being burned?”

A. “Yes sir, I heard of it.”

Q. “Where were you a short time before that occurred?”

A. “Three days before Christmas I was in the neighborhood of the Hatfield’s.”

Q. “Who was with you?”

A. “Ance Hatfield, Jim Vance, Johnson Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, and Tom Mitchell, I believe about all of the bunch.”

Q. “What were you doing together and how long had you been together?”

A. “About three days and nights.”

Q. “Were all of you armed?”

A. “Yes sir.”

Q. “What were you doing armed and together?”

A. “Just traveling in the woods most of the time.”

Q. “What did you sleep on?”

A. “We carried our quilts with us.”

Q. “Who was your captain?”

A. “Jim Vance.”

Q. “What was the purpose of your getting together?”

A. “They claimed the purpose was to get out of the way of the Kentucky authorities.”

Q. “What else did they claim?”

A. “When I left them we came to Henry Mitchell’s to get dinner. They wouldn’t let me hear what they had to talk about. Cap asked me if I was going to Kentucky with them. Said they were going to Kentucky to kill Randolph and Jim McCoy and settle the racket. He asked me if I was going with them and I said that I was not. He said that I would go or I would go to hell. I said that I would go to hell. Elias came and took me off. We slept in a shuck pen. When he got to sleep I ran away and went to Pocahontas and was there when this occurred.”

Q. “Was Johnson present when Cap was talking?”

A. “He was in the yard close enough to hear, and he came up to me when Cap was talking and took Cap out and had a talk with him.”

Source: Bill of exceptions at the office of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, Frankfort, KY.

Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 4 (1974)

30 Saturday Oct 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Matewan, Women's History

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Appalachia, attorney, attorney general, Big Sandy River, Bill Smith, Cap Hatfield, Catlettsburg, Devil Anse Hatfield, feuds, genealogy, Georgia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Howard B. Lee, Huntington, Jim Comstock, Joe Glenn, Kentucky, Logan, Logan County, logging, Mate Creek, Matewan, Mingo County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Ohio, Ohio River, Portsmouth, Tennessee, timbering, Tug Fork, University Law School, Wayne County, West Virginia, Wyoming County

Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:

“Mrs. Hatfield, we have talked much about an era that is gone. Feuds are ended, railroads and paved highways have come, the huge coal industry has developed, churches and schools are everywhere, and people are educated. Now, I would like to know something about you.”

This is the brief life-story of the remarkable and unforgettable Nancy Elizabeth Hatfield, as she related it to me.

She was Nancy Elizabeth Smith, called “Nan” by her family and friends, born in Wayne County, West Virginia, September 10, 1866. (She died August 24, 1942). In her early years, she lived “close enough to the Ohio River,” she said, “to see the big boats that brought people and goods up from below.” She attended a country school three months out of the year, and acquired the rudiments of a common school education, plus a yearning for wider knowledge.

While she was still a young girl her parents moved by push-boat up the Big Sandy and Tug rivers into what is now Mingo County, then Logan County. They settled in the wilderness on Mate Creek, near the site of the present town of Matewan.

“Why they made that move,” said Nancy Elizabeth, “I have never understood.”

In her new environment, in the summer of 1880, when she was 14 years old, Nancy Elizabeth married Joseph M. Glenn, an enterprising young adventurer from Georgia, who had established a store in the mountains, and floated rafts of black walnut logs, and other timber, down the Tug and Big Sandy rivers to the lumber mills of Catlettsburg, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio.

Two years after their marriage Glenn was waylaid and murdered by a former business associate, named Bill Smith–no relation to Nancy Elizabeth. Smith escaped into the wilderness and was never apprehended. The 16-year-old widow was left with a three-weeks old infant son, who grew into manhood and for years, that son, the late Joseph M. Glenn, was a leading lawyer in the city of Logan.

On October 11, 1883, a year after her husband’s death, at the age of 17, Nancy Elizabeth married the 19-year-old Cap Hatfield, second son of Devil Anse.

“He was the best looking young man in the settlement,” she proudly told me.

But at that time Cap had little to recommend him, except his good looks. He was born Feb. 6, 1864, during the Civil War, and grew up in a wild and lawless wilderness, where people were torn and divided by political and sectional hatreds and family feuds–a rugged, mountain land, without roads, schools, or churches.

When he married, Cap could neither read nor write, but he possessed the qualities necessary for survival in that turbulent time and place–he was “quick on the draw, and a dead shot.”

“When we were married, Cap was not a very good risk as a husband,” said Nancy Elizabeth. “The feud had been going on for a year, and he was already its most deadly killer. Kentucky had set a price on his head. But we were young, he was handsome, and I was deeply in love with him. Besides, he was the best shot on the border, and I was confident that he could take care of himself–and he did.”

Nancy Elizabeth taught her handsome husband to read and write, and imparted to him the meager learning she had acquired in the country school in Wayne County. But, more important, the she instilled into him her own hunger for knowledge.

Cap had a brilliant mind, and he set about to improve it. He and Nancy Elizabeth bought and read many books on history and biography, and they also subscribed for and read a number of the leading magazines of their day. In time they built up a small library or good books, which they read and studied along with their children.

At the urging of Nancy Elizabeth, Cap decided to study law, and enrolled at the University Law School at Huntington, Tennessee. But six months later, a renewal of the feud brought him back to the mountains. He never returned to law school, but continued his legal studies at home, and was admitted to the bar in Wyoming and Mingo counties. However, he never practiced the profession.

Nancy Elizabeth and Cap raised seven of their nine children, and Nancy’ss eyes grew moist as she talked of the sacrifices she and Cap had made that their children might obtain the education fate had denied to their parents. But her face glowed with a mother’s pride as she said:

“All our children are reasonably well educated. Three are college graduates, and the others attended college from one to three years. But, above everything else, they are all good and useful citizens.”

As I left the home of the remarkable and unforgettable Nancy Hatfield, I knew that I had been in the presence of a queenly woman–a real “Mountain Queen.”

Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 153-154.

Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 3 (1974)

11 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Appalachia, Cap Hatfield, civil war, Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Howard B. Lee, Island Creek, Kentucky, Logan, Logan County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Pikeville, Randolph McCoy, Tennis Hatfield, West Virginia

Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:

“Mrs. Hatfield, your husband and his father bore the same given names: ‘William Anderson’. How did they get the nicknames of ‘Cap’ and ‘Devil Anse’?”

“It is very simple,” she replied. “Early in life Devil Anse’s name was shortened to ‘Anse.’ During and after the Civil War he was called ‘Captain Anse’. The son, because he had the same name as his father, was called ‘Little Cap’. As the boy grew larger, the word ‘Little’ was dropped. Also, because of their fierceness in feud combats, the McCoys called the father ‘Devil Anse’ and the son ‘Bad Cap’. The newspapers took up the names and they stuck. Devil Anse liked and cultivated the title; but eventually the word ‘Bad’ was dropped from Cap’s nickname.

“Was I afraid? For years, day and night, I lived in fear. Afraid for my own safety, and for the safety of my loved ones. Constant fear is a terrible emotion. It takes a heavy toll, mentally and physically.

“I now think that my most anxious moments, as well as my greatest thrill, came years after the feud was over. In 1922, Tennis Hatfield and another deputy sheriff went over to Pikeville, Kentucky, to return a prisoner wanted in Logan County. While there, Tennis visited the aged Randolph McCoy1, surviving leader of his clan during the feud. (Tennis was born long after the feud was over.) The old man was delighted to see Devil Anse’s youngest son’, and Tennis spent the night with him.

“The next morning, Randolph told Tennis that he was going home with him. ‘I want to see Cap,’ he said, ‘and tell him how glad I am that I didn’t kill him. I am sorry Devil Anse is gone. I would like to see him, too.’ Tennis was worried. He didn’t know how Cap would receive his old enemy. So he left Randolph in Logan while he acme up to our place to consult Cap.

“Cap listened to Tennis’ story, and said: ‘Does he come in peace?’ ‘Yes,’ said Tennis. ‘He comes in peace.’ ‘Does he come unarmed?’ ‘Yes, he comes unarmed.’ ‘Then I shall be happy to greet him in the same way. Bring him up for supper and he shall spend the night with us.

“My anxious moments were just before these two strong-willed men met. I knew how they had hated each other, that each had tried to kill the other, more than once, that each had killed relatives and friends of the other, and I was afraid of what they might do when they stood face to face.

“My thrill came when I saw them clasp hands, and heard each one tell the other how happy he was to see him. They talked far into the night, and bother were up early the next morning, eager to continue their talks. Tennis came about one o’clock to drive Randolph back to his Kentucky home. Cap watched them until they passed out of sight up the creek, and then remarked, ‘You know, I always did like that cantankerous old cuss.’

“Cap and Randolph never saw each other again.”

1Should be Jim McCoy, son of Randolph.

Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 152-153

Anderson Hatfield Deposition Relating to Civil War Case (1869)

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Abe C. Ferrell, Appalachia, civil war, Devil Anse Hatfield, farming, genealogy, Greenville Taylor, history, Kentucky, Lewis Sowards, Logan County, M.C.W. Sowards, Peach Orchard, Peter Creek, Pike County, R.M. Ferrell, Thomas J. Sowards, West Virginia

The deposition of Anderson Hatfield taken on the 20th day of August 1869 at the house of Greenville Taylor near the mouth of Peter Creek in Pike County Ky. To be read as evidence in behalf of the defendant (Jacob Cline) in the suit of M.C.W. Sowards, Lewis Sowards, and Thos. J. Sowards, plantiff, against Jacob Cline, defendant, pending in Pike Circuit Court.

The deponent Anderson Hatfield of lawful age and being by me first sworn deposeth and says:

Question: State your age residence and occupation.

Ans. I am 30 years old my residence in Logan Co., West Virginia. My occupation is farmer.

Question by same: Are you acquainted with the defendant Jacob Cline?

Ans. Yes sir.

Question by : Do you or not know how deft Cline happened to go with the squad to take Sowards goods at Peach Orchard Ky.?

Ans. He had come back from the Federal army and give up to the rebels and they were talking around that if he did not join the rebels that they would kill him and he joined the rebels under these circumstances and went to Peach Orchard. He made several excuses to get out of going but none of them were availing and he had to go.

Question by same. Did he go willingly or unwillingly?

Ans. He went unwillingly.

Question by same. State if you know where defendant Cline was at the time Sowards goods were taken.

Ans. He was on the point this side of the store of Sowards. Something near half a mile distant. He was placed there as a _____.

Question by same. Do you or not know who got the goods after they were taken from Sowards?

Ans. I do not know who all did get goods.

Question by same. Did Jacob Cline get any of the goods taken?

Ans. If he did I do not know it. He did not take any from the store. I was with him and come out with him from there and if he had any goods I did not see them. If he had any goods I think I would have certainly seen them.

Question by same. Would he not have endangered his life by refusing to go, taking everything into consideration that is all the surrounding circumstances of the case?

Ans. He was threatened that if he did not join the company and go he would be killed and this was by men who did kill sometimes.

Question by same. State as near as you can the amount of goods taken from Sowards also how much they had in store at the time of the robbery.

Ans. I don’t think there was exceeding $500.00 worth of goods in Sowards store at the time and I think $300.00 would be the greatest possible amount of the goods taken. And further this deponent saith not.

Attest. Abe C. Ferrell, Ex                                           Anderson (his mark) Hatfield

1 days attendance 26 miles $2.04

State of Kentucky

Pike County

I Abe C. Ferrell Examiner for County and state aforesaid do certify that the foregoing deposition of Anderson Hatfield was taken before me and was read to and subscribed by him in my presence at the time and place and in the action mentioned in the caption the said Anderson Hatfield having been by me first sworn that the evidence he should give in the action should be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and his statement reduced to writing by me in his presence the defendant Jacob Cline being above present at the examination. Given under my hand this 20th day of August 1869.

Abe C. Ferrell, Examiner

Pike Co.

Examiners Fee 1 Deposition $1.00

Entering 1 witness 25 80 miles $4.00 $4.25

                                                            $5.25

                                                            $2.04

1 witness claim                                    $7.29

***

[On the reverse side of the last paper:]

Jacob Cline & C

Ans: Deposition of Anderson Hatfield

M.C.W. Sowards & C

Filed Aug 24th 1869.

Abe C. Ferrell, D. for R.M. Ferrell, CPC

Madison Hatfield Subpoena in Anderson Hatfield Suit (1882)

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Appalachia, county clerk, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, G.W. Taylor, history, John Chafin, Logan County, West Virginia

Memories of Devil Anse Hatfield (1998)

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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Allen Browning, Appalachia, Cap Hatfield, cemeteries, Devil Anse Hatfield, Dyke Garrett, Emily Browning, genealogy, Hatfield Cemetery, history, Levisa Hatfield, Pearl Browning Burgess, Tennis Hatfield, Willis Hatfield

From Pearl Browning Burgess, ninety-seven-year-old daughter of Allen and Emily Browning, dated September 1998:

“I remember Anse Hatfield as Devil Anse. He was a kind old man. We called him Mr. or Uncle Anse. He was so kind to everyone he met. We children of Allen Browning loved to go to his home to see two bears tied up in a log house. The year was 1916. Also, we loved his two pea fowls that spread their tail feathers to show their beauty. I was a young woman in my teens and did Mrs. Hatfield’s laundry when she was ill. They had a real nice family. Seemed everyone who met Mr. Anse loved him and can’t understand why anyone would call him Devil Anse. When he died, my father and I sang one song and Dyke Garrett preached. The men carried his body nearby to Hatfield Cemetery. There they placed him in a grave. At the close of the grave, two sons that had not spoke for many years reached across the grave and shook hands. When they got his monument, his shoes or boots were on backwards. I am 97 years of age and still love to think of the times my father and I visited Uncle Anse and I can remember three sons: Cap, Tennis, and Willis. I remember his girls, yet I can’t recall their names. All this time is now Sarah Ann in Logan.”

Anse Hatfield Letter to Perry Cline (1886)

06 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville

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Appalachia, Cap Hatfield, Coleman Hatfield, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Jeff McCoy, Kentucky, Logan County, Mingo County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Perry Cline, Pike County, Pikeville, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Ron Blackburn, Tom Dotson, Tom Wallace, West Virginia, William S. Ferrell

Logan County, W.Va.

December 26, 1886

Mr. P.A. Cline

Pikeville, Ky.

Dear Sir:

I had to answer your Letter in regard to the Late Trouble. We are all very sorry that the Trouble occurred but under Somewhat aggravated circumstances it hapened. but I know and solemnly affirm that if such could have been prevented by me I would have stoped the Trouble. but it has gone by & cannot be ___. Cap was away from Home and Jeff went there to his house in the presents of his wife lying on her sick bed and had been under Treatment of the Doctor for three or four weeks and in undertaking to arrest Wallace shot into the House and when Cap came home he went and arrested Jeff to hand him over to a peace officer. & he met with Tom Wallace, and Wallace went with him and at William S. Ferrell’s he Broke loose in the presents of Wallace, and swam the river and Wallace followed shooting at him. I hope that if their is any question Relative to this affair that it will be ___ by a fair statement of the case.

Your friend

Ans. Hatfield

William S. Ferrell statement

At the time Jeff started Cap was of conversing with me some 40 or 50 yds and I never seen Cap Hatfield fire a single shot. You can write to Wm S. Ferrell for now in conclusion I will say to all the relatives of Jeff McCoy that neither one of the Hatfields has any animosity against them and very sorry that such has occurred and sincerely Trust that there will be no more Trouble in regard to the matter. Perry the very Bottom of this crime is nothing more nor less than Mary Daniels and her girls. Now Bill is gone and says he won’t come back. No person is going to Trouble him let him come back.

Very Respectfully,

Anderson Hatfield

NOTE: Ron G. Blackburn owns the original letter. A copy can be seen in Thomas Dotson’s The Hatfield & McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013), p. 232-233. Coleman Hatfield said that Nancy E. Hatfield, wife of Cap, wrote the letter, while Tom Dotson feels that Preacher Anse Hatfield wrote the letter.

Significant Tracts in Magnolia District (1867, 1870, 1876, 1886-1889)

19 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Beech Creek, Big Sandy Valley, Matewan, Wharncliffe

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Alex D. Trent, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Bend Creek, Big Sandy River, David Mounts, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, Elkhorn Sandy River Trust Company, genealogy, Glen Alum, Grapevine Creek, history, Isabella Rutherford, J.C. Williamson, J.D. Sergeant, Jacob Cline, Jacob Phillips, Jacob Smith, James Vance Jr., John Ferrell, John Francesco, John W. Deskins, Joseph Glen, Julius Williamson, justice of the peace, Kentucky, Lewis Ratcliff, Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, M.A. Ferrell, M.B. Lawson, Magnolia District, Michael A. Ferrell, Mingo County, Morehead, Philadelphia, Pigeon Creek, Richard Ferrell, Richard Maynard, Richard Ratcliff, Richard Ratliff, Right Fork, Roane County, Spring Fork, Spruce Fork, T.W. Blankenship, Thacker Creek, Tug River, Warren Alderson, West Virginia, William Ferrell, William S. Ferrell

What follows is a list of 1000-plus-acre tracts in Magnolia Township/District of Logan County, WV, for 1867, 1870, and 1886-1889…

1867

Jacob Cline’s Heirs, Logan County, 5000 acres, Sandy River

William Ferrell, Logan County, 3900 acres, Sandy River

Richard Maynard, Logan County, 3250 acres, Sandy River

David Mounts, Logan County, 3000 acres, Tug River and Tributaries

John Ferrell, Logan County, 2812 acres, Sandy River

Warren Alderson, Logan County, 2740 acres, Right Fork Ben Creek

John Ferrell, Logan County, 1814 acres, Pigeon Creek

Richard Ratliff, Logan County, 1340 acres, Stafford and Beech Creek

John W. Deskins, Logan County, 1305 acres, Thacker Creek and Sandy River

Warren Alderson, Logan County, 1300 acres, Spring Fork of Ben Creek

John Ferrell, Logan County, 1100 acres, Sandy River

Jacob Phillips, Logan County, 1000 acres, Sandy River

1870

Jacob Cline’s Estate, Logan County, 5000 acres, Sandy River

Richard Ferrell, Logan County, 3900 acres, On Sandy River

John Ferrell, Logan County, 3075 acres, 7 Tracts on Pigeon

David Mounts Estate, Logan County, 3000 acres, Tug Fork and Tributaries

Warren Alderson, Logan County, 2740 acres, Right Fork Ben Creek

Richard Maynard, Logan County, 2430 acres, On Sandy River

John W. Deskins, Logan County, 1305 acres, Turkey Sandy River

Warren Alderson, Logan County, 1300 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek

William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 1100 acres, Sandy River

1876

Jacob Cline’s Heirs, Kentucky, 5000 acres, Grape Vine and Sandy

William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 3000 acres, Thacker and Sandy River

Warren M. Alderson, Kentucky, 2640 acres, Right Fork of Ben Creek

Isabella Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River

Michael A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River

Warren M. Alderson, Kentucky, 1175 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek

Richard Ratcliff, Logan County, 1140 acres, Stafford Branch Sandy

Julius Williamson, Logan County, 1000 acres, Sandy and Branches

1886

William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres

Warren Alderson, Morehead KY, 2640 acres, Sandy River

Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres

Jacob Smith, Mouth of Pond KY, 1500 acres

James Vance, Jr., Logan County, 1500 acres

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1481 acres

Elias Hatfield, Logan County, 1431 acres

M.A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres

T.W. Blankenship, Roane County, 1200 acres

1887

William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thackers Creek and Sandy River

Warren Alderson, Morehead KY, 2640 acres, Sandy River

Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2360 acres, Grape Vine

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1481 acres, Beech Creek

Elias Hatfield, Logan County, 1471 acres, Four tracts on Mates Creek

M.A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River

T.W. Blankenship, Roane County, 1200 acres, Spruce Fork of Ben Creek

1888

Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2656 1/2 acres, Grapevine Creek

William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thacker and Sandy

J.C. Williamson, Logan County, 1837 acres, Four tracts on Alum and Sandy River

Lewis Ratcliff, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River

John Francesco, Logan County, 1500 acres, Grapevine and Thacker

Simpkins and M.B. Lawson’s Heirs, Logan County, 1500 acres, Richard Ratcliff Farm and Sandy River

Elkhorn Sandy R. Trust Co., Logan County, 1481 acres, Ben Creek and Sandy

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1385 acres, Sandy River

M.A. Ferrell*, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River

1889

Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2656 1/2 acres, Grapevine Creek

W.S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thacker and Sandy River

J.C. Williamson, Logan County, 1837 acres, 4 Tracts on Alum and Sandy River

Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River

Jacob Smith, Logan County, 1500 acres, Richard Ratcliff’s Farm and Sandy River

John Francesco, Logan County, 1500 acres, Grape Vine

Elkhorn Sandy River Trust Company, Logan County, 1481 acres, Ben Creek and Sandy River

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1385 acres, Sandy River

Joseph Glen, Logan County, 1377 acres, Tug River Below Mouth Bend

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1354 1/4 acres, Mates Creek

J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1338 3/4 acres, Grapevine

M.A. Ferrell*, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River

Alex D. Trent, Logan County, 1246 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek

Note: On November 6, 1888, M.A. Ferrell was elected justice of the peace; his term commenced on January 1, 1889.

Source: Land Book 1866-1872, Land Book 1873-1874, Land Book 1880-1886, and Land Book 1887-1892.

Johnson Hatfield Property in Logan County, WV (1884-1892)

18 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan

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Tags

Appalachia, Ben Creek, Big Sandy River, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Grapevine Creek, H.R. Phillips, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, J.D. Sergeant, Johnse Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, justice of the peace, Left Hand Fork, Levicy Hatfield, Lick Branch, Lick Fork, Logan County, Magnolia District, Mingo County, Nancy Hatfield, Philadelphia, Thacker Creek, Valentine Wall Hatfield, West Virginia

The following land information is derived from Land Book 1880-1886 and Land Book 1887-1892, as well as deed books, at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV:

Johnson Hatfield

No property listed in land books for 1865-1881.

On January 28, 1882, Anderson and Vicy Hatfield deeded 200 acres at Lick Fork of Grapevine Creek to Johnson Hatfield (all of Logan County) for $250. Began at a large rock near the creek bank just above the garden field at the mouth of Lick Fork, thence running out to the center of the point above Lick Fork…to the head of Lick Fork and down the top of the ridge between Grapevine and Thacker Creek… Anderson and Vicy Hatfield signed the deed. Justice Valentine Hatfield witnessed the deed on January 28, 1882.

No property listed in land books for 1883.

1884-1885: Magnolia District

Johnson Hatfield, Jr.

200 acres Lick Branch, Grape Vine $1.25 per acre no building $250 total

Johnson Hatfield, Sr.

200 acres Lick Branch, Grape Vine $1.25 per acre no building $250 total

[Note: Two entries exist in the land book for a Johnson Hatfield (Sr. and Jr.) in 1884-1885; this is likely the same person and the same property.]

1886: Magnolia District

No entry for him.

1887: Magnolia District

Nancy Hatfield

300 acres Grapevine, Sandy River $1.25 per acre no building $375 total

[Note: This property was transferred from Johnson Hatfield. Presumably, “Nancy Hatfield” is Johnse’s wife, the former Nancy McCoy.]

1888: Magnolia District

No entry for Johnson or Nancy Hatfield.

[Note: In 1888, Johnson Hatfield, Jr. transferred 500 acres on Grapevine, Sandy River (two tracts) worth $1.25 and total value of $625 to J.D. Sergeant of Philadelphia, PA.]

1889: Magnolia District

No property listed.

1890: Magnolia District

Nancy Hatfield

147 acres H.R. Fk Mates Creek $1 per acre no building $147 total

[Note: This may be Johnse’s wife, Nancy.]

1891: Magnolia District

No property listed.

[In 1891, “Jo Hatfield & wife” transferred 258 acres on Left Hand Fork Ben Creek worth $1 per acre and with total value of $258 to H.R. Phillips, trustee. This may or may not be Johnse Hatfield.]

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