Tags
Appalachia, Devil Anse Hatfield, history, Joe Hatfield, Logan County, Sarah Ann, sheriff, West Virginia
Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield, Son of Devil Anse (1962)
12 Monday Dec 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tag Archives: Joe Hatfield
Joe Hatfield for Sheriff of Logan County, WV (1927)
08 Saturday Feb 2020
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan
Tags
Appalachia, Delorme, Democratic Party, Devil Anse Hatfield, Evaline Marie Hatfield, genealogy, Grace Ferrell, history, Huntington Business College, Island Creek, Joe D. Hatfield Jr., Joe Hatfield, Levisa Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, Marshall College, Mingo County, politics, Republican Party, sheriff, Stirrat, teacher, Tennis Hatfield, Tug River, West Virginia
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of political history dated December 13, 1927:
J.D. Hatfield Announces Candidacy For Sheriff
Native Son Will Ask for Republican Nomination in May Primary–That He Would Enter Race Was Expected, and That He Possesses Unusual Political Strength Is Undisputed
Joe Hatfield will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for sheriff in the primary election May 29.
That announcement will doubtless arouse tremendous interest but will create little surprise. For many months the public has expected that at a seasonable time his hat would be quietly tossed into the ring and remain there until the voters had registered their approval or disapproval. Having determined upon a course of action, he will go straight ahead.
Born and reared in Logan county, in love with its every stream and mountain, hoping and expecting to spend the remainder of his life amid the rugged hills to which his ancestors were lured by fate a century ago, he says he has long had an ambition to serve as sheriff of the county beloved of his kith and kin.
The statement that he was born in this county calls for this qualification: Joe Davis Hatfield was born at Delorme, on Tug River, then in Logan county but now in Mingo. That was 44 years ago. Except for a period at Huntington Business College and a year (1903-4) at Marshall College, he has lived hereabouts and his life is an open book. He attended country school on Island Creek and had some experience as a relief teacher, though at no time did he ever consider that his vocation. He is a brother of Sheriff Tennis Hatfield and a son of the late Captain Anse Hatfield and Lovisa Chafin Hatfield–their fourth youngest child, Tennis being the youngest.
Joe was married in 1917 to Grace Ferrell of a Mingo county family and is the father of two children, Evaline Marie, aged eight, and Joe D., Jr., aged five.
His fraternal affiliation are limited to the Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America.
In commenting on his announcement, Mr. Hatfield said, “I’m not running for the office solely for the honor and rewards it might bring, but also because I believe I can fill it in a way that my children and friends will be proud of. I want to give the people a square deal for their sake and mine–why should a man in an important office like that want to do less? I expect to be nominated, but if not I’ll do my part for the man who beats me; and when nominated I’ll plan to wage an active and winning campaign. Besides my experience and observation have given me some ideas about what a sheriff can and should do and I’ll probably discuss these with friends and perhaps in the papers at the proper time.”
Republican Stronghold
It is not The Banner’s purpose to espouse any man’s candidacy before the primary, yet there is no hesitancy in saying here and now that Joe Hatfield will be regarded by voters of all parties as a formidable candidate for the nomination. Quiet, suave, friendly, neat and attractive in appearance, on intimate terms with hundreds and even thousands of voters in the county, the scion of a prominent pioneer family, his strength is obvious to the humblest citizens as well as those trained in politics. And while on the subject of politics, let it be recalled that Stirrat, Hatfield’s precinct, was the banner Republican precinct in the county in 1926. The Republican vote varied from 310 to 312 for the different candidates; the Democratic vote from 54 to 58. The precinct won a flag for the largest registration of Republican voters before the primary and won a silver cup for the largest Republican vote in the election, the prizes having been offered by the county committee. Incidentally, that feat was credited largely to Joe Hatfield and brought the first prophecy the writer heard that he would be the next sheriff of Logan county.
Hungarian News from the WV Coalfields (1923, 1927-1929)
13 Friday Dec 2019
Posted in Coal, Hungarian-American History, Huntington, Inez, Logan, Music, Williamson
Tags
Appalachia, Beauty, Charleston, Cinder Bottom, coal, crime, dancing, Elizabeth Nagy, Ellis Park, Emmett Scaggs, Himlerville, history, Hungarian Benevolent Association, Hungarian Miners' Journal, Hungarian-Americans, Hungarians, Huntington, Joe Hatfield, Kentucky, Keystone, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Martin County, McDowell County, Mingo County, Mud Fork, Rose Mustapha, Warfield, Welch, West Virginia, Williamson, Williamson Daily News
Between 1900 and 1920, a large number of Hungarians settled in West Virginia. Most were employed as coal miners. As of 1920, 6,260 Hungarians lived in West Virginia, primarily in Logan and McDowell counties. The Logan Banner, seated in Logan, WV, offered coverage of Hungarian news. It also commented on items published by Martin Himler in the Hungarian Miners’ Journal.
New Marathon Dance Record Is Made Here
Rose Mustapha, Pretty Hungarian Starts the Step Believed to Be the record.
At nigh noon Sunday, Rose Mustapha, a beautiful Hungarian girl, tripped the starting step in a terpsichorean debauch, that is believed to have established a record for sustained dancing in groups. Rose led a cotillion of thirty of her countrymen over a stretch of nineteen hours of continual dancing.
The dance started at twelve o’clock Sunday noon and continued without intermission till seven o’clock Monday morning. The jolly spirit of old Budapest struck color with jazz hilarity as the dancers spun in a vortez over the polished floor.
Hundreds of the dancers’ admirers rimmed the floor, hailing the participants in a half dozen different languages and dialects. Three wheezy but quite animated violins provided the music, which ran in wild Magyar strains and jazzy syncopation.
For the most part the dancers adhered to their native folk dances, but occasionally a couple would break into a fox trot, or a one step. At six o’clock Sunday evening, the dancers were given liquid nourishment as they whirled, and at midnight the same was repeated.
Most of the dancers finished strong, but several of the weaker sex had to be helped from the floor by their friends. Long distance dancing is quite common in their native land, and had the participants been in trim the task would have been comparatively easy, they say. As it was all of the men, who are miners, reported for work Monday morning and so far no ill results have been reported of the affair.
Logan (WV) Banner, 3 August 1923
***
Hungarian Dance
Several hundred persons enjoyed the dance given by the Hungarian Benevolent Association at Ellis Park skating rink last Saturday night. The program included many attractive features and novelties. Miss Elizabeth Nagy of Mud Fork was the winner of the beauty prize. She received a fine watch and $5 in gold.
Logan (WV) Banner, 29 November 1927
***
Hungarian Paper Tells of Resorts Hereabouts
Sensational Charges Prompt Williamson News to Demand Investigation and “Clean-Up”–Logan and Neighboring Cities Are Mentioned In This Alleged Expose
A Hungarian paper published at Himlerville, Ky., not far from Williamson, is running a series of sensational articles on vice conditions in Logan, Williamson, Huntington and Charleston. These articles are printed both in English and Hungarian and are attracting much attention, many copies of the paper having been sent to the cities named.
Two articles about Logan have mentioned various resorts in which it is charged that vice is rampant, that protection is obtained by bribery of officials, and that conditions are getting worse. Local officers brand these so-called disclosures as either baseless or greatly exaggerated.
In Williamson the expose has attracted much attention, particularly since the Williamson Daily News carried the following editorial, under the heading, “A Clean City.”
It’s a sad commentary on our city, county, and state police officials when the leaders of the foreign element in our midst are forced to take the lead in cleaning up moral conditions.
Through the Hungarian paper published at Himlerville, Ky., a campaign is being waged to clean up Williamson, Logan, Huntington and Charleston.
We are primarily concerned in Williamson and this paper charges that Williamson is harboring not less than eleven Hungarian brothels and some fifteen speak-easies. The editor of the paper has furnished the Williamson Daily News with the names of eight hotels and rooming houses where he says “light o’ love ladies” may be found.
It is common knowledge in Williamson that what he charges is true. Furthermore it is also common knowledge that there is hardly a hotel from the best to the worst in the city that does not harbor women of prostitution.
These women are debauching our manhood and spreading disease and there are attendant demoralizing evils which add to the indictment against them.
Not only are there Hungarian brothels in Williamson, but there are brothels that cater to every race and condition. The fact that they exist is known to practically every person in Williamson.
In this same Himlerville paper in an article published in this week’s issue it is stated that “Protection fees vary between twenty-five and seventy-five dollars weekly” suggesting a reason why no action is taken to remedy conditions.
We have had every reason to believe that Williamson was infested with brothels of every degree of degradation, but until the bold statement is made in the Hungarian paper, we had no reason to suspect that some persons were receiving protection fees.
However, such a state of things is a natural noncomitant, in view of the laws of the land. It would be very easy for city, state or county officers to take action, and if they do not the question immediately arises: Why?
It cannot be argued that it is impossible to clean up the city in this respect. We all know better. The chief of police and four good policemen, with proper backing of the mayor and the citizens of Williamson could do the job, and do it thoroughly in ten days. In doing it they could be so impressively earnest that there would be no recurrence of the evil for months to come. If instances of violations of the law of this character did occur in the future they could enforce the law with such vigor as to deter others. Williamson would soon be classed as a “clean city.”
Even the notorious “Cinder Bottom” at Keystone has been cleaned up. Welch, the county seat of McDowell county, is known far and wide as a “clean city.” Chippies and their like give it a wide berth. Why? Because the mayor and the chief of police of Welch, with a determined citizenship back of them, will not tolerate the evil. Merchants and business men of Welch generally are unreservedly in favor of an absolute ban against women of evil character being allowed to remain in hotels and rooming houses, because they know it hurts business and is a thoroughly demoralizing factor.
Primarily the question is one for the mayor and the chief of police at Williamson to handle, but there are other law enforcement agencies that could function.
For instance, the prosecuting attorney has an effective weapon at hand if he wants to use it. We refer to the state padlock law, upheld by the supreme court. With this weapon he could close every hotel and rooming house in the city that harbored women of ill fame. And there would be no question of securing sufficient evidence to act. It is ready at hand.
There is another agency, the state police. This efficient body of men could take action and bring the matter to a hand.
The state health department is aware of the fact that Williamson is one of the vilest cities in the way of brothels in the state. It has investigated conditions here and has data that could be used by officials who wanted to take action. Furthermore the state health department, on request of the city or county officials, would send investigators here to ascertain true conditions. But, if we understand the situation rightly there is no need for further investigation. The brothels are conducted more or less openly, are well advertised and unfortunately are well patronized.
There would be no lack of information to proceed upon if city, county or state officials wanted to take action. And first of all, it is up to our city officials to act.
Logan (WV) Banner, 27 January 1928
***
NOTICE TO LOGAN
With newly sharpened sticks the Hungarian Miners Journal, published at Himlerville, Ky., continues to prod into vice conditions hereabouts. Its latest issue is devoted largely to a further exposure at Williamson’s intrenched vice, but Logan has not been forgotten. In fact, in a large type box on the first page notice is given that the spotlight will be turned again soon on the garden spot. It says:
“The brother-situation of Williamson is taking up all our space and our energies for a few days.
“This does not mean that we have nothing more to say about Logan brothels.
“A score of Hungarian criminals, keepers of brothels and white-slavers are harbored in and by Logan, to the great detriment of the decent Hungarians in the Logan field.
“We demand the expulsion of these criminals and we will turn to Logan in a very short time.
“Surely the decent citizens of Logan are not going to build a roof over their town to designate THE red-light district.”
Logan (WV) Banner, 3 February 1928
***
Hungarian Paper Reverts to Logan’s Need of Reformation
Editor Fisher Takes Crack at The Banner, Sheriff Hatfield and Chief Scaggs–Long Silence Broken By Familiar, Rasping Outcry
Remember the Magyar Banyaszlap, a newspaper formerly published at Warfield, Ky., not far from Williamson, W.Va. A year or more ago it probed conditions in Logan and carried some sensational strictures about county and city officials. Finally, an officious and offensively inquisitive soul, the editor hisself, came in person and before he left was given quite a thumping by Chief of Police Scaggs.
Some time later the coal company located at Warfield and Hungarian-owned, went into the hands of a receiver and whether the Banyaszlap then suspended publication or not it ceased to come to this office. The other day a copy came. It is published in Columbus now but its editor is evidently still interested in conditions here. After scanning its eight pages, the writer of these lines found but one article printed in English. That embraced a clipping from The Banner and the Banyaszlap’s comments thereupon. The article clipped appeared to the Banner on April 9 and had to do with reports that the sheriff’s forces were determined to suppress the liquor traffic in boarding and lodging houses that cater to foreign-born miners. Most Banner readers will recall that news item and for that reason it will not be reproduced here, but what the Columbus paper says may be of some interest.
“We are glad to note the sudden interest of Sheriff Hatfield, and the rather mild interest of the Logan Banner, in the speak-easyes.
“The officers do not have to ‘trail’ these boarding houses, for we have published a list of them.
“And we have also published a long-long list of speak-easyes and brothels in Logan, W.Va., with addresses, and names, with locations and any other needed informations.
“Why not start a housecleaning right here in Logan, W.Va., and spread it then to the coal field?
“We can promise Logan and its vicinity that others than the sheriff will also be interested in these affairs.
“When the gunman (called chief of police) of Logan so heroically objected to our articles, we have promised that we will have the matter attended to in good time.
“It will happen soon.
“Perhaps hence the sudden interest in the Logan vice.”
Logan (WV) Banner, 23 April 1929
***
For more information about Hungarians in West Virginia, go here: https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2017/03/magyars-in-morgantown.html
For more information about Martin Himler, Himlerville (Beauty), and the Magyar Banyaszlap: Hungarian Miners’ Journal, go here: https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2014/11/saving-himler-house.html
Interview of Jean Hatfield at Sarah Ann, WV (2001), Part 3
29 Wednesday May 2019
Posted in Cemeteries, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville
Tags
Altina Waller, Appalachia, Brandon Kirk, Cap Hatfield, Coleman Hatfield, Democratic Party, Devil Anse Hatfield, Dyke Garrett, feuds, Frank Phillips, genealogy, Hatfield Cemetery, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry Hatfield, history, Jean Hatfield, Jim Vance, Joe Hatfield, John Ed Pearce, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, Levisa Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, Otis Rice, Pikeville, Republican Party, Rosa Browning, Roseanne McCoy, Sarah Ann, Tennis Hatfield, The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner, The McCoys: Their Story, The Tale of the Devil, Thomas Dotson, Truda Williams McCoy, West Virginia
In 2001-2002, I wrote a series of popular stories for the Logan Banner that merged aspects of well-known Hatfield-McCoy books written by Otis Rice and Altina Waller in the 1980s. I had previously enjoyed Rice’s narrative and Waller’s analysis; I did not conduct any new research. Even though I believed the definitive Hatfield-McCoy Feud book remained unwritten, my purpose in writing these stories was not a step toward writing a book; my purpose in writing these stories was to revisit the narrative with some analysis for Banner readers. My hope was that readers would see what I saw: first, fascinating history (or folk story) for its own sake; second, the power of history to create a popular type of tourism.
I was fortunate during this time to meet Jean Hatfield. Jean, born in 1936, operated a Hatfield family museum at Sarah Ann, WV. Jean was not a native of West Virginia but had lived her entire adult life locally and had personally known several of Anderson Hatfield’s children. I really appreciated her desire to promote regional history. She “got it.” She inspired me. Anytime that I drove up Route 44, I stopped to visit Jean at the museum. She was always welcoming. Knowing her reminded me that every Hatfield (and McCoy) descendant is a source of information–-and that for the most part they have yet to tell the story in their own words. Three notable exceptions include The McCoys: Their Story by Truda Williams McCoy (1976), The Tale of the Devil (2003) by Coleman Hatfield and Bob Spence, and The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013) by Thomas Dotson.
What follows is Part 3 of my interview with Jean, which occurred on August 7, 2001:
What kind of shape is the [Hatfield] cemetery in?
Pretty rough right now because Henry’s been gone two years and he was sick two years before so he didn’t get to take care of it the way he normally did. It’s pretty well growed up. The main part of the cemetery, the family part, is pretty good. It’s just where the hill’s growed up.
There are unmarked graves in there.
There’s a bunch in there. Well, the main part of the cemetery is just the Hatfield people. And there’s a lot of graves up there, neighborhood people that couldn’t afford to buy grave plots and things like that. They just let them be buried up in there. So they’re not all Hatfields. I think all of the Hatfields now are marked up there, because we put Aunt Rosie’s up last fall and she was the last one in the family not to be marked. And we got that done. But there’s a lot of neighborhood people up in there and a lot of friends that Tennis and Joe made and they died off and they wanted to be buried close to the family.
What about Devil Anse’s politics?
Well, Henry’s father [Tennis] changed. Grandpa [Devil Anse] was a Democrat. The way I can understand it, the Democrat Party was so closed they wouldn’t let Tennis in when he wanted to run for sheriff so he ran for sheriff on the Republican ticket and won. Surprised the heck out of them, I imagine. And then Joe carried on as a Republican. But my husband was a Republican until he died. Me, I vote for both sides. Depends on the person that’s running. You know how politics is. Once you’re out of favor then you live a pretty rough life. And that happened in the family, too. Kind of wild back in those days. Even back 30-40 years ago, it was wild. I think we’re about to get civilized.
There’s hope.
I don’t know. If they don’t get a handle on these drugs there’s not going to be much hope. We’ve got problems here with the drugs. I just wish they could get them settled so people could get back to normal. When we built our house up there… We went on vacation we left the house wide open. Nobody bothered anything. Neighbor went in and let my little dogs run for a while, fed ‘em, put ‘em back in the house. Never even thought of locking the door. But you wouldn’t do that now. I think there’s been like five break-ins up here in the last couple of weeks. I think you can probably trace it right back to drugs. People trying to get stuff to sell for drugs. Which is pitiful.
What about Dyke Garrett?
Uncle Dyke? He was with the family most of the time, off and on. He done the burying and the marrying. Of course, the picture back there shows him baptizing Grandpa. He was a circuit preacher. He traveled everywhere.
Do you have a favorite character in the story? Anyone you feel attached to?
Well, all of them.
Even on the McCoy side?
Well, I think Roseanne is my favorite on the McCoy side, of course. And I think Grandma. Because think of what she went through. How many nights did she set up worrying about those reckless boys of hers? And every picture you see of them together, they look like love. Their body language shows it. They care for each other. And I think he took a lot of her advice and things like that. And if he was half the man that the people he helped and things like that, I think he must have been a pretty great person, too. There’s one of the pictures there… There was a Chafins boy that they just took in and raised. He didn’t have no family. Evidently his mother and father died when he was young and they took him in and raised him. They done several people that way. If they didn’t have a job, he’d work them, timbering and things like that so they could have a little bit of money along. That’s another thing about Altina Waller’s book I liked because she told the people who worked for him. There was a lot of McCoys who worked for him, too.
Have you read John Ed Pearce’s book about feuds in eastern Kentucky? I think he was unfair to Devil Anse.
Well, maybe he had ties to the McCoys or something.
I think Cap and Uncle Jim Vance are the two who…
They were the instigators.
Devil Anse, he really didn’t…
He wasn’t in the major things. If you notice, all the incidents that happen, he wasn’t there. But Uncle Jim and Cap were. So I think they kind of pushed it and Frank Phillips pushed it on the other side. Frank Phillips was the type of man who would kill you for fifty cents bounty. He was a bounty hunter. Back at that time, five dollars was a big bounty. They had a five-hundred-dollar bounty on Grandpa and Johnse’s head back in 1887. Usually like Jesse James and them, theirs didn’t go over one hundred dollars.
Was that in Kentucky?
Uh huh, right.
I’m hoping someone will link all of these historical sites together…
Well, that’s what they’re trying to do out in Pikeville but Logan County is not interested in it. There’s no driving force behind it, more or less. I was reading in the paper where the county commission was talking about taking over the cemetery, but it won’t do no good unless they clean it up and fix it so people can get up there. There’s a lot of people who can’t walk up the hill. And we need a road and a bridge up through there so people can get up there.
I was told the Cap Hatfield cemetery is not supposed to be visited. Is that true?
I don’t know. Neighborhood people go up in there so I really don’t know.
How would you describe his ‘set’ of the family?
They were more private people. They didn’t mix with the public like… Well now, Henry’s father [Tennis] was always in the public so I think it just come naturally for his children to be that way, too.
Interview of Jean Hatfield at Sarah Ann, WV (2001), Part 2
28 Tuesday May 2019
Posted in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Altina Waller, Appalachia, Asa Harmon McCoy, Betty Caldwell, Bob Hatfield, Bob Spence, Brandon Kirk, Cap Hatfield, Cincinnati, civil war, Coleman Hatfield, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, Don Chafin, Ellison Hatfield, feud, feuds, Frank Phillips, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry Hatfield, history, History Channel, hunting, Jack Hatfield, Jean Hatfield, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Levisa Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, logging, Mingo County, Nancy McCoy, Otis Rice, Perry Cline, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Rosa Browning, Roseanne McCoy, Sarah Ann, Tennis Hatfield, The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner, The McCoys: Their Story, The Tale of the Devil, Thomas Dotson, timbering, tourism, Truda Williams McCoy, West Virginia
In 2001-2002, I wrote a series of popular stories for the Logan Banner that merged aspects of well-known Hatfield-McCoy books written by Otis Rice and Altina Waller in the 1980s. I had previously enjoyed Rice’s narrative and Waller’s analysis; I did not conduct any new research. Even though I believed the definitive Hatfield-McCoy Feud book remained unwritten, my purpose in writing these stories was not a step toward writing a book; my purpose in writing these stories was to revisit the narrative with some analysis for Banner readers. My hope was that readers would see what I saw: first, fascinating history (or folk story) for its own sake; second, the power of history to create a popular type of tourism.
I was fortunate during this time to meet Jean Hatfield. Jean, born in 1936, operated a Hatfield family museum at Sarah Ann, WV. Jean was not a native of West Virginia but had lived her entire adult life locally and had personally known several of Anderson Hatfield’s children. I really appreciated her desire to promote regional history. She “got it.” She inspired me. Anytime that I drove up Route 44, I stopped to visit Jean at the museum. She was always welcoming. Knowing her reminded me that every Hatfield (and McCoy) descendant is a source of information–-and that for the most part they have yet to tell the story in their own words. Three notable exceptions include The McCoys: Their Story by Truda Williams McCoy (1976), The Tale of the Devil (2003) by Coleman Hatfield and Bob Spence, and The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013) by Thomas Dotson.
What follows is Part 2 of my interview with Jean, which occurred on August 7, 2001:
What year was your husband born in?
He was born in ‘25. Grandpa died in 1921. He didn’t remember him but he remembered his grandmother. Grandma died in ’28.
Where did Devil Anse’s house sit here?
It’s up above the cemetery. There’s a ranch-style house there now. There’s a concrete bridge going over there. And a big bottom. And where the ranch style house is, that’s where the old homeplace was.
Is it still in family hands?
No. It’s been out of the family for I guess fifty years or more.
Now, Devil Anse having that many kids, do the grand-kids mingle pretty well?
They’re scattered. We really need to get back to the tradition of having a family reunion where they could all come in. But they’re scattered all over the country. Some in Florida, some in Ohio.
Are there other pictures like this that other branches of the family have?
I would say they all have some. There’s always pictures hidden back in attics and things like that. You never know. There’s one… Bob Hatfield from Cincinnati, he has an extensive family also. He’s through Anderson Hatfield. Preacher Anderson.
Do you know any stories about Anse and bear?
He was a bear hunter. And he killed a momma bear and brought the baby cubs home and raised them. They had them for years. A male and a female. Their names was Billy and Fanny. And Grandma would have to go out and run them out of the well house because they was out there slurping all of the cream off of the milk. They were down-to-earth people. They planted their gardens and things like that.
What about Don Chafin?
He was distant relation to the Hatfields. Grandma was a Chafin so he would have come in on her side. Maybe cousins. There’s a picture over there of Grandpa and him together.
The pictures of Johnse that I’ve seen, I don’t think he’s the best looking of the boys.
Well, I don’t either. Some of the pictures doesn’t do him justice either. This is the one that I like of him. It’s a little bit better. As he got older, he didn’t age very well. But then he had about five wives, too. That has a tendency to age you a bit.
If you have just one wife and she’s no good that can be enough.
I was lucky in that respect. We had 47 good years together. Now that top picture there is Joe and Cap and one of the deputies. His name was Lilly.
Devil Anse’s home burned, right? Did they lose a lot of things in it?
Uh huh. It had a lot of things in it. Somebody said Tennis had stored a lot of guns and ammunition and things like that in it. People were afraid to go by there for a week afterwards because the shots was going off. I would say it was something else because at that time there was no fire departments or anything. It probably just burned out.
Did you ever hear what year it was built?
1889. That’s a replica of it there. It was a seven-room two-story. Cap’s was built on the same pattern.
Did your husband read a lot about the feud?
Mostly, but he disagreed with a lot of it. The Altina Waller book, he liked that. It was a good one. They interviewed him on the History Channel. She never interviewed anyone. She went with public record on everything. And I think a lot of it was Perry Cline pushed a lot of it. Grandpa had sued him because he got on Grandpa’s land and timbered it. Grandpa won 5000 acres of land off of him. After that, all the warrants and the bounty hunters started looking for Grandpa and the boys. Grandpa decided all of a sudden that he was just going to sell him the land and get rid of it and when he did that everything just stopped. She thought in the book too that Perry Cline was the one really instigating the Hatfields and the McCoys and he was taking money off both sides of the family for things. He would buddy up to one side and then do something for someone and they’d pay him and then he would go to the other one and do the same thing.
Did you say you had something of his?
No. Frank Phillips. A pocket knife. We got it through one of our friends way back there. And he didn’t want it because he said it was too grisly. And it is rusty but you know the blade is razor sharp. And it has to be way over 100 years old.
Didn’t he marry Nancy McCoy?
She was Johnse’s first wife. She left Johnse for Frank Phillips. Well now, Asa Harmon McCoy was her father. And he was the one… Grandpa wounded him in the Civil War. And when they all come back from the Civil War he was found dead in the Hatfield territory and they blamed the Hatfields for the killing. But I think years later on they found out that one of his own people had killed him and just throwed him in the Hatfield territory. But now it was his daughter that married Johnse and from what I can understand she made Johnse live pretty rough, which he probably deserved for treating Roseanne the way he did. But now, I talked to Aunt Betty and Aunt Rosie both about Roseanne and they were living at the house with her and they loved her. They said she was a beautiful person. She had coal-black hair, she had a good turn. She was just a nice person. And I think they kind of got mad at Johnse because he was running around and chasing women and things like that.
Now, I’ve heard that Devil Anse wouldn’t allow them to be married.
He wouldn’t. But years later he said he wished he had’ve because Roseanne saved Johnse’s life a couple of times there. That is true. And he did say that he wished he had let them marry. But back at that time there was so much hatred going on between the families. Her father, as far as I know, never spoke to her again. Just because she did take up with Johnse.
What about the shirt that Ellison wore when he was stabbed?
As far as I know, it’s in a museum in New Orleans. There’s a picture there. Uncle Joe had it and he sold it to one of his sister’s grandsons and he passed away and his wife has it. I heard that it was on display in a museum. Henry tried to buy it back after his cousin died but we never did get an answer back from them. I would still like to have it back. Actually, it belonged to Henry’s father and he left it in storage at Uncle Joe’s and Uncle Joe sold it. It should have come down to Henry or Jack. But that’s life.
Interview of Jean Hatfield at Sarah Ann, WV (2001), Part 1
26 Sunday May 2019
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Timber
Tags
Altina Waller, Appalachia, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Betty Caldwell, Bob Spence, Brandon Kirk, Catlettsburg, Coleman Hatfield, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, feuds, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry D. Hatfield, history, Jean Hatfield, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, Levisa Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, Matewan, miller, Mingo County, Otis Rice, Randolph McCoy, Red Jacket, Rosa Browning, Roseanne McCoy, Route 44, Sarah Ann, sheriff, Tennis Hatfield, The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner, The McCoys: Their Story, The Tale of the Devil, Thomas Dotson, tourism, Troy Hatfield, Truda Williams McCoy, West Virginia, Willis Hatfield
In 2001-2002, I wrote a series of popular stories for the Logan Banner that merged aspects of well-known Hatfield-McCoy books written by Otis Rice and Altina Waller in the 1980s. I had previously enjoyed Rice’s narrative and Waller’s analysis; I did not conduct any new research. Even though I believed the definitive Hatfield-McCoy Feud book remained unwritten, my purpose in writing these stories was not a step toward writing a book; my purpose in writing these stories was to revisit the narrative with some analysis for Banner readers. My hope was that readers would see what I saw: first, fascinating history (or folk story) for its own sake; second, the power of history to create a popular type of tourism.
I was fortunate during this time to meet Jean Hatfield. Jean, born in 1936, operated a Hatfield family museum at Sarah Ann, WV. Jean was not a native of West Virginia but had lived her entire adult life locally and had personally known several of Anderson Hatfield’s children. I really appreciated her desire to promote regional history. She “got it.” She inspired me. Anytime that I drove up Route 44, I stopped to visit Jean at the museum. She was always welcoming. Knowing her reminded me that every Hatfield (and McCoy) descendant is a source of information–and that for the most part they have yet to tell the story in their own words. Three notable exceptions include The McCoys: Their Story by Truda Williams McCoy (1976), The Tale of the Devil (2003) by Coleman Hatfield and Bob Spence, and The Hatfield and McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013) by Thomas Dotson.
What follows is Part 1 of my interview with Jean, which occurred on August 7, 2001:
You were telling me some of the things you have. Family things.
Like the guns and gun molds and knives and things like that that belonged to the Hatfields. And of course as you can see here in the shop I’ve got all kinds of photographs. Still have more. I just don’t have the room to display all that I have.
You mentioned a gun specifically.
I have three of the pistols that belonged to Grandpa [Devil Anse]. The last one that he carried in his pocket. And then I have a large .38/.40. I also have a little silver pearl handle squeezer that my husband’s father gave him when he was running for sheriff before he died.
Which one of those boys was your father-in-law?
Tennis. That was Devil Anse and Levisa’s youngest son. He was just like 6 years old, seven years old when the feud was going on. I think he was born in 1889. And the feud actually started around 1886. So he was just a little boy, him and Uncle Willis both. Willis, if you remember the old picture of them in front of the old log house, Willis was sitting on one side and Tennis was sitting on the other side. Both of them was small boys.
Is that the one where they have the little coon skin caps?
Uh huh. It’s a very common picture. I think about everybody has that one.
Did you say you had an axe, too?
Yeah, I’ve got a little axe that they called their kindling axe. They chopped their wood up to start their fires with. Little short handle. Maybe the handle on it is like 28, 29 inches long. And it’s got two cutting sides so it would be a double-bitted axe. And I have gristmill rocks that they used to use to grind their meal up from their corn that they raised. They were pioneer people. They had to do everything on their own because there was no convenience store at that time. Anything they had… They floated their logs down to Catlettsburg in the fall and then they’d take a train back with their flour and sugar and things like that they needed for winter. And the rest of the things I would imagine they canned and dried so they had plenty of food the winter.
So they had their own mill?
Oh yeah. They’d grind their own corn into meal.
Where did it sit?
Uncle Joe had one over here across the road but now they had one earlier over ___. That was the area that they were in when the feud was going on. That’s where they done a lot of their timbering back over in that area.
What little town is there now that’s close to where they lived?
Red Jacket, over in that area. Close in around Matewan.
So you remember your father-in-law pretty well?
Well no. He died two weeks after my husband and I met. But I knew Willis and I knew Rosie [Browning] and Betty [Caldwell] and Uncle Joe. They were all Devil Anse’s children.
A lot of these things I read about, you don’t get a good idea of what they were like. Do you know anything that would make them seem like real people? Any stories? Things you’ve never seen in print?
Well, like Johnse. He was the ladies’ man. He was the one that fell in love with Roseanne and they wouldn’t let them marry. Now Tennis and Willis and Joe pretty well hung together. They were more buddies than the rest of them. Aunt Rosie was a nurse. So she nursed everybody. She was like a mother figure to all of them.
Did she nurse in a hospital?
I think she did nurse at one time in one of the hospitals. Probably one of Big Doc’s hospitals. Dr. Henry D. But she was always the type to go to the homes and take care of them, more or less. And Aunt Betty was very religious, so she was like the minister to the family.
Do you know what her religion was?
I would say Baptist. What was the older one? Probably United. But she was religious all of her life. They were human. I have a lot of people in the years that I’ve been here tell me that their grandfather and grandmother stayed at Grandpa and Grandma’s house because he wouldn’t let nobody go by if it was getting dark because they had wild bears and panthers and things like that. He was afraid people would get hurt. So he would make them come in the house and they would feed them supper and they’d sleep and the next morning at daylight they could go on. He’d done took care of their horses and everything. I would have give anything if he would have had some kind of a register that people could have signed that they have stayed all night with him. Because I still have people telling me, “My grandma, my great-grandma did this” and “My great-grandma did that.” And they took a lot of people in that didn’t have homes and let ‘em work and live with ‘em. They were kind people. But I think that they just didn’t like to be pushed around. Right now, everybody’s that way. They’ll give you anything they got, but just don’t try to take it off of ‘em. Now my husband, he was a very large man. He was like 6’2” when I met him. And I always called him my gentle giant because he was just as gentle as he could be. But you didn’t want to make him mad. He did have a temper. But I very seldom ever saw it. And they loved people. They liked dealing with people. Most of them were storekeepers. Two of Grandpa’s sons were doctors. Of course, Tennis was sheriff, Joe was sheriff. Lias and Troy, they were storekeepers. So they always were dealing with the public. You don’t deal with the public without repercussions if you’re mean.
Did you say something about having a chifferobe?
Yes. A handmade chifferobe and it has a little hidey-hole in the top of it where you could hide guns or money or whatever you want in it.
Do you know where the fort was?
I have never figured that out. I don’t know whether it was… There may have been one over on Beech Creek or Ben Creek, over in that area. But as far as I know from the family telling me, it didn’t exist. But I know their house was built back off of the road. Well, back at that time, there wasn’t a road. You had to go down through the creek to get anywhere. And trespass on other people’s property to get to Logan. I think this road went in here in 1932 or 1938. But even when Henry’s father put the monument up for Grandpa, there was no road here. That was in 1928. And they had to use mules and sleds and everything else to get that stone up on the mountain.
Anderson Hatfield Statue (1922)
16 Sunday Dec 2018
Posted in Cemeteries, Culture of Honor, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Carrara, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, Elizabeth Hatfield, Elliott Hatfield, F.C. McColm, genealogy, Hatfield Cemetery, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Huntington, Island Creek, Italy, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Mary Hatfield, McColm Granite Company, Nancy Hatfield, R.E. Trevey, Rose Hatfield, Sarah Ann, Tennis Hatfield, Troy Hatfield, West Virginia, Willis Hatfield
From the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, comes this bit of history about the statue of Anderson Hatfield at the Hatfield Cemetery on Island Creek:
Hatfield Statue is Shipped from Italy
A statue of “Devil Anse” Hatifeld, which has been recently completed by a world famous sculptor in Carrara, Italy from a model drawn by F.C. McColm, of Huntington, has been shipped to that city where it will be placed on display, before erection at the grave of Captain Hatfield, near his home on Main Island Creek, Logan county.
The statue shows the late “Devil Anse,” standing erect, typifying the stalwart, West Virginia mountaineer, in a characteristic pose, with slouch hat, loose long coat and baggy trousers.
The pedestal, which is being made by the McColm Granite Company, is thirteen feet high. There is no epitaph, merely the words, “Captain Anderson Hatfield, 1839-1891,” and “Levicy Chafin, his wife, 1842–.” The statue is being erected by his family. There is a space at the side of the monument for the thirteen children, who are: Johnson, William A., Robert L., Nancy, Elliott R., Mary, Elizabeth, Elias, Troy, Joseph D., Rose, Willis E., and Tennis S.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 17 March 1922. Note: The Banner printed an incorrect date for Anse Hatfield’s death year.
Photo by R.E. Trevey.
***
Memorial Unveiled To “Devil Anse” Hatfield
Magnificent Statue Unveiled at the Family Burying Ground Last Sunday Before Friends.
ERECTED TO MEMORY OF STATE’S MOST NOTED MAN
Carved from Italian Granite by a Noted Sculptor in Carrara Arriving Here Last Week
The magnificent statue of Anderson Hatfield, better known throughout this section of the nation as “Devil Anse” Hatfield, was unveiled Sunday afternoon at the family burying ground near his old home on Upper Main Island Creek.
Preparations had been made for a large crowd and a free dinner had been prepared, but due to the condition of the roads and to the fact that showers fell in the afternoon hundreds of his friends were kept away. About 500 people braved the threatening clouds to attend and gazed upon a handsome marble figure standing 13 feet in height, typifying the deceased mountaineer in his daily walks of life.
The majestic statue is erected to the memory of one of the most noted characters that ever lived in West Virginia. It is erected to the memory of a life that was crowded with thrilling events, but in this body, that witnessed and participated in many historical events, there ran a strain of human kindness never exceeded.
In keeping with the well known hospitality of the Hatfields, his relatives had prepared a bountiful repast for all that visited their home Sunday and the food was all that could be desired. His children and grandchildren were there in large numbers and many of the friends of the family.
The statue stands in the family burying ground and the full life size figure stands majestically overlooking the hills and valleys were “Devil Anse” in his lifetime was wont to roam as lord and master of all he surveyed.
The statue is of Italian granite and was carved by a noted sculptor in Carrara and is set upon a granite pedestal. The shaft contains the name of the noted old leader, together with the dates of his birth and death, the name and date of birth of his wife. Space is left on other portions of the statue for the names of his thirteen children.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 14 April 1922.
Anse and Levisa (Chafin) Hatfield graves at the Hatfield Cemetery in Sarah Ann, Logan County, WV. 12 May 2018.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
15 Saturday Dec 2018
Tags
Anthony Mullins, Appalachia, Charley Harris, Democratic Party, Deputy Marshal, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, Dow Chambers, First National Bank, George Loggins, history, Hugh Deskins, Ira P. Hager, Iva Harris, Jean Thompson, Joe Hatfield, Keenus Mounts, Logan, Logan County, Lorado, Mine Wars, Monaville, Mud Fork, Randolph Dial, Republican Party, Sam Logan, sheriff, Surrilda Mullins, Tennis Hatfield, United States Commissioner, West Virginia
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Sam Logan, who after being by me first duly sworn, says: That affiant was on the election ground at Mud Fork on election day November 4th, 1924, but did not see Don Chafin assault Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal, affiant being around on the other side of the school building; but affiant heard a commotion and heard the people say Don had hit some one, and saw the crowd gather around Hugh Deskins and Don, and I heard Don say, “If you don’t like that I will give you some more of it,” and followed him around and the Deputy Marshal was retreating from the said Don Chafin.
About a minute later the said Hugh Deskins deputized affiant as a Special Deputy Marshal to help keep order and handed affiant a pistol, and Don came up immediately and arrested affiant. He said, “Have you got a right to carry a gun?” I said, “Yes, I guess so,” and he said, “Show me your right,” and I said, “I was deputized by the Deputy Marshal,” and he reached and grabbed my gun from under my belt and said, “Come on and go to Logan,” and took me over to the automobile and told Randolph Dial, deputy sheriff to take me to jail. They locked me up in the Logan County jail and kept me from about 9:30 A.M. until about 7 or 8 o’clock next day. They kangarooed affiant while he was in jail and made affiant pay the prisoners $2.00 in money. Randolph Dial brought us out next morning and stayed with us on the corner at the First National Bank and said, “You fellows can go ahead now and we will notify you when we get ready for trial.” I heard Keenus Mounts cursing George Loggins on the election ground in the presence of a number of ladies.
Sam Logan (signature)
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Anthony Mullins and Surrilda Mullins, who after being by me first duly sworn, depose and say that they voted straight Republican tickets at the Mud Fork Precinct, in Logan County, November 4th, 1924, having voted open, on the table, in the presence of Walter Queen and the other election officers. That as affiant went out at the door of the election room after voting the said Walter Queen made insulting remarks to affiants indicating that affiants smelt bad to him. That after the fight affiant was deputized by the Marshal, but Jean Thompson told affiant not to take a tun.
Affiants further say that they saw Hugh Deskins, Deputy U.S. Marshal, standing on the ground and he was simply standing there, and had done nothing to any person, so far as affiants could see, or hear, when Don Chafin walked up and struck him on the head, or about the face. The Deputy Marshal backed away from the said Don Chafin, and the said Don Chafin followed him up, making some remarks to him, saying, “Have you got enough? If you haven’t, I will give you some more,” or words to that effect and called him a snurl. There were four in the room when we voted.
Anthony Mullins (signature)
Suralda Mullins (signature)
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority this day personally came Charley Harris and Ivie Harris, who after being by me first duly sworn, says:
That the said Charley Harris has been employed by the coal company at Yolyn. That affiants supported the Republican Ticket in the election. That prior to the election, Superintendent Butler came to affiant and told affiant that he wanted them to vote and support them. That affiant told them “he could not do that.” That affiants were “straight Republicans.” Dow Chambers came down today and said, “Say boy, how did you vote?” and I told him, “I voted Republican,” and he said, “You will have to move.” Two foreigners were standing by, and one of them was claiming that the other owed him two dollars for a board bill, and the said Dow Chambers hauled off and struck the other twice on the nose, and the blood squirted from his nose. I said, “Gee whiz.” He turned to me and said to me, “What have you to do with it?” and I said, “Nothing,” and he said, “You God Damned black son-of-a-bitch, I will kill you,” and he struck at me and came down off the store porch and went home. This happened about three o’clock today.
Mr. Butler, the superintendent, gave me my time today and said to me, “I am going to fire all who did not vote the Democratic ticket.” he told them to “settle with me” and that he would have to have the house.
Affiants are going to Monaville to try to get work, or may go to Lorado.
Down Chambers is supposed to be a thug or Deputy Sheriff. At any rate, he is a thug.
Ivie Harris (signature)
Charlie Harris (signature)
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
Levisa Hatfield (1927-1929)
03 Monday Dec 2018
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Holden, Huntington, Logan, Matewan, Pikeville, Wharncliffe, Women's History
Tags
Abraham Lincoln, Appalachia, Barnabus, Ben Creek, Betty Caldwell, Betty Hatfield, Bob Hatfield, C.C. Lanham, Cap Hatfield, Charles Dardi, Charleston, deputy sheriff, Devil Anse Hatfield, E. Willis Wilson, Elias Hatfield, Elliott R. Hatfield, F.M. Browning, Fayette County, feud, genealogy, governor, Halsey Gibson, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry D. Hatfield, Hibbard Hatfield, history, Holden, Huntington, Island Creek, J.O. Hill, Jim McCoy, Joe Hatfield, John Caldwell, John J. Jackson, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, L.W. Lawson, Levicy Hatfield, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, Lundale, Marion Browning, Mary Howes, Mate Creek, Matewan, Matilda Chafin, Mingo County, Nancy Carey, Nancy Mullins, Nathaniel Chafin, Omar, Pike County, Pikeville, Pittsburgh, pneumonia, R.A. Woodall, Randolph McCoy, Rebecca Hatfield, Rose Browning, sheriff, Tennis Hatfield, Tom Chafin, Troy Hatfield, Tug River, W.R. Eskew, West Virginia, Wharncliffe
The following news items from the Logan Banner of Logan, WV, provide some history about the final years of Levisa Hatfield, widow of Anse Hatfield:
MRS. HATFIELD BETTER
Mrs. Levicy Hatfield, widow of Ance Hatfield, continues to recuperate from a serious illness and is now able to walk about the home of her daughter, Mrs. F.M. Browning, of Holden, where she has been cared for. She is 84 years old.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 03 June 1927
***
Mrs. Hatfield Hurt
Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse” Hatfield, is suffering from injuries received in a fall at her home on Island Creek Sunday. She hurt her hip and shoulder and forehead and her condition was such as to cause some concern, yet she was able to sit up yesterday. Two or three of her daughters are helping to take care of her. She is 85 years old.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 20 September 1927
***
DEVIL ANSE’S WIDOW, AGED 86, RECOVERS FROM PNEUMONIA
In recovering from her recent severe illness Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of the late “Devil Anse,” has again demonstrated her remarkable vitality. Though in her 87th year, she is now recovering from pneumonia with which she was stricken on December 28. Monday of this week her lungs began to clear up, and her son, Sheriff Joe Hatfield, said yesterday that she seemed to be assured of recovery.
So critical was her illness for several days that half a dozen physicians were summoned to her bedside. These included Dr. H.D. Hatfield, L.W. Lawson, J.O. Hill, Brewer and Moore as well as Dr. E.R. Hatfield, of Charleston, a son of the aged patient.
Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86th birthday at the Hatfield homestead near the head of Island Creek on December 20.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 18 January 1929.
***
Devil Anse’s Widow Died Early Today
Mrs. Levisa Hatfield Succumbs Unexpectedly In 87th Year
10 Living Children
Hers Was Life of Storm And Stress for Several Decades
Funeral services for Mrs. Hatfield will be held at 2:30 Sunday at the Hatfield cemetery on Island Creek.
Mrs. Levisa Hatfield, widow of “Devil Anse” of Hatfield-McCoy feud fame, died at the family homestead up near the head of Island Creek at about 8 o’clock this morning. Though she was frail and had been in ill health all winter, the news of her passing caused much surprise and regret among relatives and friends outnumbered. Still, her condition yesterday was unsatisfactorily, indicating she had suffered a backset.
Mrs. Hatfield celebrated her 86th birthday on December 20. Eight days later she was stricken with pneumonia, and for several weeks her condition was alarming. Despite her advanced age, her indomitable grit and wiry strength and endurance triumphed, having as she did the tender, constant care of her children and other kinfolk, neighbors, and friends.
Hers was a stout heart, otherwise it could not have, withstood the storms that raged about her home and her family for many years. But long before her interesting career ended, peace and contentment had come into her life, and her declining days were brightened by the successes that had come to her children and grandchildren.
The decedent was born and reared on Mate Creek in what was then Logan county but now in Mingo. She was a daughter of Nathaniel Chafin. In her teens she was married to a neighbor youth, William Anderson Hatfield, who shortly thereafter entered the Confederate army and attained the rank of captain. That was a trying experience for a bride, but a longer and more terrifying one came in the early ‘80s when her family became involved in a now historic private war with the McCoys, a large family living on the Kentucky side of the Tug River. Even after the feud ended and a tacit agreement was carried out whereby her family moved back from the Tug and over the county divide and their foes went farther away from the Tug in the opposite direction, tragedies cast their shadows across her pathway. Chief of these was the slaying of her sons Troy and Elias by a drunken miner in Fayette county in 1911. The miner, too, was riddled with bullets after his victims had fallen mortally wounded.
Ten children survive Mrs. Hatfield and three are dead, Johnson, the oldest, having died in 1922 on Ben Creek, Mingo county. The living are: William A. (Cap), who shared with his father the leadership of their clan in the days of the feud, now a deputy sheriff and living at Stirrat; Robert L., Wharncliffe; Mrs. Nancy Mullins, living just above the Hatfield place; Dr. Elliott R., Charleston; Mrs. Mary Howes, at home; Mrs. John (Betty) Caldwell, Barnabus; Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield; Mrs. Marion (Rose) Browning, Holden; Willis, deputy sheriff at Lundale; Tennis, former sheriff.
She is survived by two sisters and a brother: Mrs. Betty Hatfield, widow of Elias Hatfield and mother of U.S. Senator H.D. Hatfield; Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield, of Logan, mother of Hibbard Hatfield, and Tom Chafin, who lives on Mate Creek.
Mrs. Hatfield and devoted to her home and family. And her home as well as herself was widely known for hospitality. There the friend or wayfarer ever found a welcome. She was a member of the Church of Christ and was baptized along with her husband by Uncle Dyke Garrett some years before her husband’s death.
No announcement was made this forenoon as to the funeral arrangements. Squire Elba Hatfield, a grandson, said he supposed the funeral would be held Sunday. Burial will be in the family cemetery.
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 15 March 1929
***
Great Crowd At Funeral of Mrs. Hatfield
Throng Surpassed That of Any Previous Funeral In County
Pictures Are Taken
News of Death of “Devil” Anse’s Widow Travels Far and Wide
Hundreds of relatives and friends and neighbors paid their last tribute of affection to Mrs. Lovisa Hatfield Sunday afternoon. It is declared to be, by persons capable of judging, the largest funeral crowd ever assembled in the county. Perhaps the maximum attendance of the afternoon was no larger than that at the funeral of Charles Dardi last November, but on Sunday people were coming and going for an hour or more before the hour set–2:30–for the services and until the services were concluded.
Early in the afternoon a crowd began to form both at the Hatfield cemetery and the homestead. A cool, steady, stiff breeze made it uncomfortable for those who gathered at the cemetery, with the result that they did not tarry long there; and on account of weather conditions a great many did not leave their cars, which were closely parked along both sides of the highway from Sheriff Joe Hatfield’s home up to and beyond the home of the decedent.
The attendance at Sunday’s rites exceeded that of the funeral of Mrs. Hatfield’s widely known husband, “Devil Anse,” which was held on Sunday, January 9, 1921. At that time there was but a semblance of a highway up toward the head of Island Creek and most of those who attended the rites of the old feudist chieftain rode on a special train that was run that day or walked for a great distance.
At the homestead there were scripture readings, sermons, and tributes by Rev. Joe Hatfield, a nephew of the decedent, of Matewan; Rev. Halsey Gibson and Rev. C.C. Lanham, pastor of the first Methodist church of Logan. Before the cortege left the house R.A. Woodall, local photographer, took pictures of the body at rest in a beautiful metallic casket and of the grandchildren and perhaps others who were grouped on the porch.
At the grave the services were conducted by Rev. W.R. Eskew of Omar and a solo by a Mr. Woods of Huntington featured the singing. Mr. Eskew paid a tribute to the generosity and hospitality of Mrs. Hatfield, to her love of home and her devotion to her children and other loved ones.
As related in Friday’s paper, Mrs. Hatfield died at about 8 o’clock that morning, after having nearly recovered from pneumonia. Her age was 86 years, two months and 25 days. She was a daughter of Nathaniel and Matilda Varney Chafin and was born on Mate Creek, now in Mingo county. Her sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Hatfield of Huntington , Mrs. Nancy Carey, Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield of Logan, and her brother Tom Chafin of Mingo were at the funeral.
All over the country the news of Mrs. Hatfield’s death was flashed and it called forth much comment on the old Hatfield-McCoy feud that for a long time held the close attention evidently of millions of newspaper readers.
—
An old sketch of “Devil Anse” says he had none of the attributes of “bad men” in his character. He was always recognized as a loyal friend of the many who had some sort of claim to his friendship. Numbered among those who believed he had been right in the position he took during the feud days were the late Judge John J. Jackson, known as the “Iron Judge,” who was appointed to the federal bench by President Lincoln, and the late Governor E.W. Wilson, the former protecting Hatfield when he was called into court, and the latter refusing to honor a requisition of the Governor of Kentucky for the arrest of Devil Anse on a charge of killing some particular member of the McCoy family.
Detectives, real and alleged, had arranged for the capture of Hatfield, spurred by a reward, after they had seen to it that he was indicted on a charge of whiskey selling; in 1888, Judge Jackson, hearing of these plans, sent word to him that if he would appear in court voluntarily the court would see that he had ample protection until he returned to his home in this county.
Uncle Anse appeared and was acquitted of the charge against him. Some of the detectives pounced on him soon after he left the court room, but Judge Jackson summoned all of them before him, threatened to send them to jail, and directed special officers to see that Hatfield was permitted to reach his home. After Hatfield was well on his way, Judge Jackson told the detectives that if they wanted to get him they could proceed, just as the McCoys had been doing for a number of years. They never went.
Captain Hatfield spent the last 20 years of his life peacefully on his farm then in an isolated section of the county. Once he was prevailed upon by some enterprising amusement manager to go on the vaudeville stage but the lure of his home in the mountains soon proved stronger than the lure of the footlights.
—
In the splendid account of the death of Mrs. Anderson Hatfield, estimable woman who passed away at her home Friday, it was stated that Mrs. Hatfield was one of the last of either the Hatfield or McCoy family directly connected with the feud and that all the McCoy principals are believed to be dead. This last is in error as James McCoy, who resided in Pikeville for many years and latter came here, where he lived with his family for a number of years, and after the death of his wife only a few years ago again returned to Pikeville and is now living there. He is a highly respected and esteemed citizen and was the eldest son of the late Randall McCoy, of Pike county, and was one of the main principals of the feud.
Catlettsburg cor. in Huntington Advertiser
Source: Logan (WV) Banner, 19 March 1929.
Paw Paw Incident: James McCoy Deposition (1889)
30 Friday Nov 2018
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Alex Messer, Anderson Ferrell, Appalachia, Blackberry Creek, Bud McCoy, Cap Hatfield, clerk, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, Doc Mayhorn, Elias Hatfield, Elijah Mounts, Ellison Hatfield, Floyd Hatfield, G.W. Pinson, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, James McCoy, Joe Davis, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, Logan County, Mate Creek, Mathew Hatfield, Pharmer McCoy, Pike County, Pikeville, Plyant Mayhorn, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Tolbert McCoy, Tom Mitchell, true crime, Valentine Wall Hatfield, West Virginia
The killing of Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud McCoy by a Hatfield-led gang on August 8, 1882 represented one of the most sensational events of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud. What follows is James McCoy’s deposition regarding the affair:
COMMONWEALTH VS DOC MAYHORN &C
Bill of Exceptions
FILED Sept. 1889
G.W. Pinson, Clk
The Commonwealth then introduced as a witness James McCoy who proves that he is brother to Tolbert, Randolp (sic) Jr. and Pharmer McCoy. Saw them Aug 9, 1882 on Mate Creek in the state West Va. Saw them on Blackberry Creek on Election day. Jo Hatfield, Mathew Hatfield and Floyd Hatfield had charge off them on that day. First saw them next day at Rev. Anderson Hatfield about 12 o’clock. They were tied arm and arm and all tied together. Saw several persons there. Saw Defendants there. They had guns. I think Rifle guns. Soon after I got there Bad Ance formed a line and said let all Hatfield men or friends fall into line. Deft. fell in to line. Doc had a gun. Am not sure that Plyant Had any gun. Ance said when the Prisoners were brought out we will take charge of them now. The whole crowd then went down Blackberry Creek toward the river. Witness went along about 1 ½ miles. Ance said to me I had no business further down and I stopped. Ance further said that he had a notion to tell the officers along that he had no further use for them. I went to Mate Creek in West Va. where my brothers was in a School house Wednesday Aug 9th 1882. I saw Bad Ance, Cap, Jonce Hatfields Defendants Doc & Plyant Mayhorn, Alex Messer, Tom Mitchell and some others. Defendants had guns some times. I left there about 3 o’clock p.m. Went down to mouth Mate Creek staid a few minutes at Sam Simpkin’s. Then went to Asa McCoy’s at mouth Sulphur. I saw Wall with a papers. Do not know what it contained and heard Wall call for signers. Saw Plyant walk up to Wall but can not say whether he signed it or not. Saw Plyant with Wall & Elias Hatfield and Elijah Mounts that evening late at the mouth Mate Creek. They went up river. Saw them again just after dark pass down by the mouth of Sulphur. I was there and they had not been gone by perhaps 20 minutes when I heard a volley of guns or pistols fired on the Ky side of the river about ½ way between Mouth Sulphur and Mate Creek but on the opposite side of the river from Sulphur. My brothers was dead when I found them. Anderson Ferrell went with him to find them. Found on the Ky shore short distance from river in a sink or flat all tied together and to two Paw Paw Bushes. Tolbert had one hand over his head. Made an examination of my brothers and found Pharmer shot 16 times. Randolph with the whole top of his head shot off. Six or seven shots in Tolbert. We removed them in a sled. They were all burried (sic) in one coffin. Elias Hatfield had a gun as they passed me at the mouth of Sulphur there was one horse in the crowd was considerably excited at times. The officers had the boys in charge for murdering Ellison Hatfield. There were a great many men along who had guns that are not indicted. There was six or seven guards and some that were not guards along with my brothers. I do not know where any one objected to my brothers being brought to Pikevill or not. I can not tell all the parties who had guns. Ellison Hatfield died about 2 ½ or 3 oclock Wednesday Aug 9, 1882. The men who taken the corps of Ellison Hatfield to Elias Hatfields was a part of the men he had seen at the school house. My brothers were found dead in Pike County Ky. Wall Hatfield is the brother of Ance, Elison & Elias Hatfield, and the father in law of the defts. When I saw my brothers at Rev. Anderson Hatfield’s there was also present Ance, Cap, Johns, Wall & Elias Hatfield. Carpenter, Dan Whitt, Messer, Murphy, Mose Christian and defts. When I found my brothers dead they were tied together and to two paw paw bushes. When Wall, Elias, & deft. Plyant Mahorn found me near the mouth of Sulphur at dark they were passing from the direction of Joe Davis’ at mo. Blackberry and going in the direction of the mouth Mate. From Jo Davis’ to mouth of Sulphur is about ½ mile, and from Sulphur to mouth Mate is about ½ mile. From the point where my brothers were found dead in Pike Co Ky is _____ in WVa immediately opposite is about 125 yards. As soon as they passed me near the mouth of Sulphur I ___ my horse pulled some grass and fed him, went back and sat down on the porch, and the firing directly began. I think it was 20 minutes after they passed until the firing began. I think I heard 50 shots. After the volley ceased there was one loud shot.
***
Written in the margin: Soon after this I went down to Ferrell’s and ___ Simpkins and myself went and found my brothers.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
10 Saturday Nov 2018
Posted in Logan
Tags
Appalachia, C.L. Bradley, crime, Democratic Party, Deputy Marshal, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, George Pack, George Thompson, history, Hugh Deskins, Ira P. Hager, Jay Elkins, Joe Hatfield, Logan County, Mine Wars, Mud Fork Precinct, Nannie Pack, Pat Adkins, Pat Murphy, Republican Party, sheriff, Tennis Hatfield, U.S. Commissioner, West Virginia
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
BEFORE THE UNDERSIGNED authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day, Nannie Pack, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That she was standing on the election ground at Mud Fork Precinct, Logan County, election day, November 4th, 1924, and saw Don Chafin, Sheriff of Logan County there. That Pat Adkins was standing on the ground, waiting to vote, and affiant saw the said Don Chafin take hold of the said Pat Adkins and shove him, saying, “Go on in,” and repeated it, “Go on in,” and shoved the said Pat Adkins toward the election room door. That he turned immediately and ran toward Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal, who was standing near by, and said, “What are you doing here, you cock-eyed son-of-a-bitch?” That he slapped the said Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal. That he then followed the said Deputy Marshal around on the ground, saying, “Have you had enough? Have you had enough?”
That they put affiant’s husband, George Pack, in jail on November 1st, 1924, and affiant went to Jay Elkins and George Thompson to ask them to go the bond of affiant’s husband. This was on Saturday, November 1st, 1924. That they declined and refused to do it, and affiant went home. That John Roberts followed affiant and said, “If you will vote our way, we will sure go this evening and get your husband out.” Then he said, “Unless you do that, we will not get him out and he will not get out.” The same day Thompson and Elkins refused to go my husband’s bond. They hunted me up while I was on the Dempsey Branch and told affiant that “if I would vote Democratic, and talk to my children and have them vote Democratic, that they would see that my husband got bond and got out.”
Nannie Pack (her mark)
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
BEFORE THE UNDERSIGNED AUTHORITY, this day personally came, C.L. BRADLEY, who after being by me first duly sworn, says: That he was on the election grounds at the Mud Fork Precinct on election day, November 4th, 1924, and affiant saw Don Chafin, sheriff of Logan County strike Hugh Deskins, Deputy Marshal on the head or face. I saw Don follow him up after he had hit him and I heard him say, “How did you like that?” and if “he did not like it he could give him more of it, or oodles of it,” or words to that effect.
When Don Chafin was after Hugh Deskins, Pat Murphy, supposed to be a Deputy Sheriff, was acting like he was about to pull his gun from his pocket. He pulled it part way out of his pocket.
C.L. Bradley
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me, the undersigned authority, this the 10th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
U.S. Commissioner as aforesaid
Appeared 1-13-25
Joe Hatfield for Sheriff! (1928)
28 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan
Tags
Appalachia, genealogy, history, Joe Hatfield, Logan Banner, Logan County, politics, Republican Party, sheriff, West Virginia
Logan (WV) Banner, 30 October 1928.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
28 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Logan
Tags
Appalachia, Cherry Tree, Cora, crime, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Deputy U.S. Marshal, Don Chafin, Ed Dingess, genealogy, Henry Sansom, history, Hugh Deskins, Ira P. Hager, Joe Hatfield, John Dingess, Lee Belcher, Logan, Logan County, Mine Wars, politics, Randolph Dial, Republican Party, Simp Thompson, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Fisher, U.S. Commissioner, West Virginia
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, Ed Dingess, who after being by me first duly sworn, says that he is thirty-seven years of age, married, resides at Cherry Tree Bottom, Logan County, and works in the ice business during the summer season.
That on November 2nd, 1924, affiant was in the Marshal’s office at Logan, when a man who lived at Cora came in and reported that Lee Belcher had ordered him to leave Cora, where he lived, on account of his having Republican literature on his car and house, stating that the said Lee Belcher, Deputy Sheriff had threatened to do him bodily injury, that affiant along with Henry Sansom was deputized by one of the Deputy Marshals to go to Cora and protect the man, he being afraid to return to his home without protection. That affiant and the said Henry Sansom were in Cora, guarding the man, and Lee Belcher came up and said, “Are you fellows here to guard these men out of here?” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “The county ought to be filled up with good looking men like us.” And I replied “that it was pretty well full.” He then went away and did not make any trouble for us. On the night of the election I went to the Court House at Logan to ascertain the results of the election, and as I went through the corridors of the Court House I met Lee Belcher, and he said, “What was you doing in Cora, you god-damned son-of-a-bitch, that is my town.” He said, “I am running Cora,” and made at me with his pistol, and John Dingess, who used to be a deputy, pulled his pistol and said, “Give it to him, god-damned son-of-a-bitch,” and repeated it several times. John Dingess kept his pistol drawn on me while Lee Belcher beat me about the face. The scars and bruises are visible on my face where I was struck. I tried to shove off his licks, but he hit me twice, and Simp Thompson ran in and stopped him, and I presume that Thompson saved me.
I bled right much and suffered considerable pain as a result of the blows.
Ed Dingess
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 8th day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority this day personally came Thomas Fisher, who after being by me first duly sworn, says:
That he was deputized by Hugh Deskins, at Mud Fork, on election day, after the said Hugh Deskins, Deputy U.S. Marshal, had been assaulted by Don Chafin, Sheriff of Logan County, and that the said Hugh Deskins gave affiant a pistol, and about thirty minutes after affiant was deputized, the said Don Chafin came around and arrested affiant, and took the pistol away from affiant, and turned affiant over to Deputy Sheriff Randolph Dial, who took affiant to jail, where affiant was kept until the next morning. Affiant lost his vote. Affiant asked the said Randolph Dial to let him vote, having told the said Randolph Dial that affiant had not voted, and the said Randolph Dial said, “I haven’t time to fool with you.” So affiant lost his vote.
Affiant saw Don Chafin assault Hugh Deskins, Deputy U.S. Marshal. Hugh Deskins was standing on the election ground and Don Chafin drove up in his car. Hugh was standing with his hands folded and Chafin walked up and hit him on the side of the face under the left ear. Deskins backed off, and Chafin said, “Don’t you like that? If you don’t, I will give you some more.” Chafin drove off in his car and in a little while came back and one of the Mounts boys called to Don and pointed me out and then Don arrested me. When Chafin arrested me I told him that I was deputized by a United States Deputy Marshal and he said, “That don’t go here.”
Thomas Fisher
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 8th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
U.S. Commissioner
Paw Paw Incident: James McCoy Deposition (1889)
20 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in Culture of Honor, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan
Tags
Alex Messer, Anderson Ferrell, Appalachia, Asa McCoy, Blackberry Creek, Bud McCoy, Cap Hatfield, Charlie Carpenter, clerk, crime, Devil Anse Hatfield, Doc Mayhorn, Elias Hatfield, Elijah Mounts, Ellison Hatfield, feuds, Floyd Hatfield, G.W. Pinson, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Joe Hatfield, Johnson Hatfield, Kentucky, Mate Creek, Matthew Hatfield, Pharmer McCoy, Pike County, Pikeville, Plyant Mayhorn, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Sam Simpkins, Tolbert McCoy, Tom Mitchell, Valentine Wall Hatfield, West Virginia
The killing of Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud McCoy by a Hatfield-led gang on August 8, 1882 represented one of the most sensational events of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud. What follows is Plyant Mayhorn’s deposition regarding the affair:
COMMONWEALTH VS DOC MAYHORN &C
Bill of Exceptions
FILED Sept. 1889
G.W. Pinson, Clk
The Commonwealth then introduced as a witness James McCoy who proves that he is brother to Tolbert, Randolp (sic) Jr. and Pharmer McCoy. Saw them Aug 9, 1882 on Mate Creek in the state West Va. Saw them on Blackberry Creek on Election day. Jo Hatfield, Mathew Hatfield and Floyd Hatfield had charge off them on that day. First saw them next day at Rev. Anderson Hatfield about 12 o’clock. They were tied arm and arm and all tied together. Saw several persons there. Saw Defendants there. They had guns. I think Rifle guns. Soon after I got there Bad Ance formed a line and said let all Hatfield men or friends fall into line. Deft. fell in to line. Doc had a gun. Am not sure that Plyant had any gun. Ance said when the Prisoners were brought out we will take charge of them now. The whole crowd then went down Blackberry Creek toward the river. Witness went along about 1 ½ miles. Ance said to me I had no business further down and I stopped. Ance further said that he had a notion to tell the officers along that he had no further use for them. I went to Mate Creek in West Va. where my brothers was in a School house Wednesday Aug 9th 1882. I saw Bad Ance, Cap, Jonce Hatfields Defendants Doc & Plyant Mayhorn, Alex Messer, Tom Mitchell and some others. Defendants had guns some times. I left there about 3 o’clock p.m. Went down to mouth Mate Creek, staid a few minutes at Sam Simpkin’s. Then went to Asa McCoy’s at mouth Sulphur. I saw Wall with a papers. Do not know what it contained and heard Wall call for signers. Saw Plyant walk up to Wall but can not say whether he signed it or not. Saw Plyant with Wall & Elias Hatfield and Elijah Mounts that evening late at the mouth Mate Creek. They went up river. Saw them again just after dark pass down by the mouth of Sulphur. I was there and they had not been gone by perhaps 20 minutes when I heard a volley of guns or pistols fired on the Ky side of the river about ½ way between Mouth Sulphur and Mate Creek but on the opposite side of the river from Sulphur. My brothers was dead when I found them. Anderson Ferrell went with him to find them. Found on the Ky shore short distance from river in a sink or flat all tied together and to two Paw Paw Bushes. Tolbert had one hand over his head. Made an examination of my brothers and found Pharmer shot 16 times. Randolph with the whole top of his head shot off. Six or seven shots in Tolbert. We removed them in a sled. They were all burried in one coffin. Elias Hatfield had a gun as they passed me at the mouth of Sulphur, there was one horse in the crowd was considerably excited at times. The officers had the boys in charge for murdering Ellison Hatfield. There were a great many men along who had guns that are not indicted. There was six or seven guards and some that were not guards along with my brothers. I do not know where any one objected to my brothers being brought to Pikevill or not. I can not tell all the parties who had guns. Ellison Hatfield died about 2 ½ or 3 oclock Wednesday Aug 9, 1882. The men who taken the corps of Ellison Hatfield to Elias Hatfields was a part of the men he had seen at the school house. My brothers were found dead in Pike County Ky. Wall Hatfield is the brother of Ance, Elison & Elias Hatfield, and the father in law of the defts. When I saw my brothers at Rev. Anderson Hatfield’s there was also present Ance, Cap, Johns, Wall & Elias Hatfield. Carpenter, Dan Whitt, Messer, Murphy, Mose Christian and defts. When I found my brothers dead they were tied together and to two paw paw bushes. When Wall, Elias, & deft. Plyant Mahorn found me near the mouth of Sulphur at dark they were passing from the direction of Joe Davis’ at mo. Blackberry and going in the direction of the mouth Mate. From Jo Davis’ to mouth of Sulphur is about ½ mile, and from Sulphur to mouth Mate is about ½ mile. From the point where my brothers were found dead in Pike Co Ky is _____ in WVa immediately opposite is about 125 yards. As soon as they passed me near the mouth of Sulphur I ___ my horse pulled some grass and fed him, went back and sat down on the porch, and the firing directly began. I think it was 20 minutes after they passed until the firing began. I think I heard 50 shots. After the volley ceased there was one loud shot.
Written in the margin: Soon after this I went down to Ferrell’s and ___ Simpkins and myself went and found my brothers.
For more information about this incident, follow these links:
http://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/785?tour=55&index=3
http://wvpublic.org/post/three-mccoys-killed-hatfields-kentucky-august-8-1882#stream/0
http://hatfield-mccoytruth.com/2017/04/22/in-hatfield-country-blackberry-creek-in-the-1880s/
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
20 Saturday Oct 2018
Tags
Appalachia, Buck Adams, crime, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, G.F. Gore, genealogy, history, Ira P. Hager, Jack Meadows, Joe Hatfield, John Colley, John Cooley, Logan County, McConnell, Mine Wars, Orville Hall, Republican Party, sheriff, Stollings, Switzer, Tennis Hatfield, United States Commissioner, Wayne Grover, West Virginia
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
John Cooley being by the undersigned authority first duly sworn, says that on the 5th day of November, A.D., 1924, he was on his way from work, and was traveling along the county road through the Town of Switzer, in Logan County, having been a mule driver, was riding his mule. Orville Hall was with affiant. I was riding and Orville was walking. We saw a car coming, with Jack Meadows and Buck Adams, Deputy Sheriffs in the car, with some other men we did not know. When they approached us, about 300 yards away, they began firing their pistols shooting down by the side of the car into the ground. They kept shooting until they came up where we were, and shot by the side of the mule I was riding, and frightened him right much, but the mule did not throw me. They shot within about three feet of the mule. Several citizens heard the shots in Switzer, and some of them saw it.
We went before G.F. Gore to get a warrant for the men, and he ask us who did the shooting, and we told him, and he said, “They are deputies. I do not see how you can do anything with them.”
John Colley
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 8th day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Jesse Yeager, who after being by me first duly sworn, says that he resides at Stollings (or McConnell), Logan County, in said District.
That on November 5th, 1924, being election day, affiant went to the Court House to ascertain the results of the election, and affiant was standing in the crowded room. Wayne Grover came up to affiant and said, “God dam you, you haven’t any business here. You are legging for the Republican Party.” And at the same time struck this affiant in the side of the head with some sort of weapon, which affiant believes was a black-jack. That affiant fell to the floor in a dazed condition, very much injured, and affiant’s hip was almost broken, and affiant suffered a great deal on account of the same.
There were no arrests made. He ran back into the crowd as soon as he struck me. Affiant never had any trouble or hard feelings against the said Wayne Grover, and there was no excuse or provocation for the assault, except that affiant worked for the Republican Party in the election.
Jesse Yeager
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 8th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
18 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Coal
Tags
Buck Adams, Burl Farley, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, history, Ira P. Hager, Jack Meadows, Joe Hatfield, John Cooley, John T. Gore, Logan County, Orville Hall, politics, Republican Party, Roy Adams, sheriff, Switzer, Switzer Collier Company, Tennis Hatfield, U.S. Commissioner, Wash Farley, West Virginia, Wilburn Adams
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority this day personally came Orville Hall, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is sixteen years of age, resides at Switzer, Logan County, and is employed by the Switzer Collier Company, at Switzer.
That on the 5th day of November, 1924, after affiant had voted for the Republican Party in the election held November 4th, 1924, affiant was coming up the road, having come out of the mines, and I was walking. John Cooley was riding a mule, which mule we had been using in the mines. After we had gone some distance, Jack Meadows, Deputy Sheriff came along in a car and commenced shooting at the lower end of the camp of the Switzer Collier Company. He was shooting toward the ground. Buck Adams, Deputy Sheriff, was in the car with Jack Meadows, and another man or two that we did not know. They first shot at a point about the middle of the camp, having fired several shots. I got back out of the road, as far as I could, to let them pass in the car, and they shot right below me, and Jack Meadows took some shells out of his gun and threw them out in front of me and laughed, and he went on up the road, with the pistol in his hand, the car still running. They shot within about two feet of the mule. Two men shooting at the same time. Buck Adams and Jack Meadows were both shooting. The mule became frightened and John held on and was not thrown off; it was about four o’clock when this happened.
Orville Hall
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before this the 8th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
BEFORE THE UNDERSIGNED authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Wilburn Adams, who after being first duly sworn says that he run his car on election day, and hauled Republican voters to the election; that he was approached by John T. Gore, a Deputy Sheriff, while on the election ground, and the said Gore said to this affiant, “You did not go into the election to win, but you went into the election for contrariness, and we are going to set on you.”
I am informed by my son, Burl Farley, Wash Farley and Roy Adams that the said Deputy John T. Gore is threatening to do me bodily injury, or “beat me to death.” I being sick at the time he made these threats, which threats have been made since the election.
Wilburn Adams
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 8th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
NOTE: Wilburn Adams and Deputy Sheriff Anthony “Buck” Adams were brothers. Wilburn married a sister to my great-great-grandmother.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
16 Tuesday Oct 2018
Tags
Anna Meade, Appalachia, Charley Stollings, Cherry Tree, constable, Cora, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, Frank Bell, history, Ira P. Hager, jailer, Joe Hatfield, John Harris, John Parmer, John T. Gore, Lee Belcher, Logan County, Logan District, Mine Wars, politics, Republican Party, Taplin, Tennis Hatfield, Tom Chafin, United States Commissioner, W.E. White, West Virginia
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority this day personally came FRANK BELL, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says that he resides at Taplin, Logan County, in said District; that he is a contractor in the mines at Cora, Logan County. That Lee Belcher, Deputy sheriff came to affiant’s employees yesterday and told affiant’s employees that affiant was a Republican and that he “was going to get him.” That on last night they fired several shots all around affiant’s house and some shots into affiant’s house, some of them kept parading and firing pistols around the walls of the house all night, and affiant did not sleep any, but kept his clothes on all night.
That affiant looked out and saw some of the men and knew one of them to be Tom Chafin, Deputy Sheriff.
Frank Bell
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 6th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day Annie Meade who after being by me first duly sworn, says: That on election day, November 4th, 1924, she voted a Republican Ticket at Cherry Tree Bottom, and that after affiant voted W.E. White, Jailor of Logan County, and John T. Gore, a Deputy Sheriff of Logan County, and John Harris, Constable of Logan District, and John Parmer, whose business is unknown to affiant, followed affiant down the street to the home of Charley Stollings, where affiant stopped, and they ordered affiant to get off the public highway. I was then standing in front of Charley Stollings’s house on the hard road. They then said, “If you open your mouth we will take you and put you in jail on your head.” I answered Squire White by telling him that he would not do it. Deputy John T. Gore then said, “You will see if I do not do it.” They then abused me for voting the Republican ticket.
Affiant is forty-four years of age.
Anna Meade
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 7th day of November, 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
Democratic Party Intimidation in Logan County, WV (1924)
14 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Coal, Man, Women's History
Tags
Appalachia, Charley Gore, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Don Chafin, H.S. Walker, history, Ira P. Hager, Joe Hatfield, John Morgan, Kistler, Logan County, Malinda Carlton, Mattie Marley, Mine Wars, Pearl Anderson, Republican Party, Tennis Hatfield, United States Commissioner, West Virginia, Will Lancaster
Political history for Logan County, West Virginia, during the 1920s was particularly eventful; it included the latter years of Sheriff Don Chafin’s rule, the Mine Wars (“armed march”), Republican Party ascendancy, and the rise of Republican sheriffs Tennis and Joe Hatfield. What follows are selected primary source documents relating to this period:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before the undersigned authority, Ira P. Hager, a United States Commissioner in and for said county and State, personally appeared this day Mattie Marley, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That she resides at Kistler, Logan County, in said District; that on or about the 2nd day of November, A.D., 1924, at Kistler, in said District, Charley Gore, Deputy Sheriff said to affiant that after the election he was going to give some of them hell; that he was then in affiant’s house, and pulled his revolvers and said that if we would not permit him to give a supper there he knew of plenty of houses where he could get a free supper. He also said when he put his pistol back into his pocket that if his special did not get them his machine gun would.
Mattie Marley
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 3rd day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
Witnesses:
Will Lancaster
Pearl Anderson
Malinda Carlton
***
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
Before me, Ira P. Hager, the undersigned a United States Commissioner in and for said District, personally appeared this day John Morgan, who after being by me first duly sworn, deposes and says:
That affiant voted a Republican ticket on election day November 4th, 1924, and H.S. Walker, receiving clerk tore the same up and destroyed it. That there was no justification for his destroying said ballot. Affiant further says that the other election officers of the Junior High School Precinct saw the said Walker destroy said ballot.
John Morgan
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me this the 4th day of November, A.D., 1924.
Ira P. Hager
United States Commissioner as aforesaid.
Sheriff Joe Hatfield (1928-1929)
06 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in African American History, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan
Tags
African-Americans, Appalachia, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, history, Joe Hatfield, Logan, Logan Banner, Logan County, politics, Republican Party, sheriff
Republican Joe Hatfield, son of Anse Hatfield. Logan (WV) Banner, 25 May 1928.
Logan (WV) Banner, 16 April 1929.
Recollections of McKinley Grimmett of Bruno, WV 4 (1984)
07 Friday Sep 2018
Tags
Accoville, Appalachia, Bill Mosely, Bruno, Buffalo Creek, Burl Christian, Cap Hatfield, coal, crime, Cub Creek, Democratic Party, deputy sheriff, Devil Anse Hatfield, Don Chafin, Elech Luster, Elech Steven, Elk Creek, genealogy, Harve Grimmett, Henderson Grimmett, history, influenza, Italian-Americans, Joe Browning, Joe Hatfield, justice of the peace, Logan County, Logan Lumber Company, Mallory, Mallory Coal Company, Matilda Hatfield, McKinley Grimmett, Nancy Grimmett, Phil Elkins, Sand Lick, Scott Browning, sheriff, Spice Creek, Tennis Hatfield, Thomas Hatfield, Watt Elkins, West Virginia, World War I, Wyatt Belcher, Wyoming County
McKinley Grimmett was born on November 30, 1896 to Henderson and Nancy (Hatfield) Grimmett at Sand Lick, Logan County, WV. On May 14, 1916, Mr. Grimmett married a Ms. Plymale, who soon died, in Logan County. One child named Alva died on June 21, 1919 of whooping cough, aged fourteen months. His World War I draft registration card dated September 12, 1918 identifies him as having blue eyes and light-colored hair. He was employed by Mallory Coal Company at Mallory, WV. On November 13, 1919, he married Matilda “Tilda” Hatfield, daughter of Thomas Hatfield, in Logan County. He identified himself as a farmer in both of his marriage records. During the 1920s, he served as a deputy under Sheriff Tennis Hatfield.
The following interview of Mr. Grimmett was conducted at his home on July 17, 1984. In this part of the interview, he recalls his occupations. The post-World War I flu pandemic, early Bruno residents, timbering, the Hatfields, politics, and crime are featured.
***
Do you remember the flu that came along after World War I?
Oh yeah, I’ve seen ‘em up here in my graveyard bury as high as three or four in one day. Buried a man and his wife and kid all in one day there. It was bad. I was running a drum at Mallory for the company. I went there well that morning and at 10 o’clock they hauled me back in a jo-wagon. I couldn’t walk with the flu. I was down for four days and the mine didn’t run. I got over it awful quick. The doctor come… Dr. Shrewsbury, used to be at Mallory. Next day was Saturday and Sunday and he told me to stay off for Monday. And he said he’d send after me. Come and get me, bring me back in the evening. All he wanted me to do was run the drum. Not get hot or anything. I got over mine. My sister come there to see me. She had seven kids. She come there and took it. And all her kids come to see her and they all took it. And her husband come to see about them and he took it. And her husband couldn’t talk plain. Keenan Walls was her husband. He called onions “inghams.” My mother would say, Keenan, what do you want to eat today? They fried them. She’d fry them onions. He said, I don’t know hardly unless you fry me some more inghams. Yeah, they’s about 250 graves in that graveyard of mine.
Tape stops.
There’s a lot of people up this creek. Used to be there wasn’t about six families when I was a boy growing up. Wyatt Belcher lived down below the mouth of the creek. And Burl Christian lived up here a little ways. And Watt Elkins lived over there. And my daddy lived next. And my daddy’s brother Harve Grimmett lived next. Phil Elkins lived next. Now in the head of the creek where this backland was, that was before McDonalds got a hold of it. They lived on it, built log houses and everything else. I couldn’t tell you who all… Mountses there. I made several caskets. I made my mother’s coffin. I bought my daddy a steel coffin and I had to take some straw out of it. He was a pretty good sized man like myself. They both had the flu. And she had a lot of chickens here. I lived up at the old homeplace and they lived here. She wanted to know where that straw come from. I told her the truth about it. I told her I had to take it out of Daddy’s casket. It was a little too tight on him and I wouldn’t put him away that way. And said, Kin—she called me Kin, my nickname—said, whenever I die I want you to make my casket. She’d seen me make so many, you know. She wanted me to do that. And so I made it. I went to Logan and I bought the handles. It cost me $105 dollars. Looked like silver. And I bought plush stuff and lined it and everything. And I went down here to this planing mill and I bought the first class lumber. Didn’t have a knot in it. Logan Lumber Company run it then. And I made it. Oh, I’ve made oodles of ‘em. I made the old man Joe Browning’s in Spice Creek up here one time… And he’d sawed beech lumber now for me to make that casket out of. And old man Scott Browning, I got him to help me. And I bet you he weighed about 300 pound. And that beech lumber was 22 inches wide and I still had to put a slab on each side up at his hips down about four inches wide on each side. They couldn’t get enough men around that to lift it. I don’t see how they ever got it down in the grave. I didn’t go to the grave with ‘em. I made the casket and that was all.
Would you rather work with timber or coal?
Well, it’s according to what kind you do with lumber. I believe I would rather work in the mines because I’ve always had a good job in the mines. I worked 44 years and two months around the mines and I never was laid off. Born and raised here in Logan County. Never been in jail. Never been arrested. Never been sued. I never bothered nobody’s business only my own. I’ve been honest with everybody.
Were you ever politically active?
Yeah, I was, whenever them Hatfields was in there. They’d make you, whether you wanted to or not. Tennis and Joe and all of them. You get in that bunch of Hatfields at that day and time you couldn’t get away from ‘em. They’d claim me as their cousin all the time, ‘cause I was half-Hatfield myself. I don’t reckon my mother was any relation to any of them. She didn’t know nothing about them. She was from Wyoming County up on Big Cub Creek, you know. Now she heard lots of talk about Devil Anse and Cap and all of them. She was afraid for me to be with them all the time.
Did you like politics?
Yeah, I liked it pretty good.
Did you ever run for office?
Yeah, I run for JP one time. ’52. Bill Mosely run against me. And I beat Bill over here at his office precinct but he beat me up at Buffalo. Yeah, I run for JP one time. I never did run any more.
Who has impressed you the most in politics?
I reckon Tennis has been the one. Now Joe is a man that was still kind of sulky like. He didn’t seem like that he appreciated what you’d done or something like that. Either that or he thought hisself a little bit higher than you was. Something like that. I don’t know. I couldn’t figure him out. But Cap now, he’d cuss them out and everything else.
Do you remember the ’32 election?
Oh yeah. I remember. Why, coal companies, they went in with the Democrats and they fired us off of the deputy force. The coal companies put us on as guards. And we stayed that way for about three months. And Democrats come in and they cut that law out. And we went on back to work and that didn’t change nothing. I tell you, it was a sight whenever Chafin was in there. Lord, they killed people and everything. Up Buffalo at Accoville, they was building a railroad up through there. Well, that day and time they built camps for their men to stay in and they rode horses, the bosses did, ride him right out on the job. And they’d get up in the morning, Elech Steven and Elech R. Luster was the two bosses—one was superintendent, one was boss—and they’d go around, one had a ball bat and a hole drilled through it and a strap of leather in it and it was a small ball bat now and if them colored people or hunkies and Italians wasn’t up they’d knock the window lights out and then nail the window up instead of buying them a window and putting it back in. And they killed them two, the hunkies and Italians. They come out on ‘em and shot ‘em both and killed ‘em. About eight of them. Well, they killed three of ‘em before they got out of sight, the Americans did, up Accoville Hollow there. And the rest of ‘em come through and they shot one right over the Huff Knob and he rolled plumb from the top of that ridge down just like a dog bouncin’ plumb into the river. That made four of ‘em they got. Then they got two more up here on Elk Creek. Then they got two more up at Spice. Made the eight. Well, they killed them all. And they brought them—I was up there at the store at Elk Creek whenever they brought them two Italians down there… Now, this old raw bacon. Slabs that come that wide and be that long, grease would be running out. And they would cut them off raw meat and throw it to them like throwing it to a dog and they’d eat it.
NOTE: Some names may be transcribed incorrectly.
Brandon Ray Kirk 