Tags
Appalachia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, J. Lee Ferguson, Kentucky, Pike County, prosecuting attorney
J. Lee Ferguson: Pike County Attorney
28 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville
Tag Archives: Kentucky
Orville McCoy Recalls “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam McCoy (1990)
22 Friday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
America Goff, Appalachia, California, Collins Cemetery, Frozen Creek, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Kansas, Kentucky, Leonard Roberts, Missouri, Orville McCoy, Pikeville College, Raccoon Creek, Rebecca Bailey, Sam McCoy, St. Louis
On July 24, 1990, scholar Rebecca Bailey interviewed Orville McCoy (b.1922) of Raccoon Creek, Kentucky. What follows here is an excerpt of Mr. McCoy’s memories of his grandfather “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam McCoy and his book.
RB: Okay. What kind of stories did you hear about the feud when you were growing up?
OM: Well, about such materials you’ll find in my book. I recorded just about everything I knew about it.
RB: Do you know how your grandfather came to write his manuscript?
OM: Yes, he wrote in the year, I believe it was, 1931 while he was in St. Louis, Missouri. We all also got that information recorded in the book.
RB: How come him to be in St. Louis? Do you know?
OM: Well, he went west in the year about nineteen and ten and I think he first went to California and then back to Kansas and…and then to St. Louis.
RB: Did he take his wife and children with him?
OM: Yes. He took his whole family except my dad. He was the only one stayed here at Racoon.
RB: Was he the oldest? Is that why he stayed?
OM: No, he wasn’t the oldest. Yeah. I guess he was the oldest. He was the only child by him and his first wife, America Goff.
RB: Did she die or did they divorce?
OM: Well, yeah. She died young.
RB: How old was your father when his father left to go out west?
OM: That would be pretty hard for me to figure, I don’t bet. You could go to my book and deduct and subtract a little there and come up with an answer.
RB: He was probably a young man, though, because he had twelve children by the time you were born so he was probably a young man and married.
OM: Yeah. I’d say he should have been around thirty, something like that.
RB: Did your father remember any of the events of the feud or hear about them?
OM: No, he couldn’t remember any of the incidents, I don’t think except what was told to him.
RB: Alright. Do you have much contact with any of your McCoy cousins?
OM: Oh, yeah. I correspond with them. I got some in Kansas. Joshua Tree, California, and Tacoma, Washington, Remington, Washington, Pennsylvania.
RB: We were talking off tape. You said that a lot of McCoys didn’t stay in this area.
OM: No, they was quite a few of them went out west.
RB: Did they go looking for work or…?
OM: I guess they was seeking adventure.
RB: How did you come to have the manuscript that “Squirrel Huntin'” Sam wrote?
OM: Well, I obtained it from Sam when he was out here to pay us a visit in 1937.
RB: What kind of person was he?
OM: Oh, he was quite a tall man. About six foot or better.
RB: What do you remember about him?
OM: Well, when he visited us, he came out here to visit us about three times in the thirties. First come in ’36. ’38. Maybe ’39. He died in ’40. They shipped him back here.
RB: Do you know where he’s buried?
OM: Yeah.
RB: Where’s he buried?
OM: He’s buried in Collins Cemetery in the head of Frozen Creek.
RB: Okay. Were you always interested as a child in in your family history?
OM: Well, not in the early years. I always held on to that book though and preserved it. I guess I was around fifty-eight years when I let them publish it.
RB: Would you tell me on tape again who published it for you?
OM: Dr. Leonard Roberts of Pikeville College.
RB: Why was he interested in it? Do you know?
OM: Dr. Roberts?
RB: Un-huh.
OM: Well, he was working for the college and that’s how he… Well, it benefited the college, you know, doing Appalachian study centers, they called it. He published books and so on for them.
Killing of Bill Staten (1880)
21 Thursday Apr 2022
Tags
Appalachia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, justice of the peace, Kentucky, Logan County, Pike County, Sam McCoy, Tolbert Hatfield, Wall Hatfield, West Virginia
Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk | Filed under Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tom Chafin Recalls Story of Ellison Hatfield’s Killing (1989)
21 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan
Tags
Allen Hatfield, Anse Ferrell, Beech Creek, Cap Hatfield, Devil Anse Hatfield, Double Camp Hollow, Elias Hatfield, Ellison Hatfield, Estil Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Island Creek, John Hennen, Kentucky, Mate Creek, Matewan, Mingo County, North Matewan, Pigeon Creek, Pike County, Rutherford Hollow, Tom Chafin, Truman Chafin, Vicy Hatfield, Wall Hatfield, Warm Hollow, West Virginia, Williamson, Willis Hatfield
On June 21, 1989, scholar John Hennen interviewed Tom Chafin (1911-1997) of Williamson, West Virginia. What follows here is an excerpt of Mr. Chafin’s story about the death of his grandfather Ellison Hatfield in 1882 and other general memories of the Hatfield family.
JH: Okay, let’s go ahead and just follow that line. Tell me about Ellison Hatfield. And of course Ellison Hatfield was one of the participants in the early days of the so called Hatfield and McCoy feud.
TC: He’s the one that the McCoys killed. Uh, he lived up Mate Creek at the mouth of a hollow they call Double Camp Holler. He came down to Matewan here and got with some of his friends and they had a saloon here. It was called a saloon then, not the liquor store like we call it.
JH: Do you have any idea where that saloon was?
TC: Uh…the saloon was close to where the liquor store is now.
JH: Okay.
TC: I’m…I’m sure it was in the same building. That’s the Buskirk building. And he got with some of his friends and they got to drinking and was a having an election across the river in Pike County, Kentucky. Just across the river here. And he said to them said, some of his friends said, “Let’s go over and see how the elections goin’,” and when they got over there, they got into it with them and he was cut all to pieces with knives. He didn’t die in Kentucky. They loaded him up and hauled him back in a wagon. They hauled him back through the river up here at the upper end of Matewan and took him to Warm Holler. Now this is Warm Holler straight across from the bank on the right goin’ down there. You go across the railroad tracks. Uncle Anse Ferrell lived there. That was Ellison’s uncle. Uncle Anse Ferrell lived there in a big old log house. And they took Ellison there to his house that evening and he stayed there all that evening, all that night, and all day the next day and died the next evening. Just about dark. But in the mean time now, the Hatfields captured the three McCoy boys that they said did the killin’ of Ellison. Cuttin’ him up with knives. They captured them and took them up to a place they call North Matewan just out of Matewan here. They had and old school house there at the mouth of Rutherford Hollow. And they had an old school house there at the mouth of Rutherford Holler and that’s where they kept the three McCoy boys. All this evening, all night tonight, all day tomorrow, until tomorrow evening. And they brought him back down here, took him across the river and then a little drain, I call it, instead of a holler. It’s not a holler, it’s just a drain where water runs out where you go up to the radio station. That’s where they tied them to three papaw bushes. Now, we don’t have any papaw bushes around like we used to. We used to have whole orchards of them but they all disappeared. Why, they was papaws everywhere You could pick up a bushel of papaws anywhere when I was a boy. But you don’t even see a papaw tree any more. They said they tied them to three papaw bushes and killed all three of them.
JH: And this was after Ellison died?
TC: They waited until Ellison died. Say he died this evening and they went up there and got them and took them over there I believe the next morning.
JH: Who were some of the Hatfields involved in this?
TC: Well, to be exact, I’d say Cap… Cap was the head man. He was Devil Anse’s oldest son.
JH: I’d like you to tell me a little bit more about Cap Hatfield and well, do you have a personal memory of Devil Anse? I know you have been to his house when you were a boy.
TC: No.
JH: You can’t remember anything directly about him?
TC: I’ve been to his house. I know where his house is. I knew what kind of house it was. It was a log house and it had a window in that end of it and a window in this end of it and it was across the creek. I could show you right where it is on Island Creek over there and I can remember goin’ over there with my grandfather Mose Chafin. Now, he was a brother to Devil Anse’s wife, Aunt Vicy. We’d go over and see Aunt Vicy after Uncle Anse had died. I believe he died in 1921 and I was ten years old when he died. And when I would go over there with him, probably I was twelve or thirteen or something like that, after Uncle Anse had died. And we’d ride a horse. I’d ride on the hind and my grandfather Mose Chafin. And I could tell you exactly how to go. We’d go up Mate Creek across the hill into Beech Creek and from Beech Creek into Pigeon Creek and Pigeon Creek into Island Creek.
JH: And Vicy was still living at that time?
TC: Yeah.
JH: So you knew her then?
TC: Yeah. She was a pretty big fat woman. She wasn’t too big and fat. She was about, say, hundred and sixty, something like that, I’m guessin’. I’m gonna guess it. About a hundred and sixty pound. Anyhow, she was a big fat woman.
JH: Now, Cap lived on up into…to be an old man?
TC: Yeah. Willis is the last man that…last one to die.
JH: He was the son of Devil Anse also?
TC: Yeah. I was with him at a birthday party for Allen Hatfield on Beech Creek. That was his cousin. Allen was Elias’ boy* and he was Ellison’s boy**. Willis was. That made them first cousins and Willis was the only Hatfield left on Island Creek so we got him to come to that… Allen’s boy Estil Hatfield got him to come over to the birthday party, and I believe Truman went with me. He died in seventy-eight. I can tell you when he died.
JH: Willis?
TC: Willis died. Last child that Devil Anse had died in seventy-eight. 1978.
*Should read as “Wall’s boy”
**Should read as “Anse’s boy”
New Year’s Raid (1888): Daniel Whitt’s Testimony
23 Tuesday Nov 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Appalachia, Bob Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, Christmas, Court of Appeals, crime, Daniel Whitt, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, Elliot Hatfield, feuds, Frankfort, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Henry Mitchell, history, Jim McCoy, Jim Vance, Johnse Hatfield, Kentucky, Pike County, Pocahontas, Randolph McCoy, Tom Chambers, Tom Mitchell, true crime
Daniel Whitt’s testimony in the Johnse Hatfield murder trial provides one version of the Hatfield raid upon Randolph McCoy’s home on January 1, 1888:
Q. “Do you know Randolph McCoy?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “Do you know Cap Hatfield?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “Do you know Robert Hatfield, Ellison Mounts, Elliot Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, Thomas Mitchell, and Anderson Hatfield?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “Do you remember of the old man McCoy’s house being burned?”
A. “Yes sir, I heard of it.”
Q. “Where were you a short time before that occurred?”
A. “Three days before Christmas I was in the neighborhood of the Hatfield’s.”
Q. “Who was with you?”
A. “Ance Hatfield, Jim Vance, Johnson Hatfield, Cap Hatfield, Charles Gillespie, and Tom Mitchell, I believe about all of the bunch.”
Q. “What were you doing together and how long had you been together?”
A. “About three days and nights.”
Q. “Were all of you armed?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “What were you doing armed and together?”
A. “Just traveling in the woods most of the time.”
Q. “What did you sleep on?”
A. “We carried our quilts with us.”
Q. “Who was your captain?”
A. “Jim Vance.”
Q. “What was the purpose of your getting together?”
A. “They claimed the purpose was to get out of the way of the Kentucky authorities.”
Q. “What else did they claim?”
A. “When I left them we came to Henry Mitchell’s to get dinner. They wouldn’t let me hear what they had to talk about. Cap asked me if I was going to Kentucky with them. Said they were going to Kentucky to kill Randolph and Jim McCoy and settle the racket. He asked me if I was going with them and I said that I was not. He said that I would go or I would go to hell. I said that I would go to hell. Elias came and took me off. We slept in a shuck pen. When he got to sleep I ran away and went to Pocahontas and was there when this occurred.”
Q. “Was Johnson present when Cap was talking?”
A. “He was in the yard close enough to hear, and he came up to me when Cap was talking and took Cap out and had a talk with him.”
Source: Bill of exceptions at the office of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, Frankfort, KY.
Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 4 (1974)
30 Saturday Oct 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Logan, Matewan, Women's History
Tags
Appalachia, attorney, attorney general, Big Sandy River, Bill Smith, Cap Hatfield, Catlettsburg, Devil Anse Hatfield, feuds, genealogy, Georgia, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Howard B. Lee, Huntington, Jim Comstock, Joe Glenn, Kentucky, Logan, Logan County, logging, Mate Creek, Matewan, Mingo County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Ohio, Ohio River, Portsmouth, Tennessee, timbering, Tug Fork, University Law School, Wayne County, West Virginia, Wyoming County
Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:
“Mrs. Hatfield, we have talked much about an era that is gone. Feuds are ended, railroads and paved highways have come, the huge coal industry has developed, churches and schools are everywhere, and people are educated. Now, I would like to know something about you.”
This is the brief life-story of the remarkable and unforgettable Nancy Elizabeth Hatfield, as she related it to me.
She was Nancy Elizabeth Smith, called “Nan” by her family and friends, born in Wayne County, West Virginia, September 10, 1866. (She died August 24, 1942). In her early years, she lived “close enough to the Ohio River,” she said, “to see the big boats that brought people and goods up from below.” She attended a country school three months out of the year, and acquired the rudiments of a common school education, plus a yearning for wider knowledge.
While she was still a young girl her parents moved by push-boat up the Big Sandy and Tug rivers into what is now Mingo County, then Logan County. They settled in the wilderness on Mate Creek, near the site of the present town of Matewan.
“Why they made that move,” said Nancy Elizabeth, “I have never understood.”
In her new environment, in the summer of 1880, when she was 14 years old, Nancy Elizabeth married Joseph M. Glenn, an enterprising young adventurer from Georgia, who had established a store in the mountains, and floated rafts of black walnut logs, and other timber, down the Tug and Big Sandy rivers to the lumber mills of Catlettsburg, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio.
Two years after their marriage Glenn was waylaid and murdered by a former business associate, named Bill Smith–no relation to Nancy Elizabeth. Smith escaped into the wilderness and was never apprehended. The 16-year-old widow was left with a three-weeks old infant son, who grew into manhood and for years, that son, the late Joseph M. Glenn, was a leading lawyer in the city of Logan.
On October 11, 1883, a year after her husband’s death, at the age of 17, Nancy Elizabeth married the 19-year-old Cap Hatfield, second son of Devil Anse.
“He was the best looking young man in the settlement,” she proudly told me.
But at that time Cap had little to recommend him, except his good looks. He was born Feb. 6, 1864, during the Civil War, and grew up in a wild and lawless wilderness, where people were torn and divided by political and sectional hatreds and family feuds–a rugged, mountain land, without roads, schools, or churches.
When he married, Cap could neither read nor write, but he possessed the qualities necessary for survival in that turbulent time and place–he was “quick on the draw, and a dead shot.”
“When we were married, Cap was not a very good risk as a husband,” said Nancy Elizabeth. “The feud had been going on for a year, and he was already its most deadly killer. Kentucky had set a price on his head. But we were young, he was handsome, and I was deeply in love with him. Besides, he was the best shot on the border, and I was confident that he could take care of himself–and he did.”
Nancy Elizabeth taught her handsome husband to read and write, and imparted to him the meager learning she had acquired in the country school in Wayne County. But, more important, the she instilled into him her own hunger for knowledge.
Cap had a brilliant mind, and he set about to improve it. He and Nancy Elizabeth bought and read many books on history and biography, and they also subscribed for and read a number of the leading magazines of their day. In time they built up a small library or good books, which they read and studied along with their children.
At the urging of Nancy Elizabeth, Cap decided to study law, and enrolled at the University Law School at Huntington, Tennessee. But six months later, a renewal of the feud brought him back to the mountains. He never returned to law school, but continued his legal studies at home, and was admitted to the bar in Wyoming and Mingo counties. However, he never practiced the profession.
Nancy Elizabeth and Cap raised seven of their nine children, and Nancy’ss eyes grew moist as she talked of the sacrifices she and Cap had made that their children might obtain the education fate had denied to their parents. But her face glowed with a mother’s pride as she said:
“All our children are reasonably well educated. Three are college graduates, and the others attended college from one to three years. But, above everything else, they are all good and useful citizens.”
As I left the home of the remarkable and unforgettable Nancy Hatfield, I knew that I had been in the presence of a queenly woman–a real “Mountain Queen.”
Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 153-154.
Brig. Gen. James A. Garfield (1862)
26 Saturday Jun 2021
Tags
Appalachia, Brandon Kirk, civil war, history, James A. Garfield, Kentucky, Pike County, Pikeville, Union Army
New Year’s Raid (1888): Randolph McCoy’s Testimony
11 Friday Jun 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan
Tags
Alifair McCoy, Appalachia, Calvin McCoy, Court of Appeals, Frankfort, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Hence Chambers, history, Johnse Hatfield, Kentucky, Melvin McCoy, Pike County, Randolph McCoy, Sarah McCoy
Randolph McCoy’s testimony in the Johnse Hatfield murder trial provides one version of the Hatfield raid upon McCoy’s home on January 1, 1888:
Q. “How old are you?”
A. “I was born in 1825.”
Q. “Begin in your own way, and tell all about the case that you know.”
A. “The first thing I knew about it the dogs woke me up. My boy came to the bed and said, ‘Pa, they are coming. Get up.’ And by that time I was up on the floor, and they had surrounded the house and 1 heard one of them say, ‘God damn ye, come out and surrender yourselves, prisoners of war.’ We never spoke. By that time, they had come past the upper house as we called it. We got behind that door that broke. They fired a volley each way in the house and I moved for I saw that I could not stay there. Next, I went to the fireplace. Calvin went to the back of the house. They shot cross shots from each side of the door, through the doors. I stayed there a good while. They kept shooting and, finally, I went into the loft. The firing kept up a long time. I thought it a long time. Finally, they fired the house, the room that I was in, me and my wife, Calvin, and Melvin was in the same room. I took a cup and when the blaze would come through the house I would throw water on it and it out. Finally, the water gave out. The boy had gone up in the loft and I went up where he was. We stayed in the house until three of the joists had burned and the end of the joists had fell down before we had attempted to leave the house. The boy then came to me and said, ‘Pa, ye stay here, I can out-run you and I will go to the barn and try to attract their attention in that direction and maybe I can save you.’ He started and got past the corner of the house when they began firing again. He never got to the barn. The little boy hung onto me but I shoved him loose at the door and went out among them. I stepped out of the house and saw Johnson Hatfield standing eight or ten steps from the rest of them, and just as I stepped out of the house and looked up his gun fired in the direction of Calvin. I discovered that his gun had caught fowl and he was humped down working on it. I fired into the crowd then turned and fired at Johnson. I aimed to shoot him in the neck, but I aimed too low and shot him in the shoulder. The burning house made it as light as day and I know that it was Johnson.”
Q. “What did you do when you shot Johnson, the defendant?”
A. “I ran down the creek.”
Q. “Where did you go then?”
A. “I crawled into the shuck pen.”
Q. “Did you have on your night clothes?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “Where was Alafair McCoy?”
A. “She was in the upper part of the house. They did not fire that until the shots were fired at the other—the room we were in.”
Q. “What did you hear at that time?”
A. “I heard Alafair say, ‘Cap Hatfield and Hence Chambers, you would not shoot a poor innocent woman, would you?’ Then they said, ‘Shoot her, God damit, shoot her down. Spare neither men nor woman,’ and they shot her in the left breast. I heard her fall and struggle near the door. This was all before I came out of the house.”
Q. “Where did you stay that night?”
A. “In the shuck pen, I went back at daylight.”
Q. “What did you find?”
A. “I found my son lying there dead. My daughter dead with her hair froze in her blood to her heart.”
Q. “Was the house there?”
A. “No sir, it was burned up. The little girl had dragged her sister off from the house.”
Q. “How far from the house?”
A. “About thirty yards.”
Q. “How many shots did they fire?”
A. “No man could count them. They came in volleys and platoons.”
Q. “Did you have a gun too?”
A. “Yes sir.”
Q. “Was your wife in her night clothes?”
A. “Yes sir, they thought they had killed her, no doubt, or I think they would have done so.”
Source: Bill of exceptions at the office of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, Frankfort, KY.
Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 3 (1974)
11 Friday Jun 2021
Posted in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Appalachia, Cap Hatfield, civil war, Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Howard B. Lee, Island Creek, Kentucky, Logan, Logan County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Pikeville, Randolph McCoy, Tennis Hatfield, West Virginia
Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:
“Mrs. Hatfield, your husband and his father bore the same given names: ‘William Anderson’. How did they get the nicknames of ‘Cap’ and ‘Devil Anse’?”
“It is very simple,” she replied. “Early in life Devil Anse’s name was shortened to ‘Anse.’ During and after the Civil War he was called ‘Captain Anse’. The son, because he had the same name as his father, was called ‘Little Cap’. As the boy grew larger, the word ‘Little’ was dropped. Also, because of their fierceness in feud combats, the McCoys called the father ‘Devil Anse’ and the son ‘Bad Cap’. The newspapers took up the names and they stuck. Devil Anse liked and cultivated the title; but eventually the word ‘Bad’ was dropped from Cap’s nickname.
“Was I afraid? For years, day and night, I lived in fear. Afraid for my own safety, and for the safety of my loved ones. Constant fear is a terrible emotion. It takes a heavy toll, mentally and physically.
“I now think that my most anxious moments, as well as my greatest thrill, came years after the feud was over. In 1922, Tennis Hatfield and another deputy sheriff went over to Pikeville, Kentucky, to return a prisoner wanted in Logan County. While there, Tennis visited the aged Randolph McCoy1, surviving leader of his clan during the feud. (Tennis was born long after the feud was over.) The old man was delighted to see Devil Anse’s youngest son’, and Tennis spent the night with him.
“The next morning, Randolph told Tennis that he was going home with him. ‘I want to see Cap,’ he said, ‘and tell him how glad I am that I didn’t kill him. I am sorry Devil Anse is gone. I would like to see him, too.’ Tennis was worried. He didn’t know how Cap would receive his old enemy. So he left Randolph in Logan while he acme up to our place to consult Cap.
“Cap listened to Tennis’ story, and said: ‘Does he come in peace?’ ‘Yes,’ said Tennis. ‘He comes in peace.’ ‘Does he come unarmed?’ ‘Yes, he comes unarmed.’ ‘Then I shall be happy to greet him in the same way. Bring him up for supper and he shall spend the night with us.
“My anxious moments were just before these two strong-willed men met. I knew how they had hated each other, that each had tried to kill the other, more than once, that each had killed relatives and friends of the other, and I was afraid of what they might do when they stood face to face.
“My thrill came when I saw them clasp hands, and heard each one tell the other how happy he was to see him. They talked far into the night, and bother were up early the next morning, eager to continue their talks. Tennis came about one o’clock to drive Randolph back to his Kentucky home. Cap watched them until they passed out of sight up the creek, and then remarked, ‘You know, I always did like that cantankerous old cuss.’
“Cap and Randolph never saw each other again.”
1Should be Jim McCoy, son of Randolph.
Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 152-153
Ed Haley Fiddle Contest (2000)
20 Thursday May 2021
J.P. Fraley: Eastern Kentucky Fiddler
12 Wednesday May 2021
Tags
Ashland, Danielle Fraley, fiddler, fiddling, folklorist, J.P. Fraley, Kentucky, Kentucky Highlands Museum, music, Rob McNurlin, Ron Dobler
Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk | Filed under Music
Randolph McCoy Property in Magnolia District (1866)
11 Tuesday May 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley
Tags
Anna McCoy, Appalachia, Big Sandy River, Cordelia McCoy, David Mounts, Elizabeth Vance, H.H. Williamson, Hezekiah Blankenship, John Ferrell, justice of the peace, Kentucky, Little Blackberry Creek, Logan County, Magnolia Township, Pigeon Roost Bottom, Pike County, Pleasant McCoy, Randolph McCoy, Richard Vance, West Virginia, William A. Dempsey, William McCoy
The following land information is derived from Land Book 1866-1872 at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV:
Randolph McCoy (of Logan County)1
[On December 15, 1837, Randolph McCoy of Logan County deeded 83 acres to Hezekiah Blankenship for $150. References Pigeon Roost Bottom. John Ferrell and David Mounts were justices of the peace. Deed Book __, page 136.]
[On September 17, 1845, Randolph and Anna McCoy of Pike County, KY, deeded 200 acres to Daniel McCoy for $300. Deed Book B, page 538-539.]
[On February 11, 1854, Elizabeth Vance2 deeded __ acres to Randolph McCoy for $300 all her land in Logan County excepting what she has sold to H.H. Williamson and William A. Dempsey. Beginning below the mill seat; references the island below Little Blackberry Creek and the ash gap in the horse ridge. Pleasant McCoy was a justice of the peace. Deed Book __, page 337.]
[On February 11, 1854, Richard Vance3 deeded __ acres to Randolph McCoy for $200 all of his lands in Logan County. Joseph Murphy and P. McCoy were justices of the peace. Deed Book C, page 444-445.]
No property listed in 1865.
1866: Magnolia Township
199 acres Sandy River $2.50 per acre no building $497 total
75 acres Sandy River $1.75 per acre no building $431 total
No property listed thereafter.
***
1Son of William and Cordelia (Campbell) McCoy.
2Mother of Jim Vance.
3Brother of Jim Vance.
Daniel McCoy Property in Magnolia District (1866-1872)
11 Tuesday May 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Matewan
Tags
Anna McCoy, Appalachia, Asa Harmon McCoy, Big Sandy River, Cordelia McCoy, Daniel McCoy, genealogy, history, John Ferrell, John Green, John Lawson, Kentucky, Logan County, Magnolia District, Magnolia Township, Pike County, Randolph McCoy, Robert Jackson, Sand Lick Creek, Virginia, West Virginia, William McCoy
The following land information is derived from Land Book 1866-1872 at the Logan County Clerk’s Office in Logan, WV:
Daniel McCoy (of Logan County)1
[On December 27, 1841, Andrew Varney deeded 200 acres to Daniel McCoy for $100. Part of John Green survey bought of John Lawson by said Varney and Randolph McCoy2; references the Stafford farm; lists A. Ferrell and John Ferrell as justices of the peace. Deed Book B, page 367-368.]
[On September 17, 1845, Randolph2 and Anna McCoy of Pike County, KY, deeded 200 acres to Daniel McCoy for $300. Deed Book B, page 538-539.]
No property listed in 1865.
1866: Magnolia Township
200 acres Sandy River $6 per acre $50 building $1200 total
1867: Magnolia Township
200 acres Sandy River $6.83 per acre $50 building $1200 total
1868: Magnolia Township
200 acres Two Tracts Sand Lick Creek $6.30 per acre $50 building $1260 total
1869-1871: Magnolia Township
200 acres Sandy River $6.30 per acre $50 building $1260 total
1872: Magnolia Township
Daniel McCoy deeded 200 acres on Sandy River worth $6.30 per acre with $50 building total $1260 to Robert Jackson and others of Logan County
No property listed thereafter.
***
1Father to Randolph and Harmon McCoy of Hatfield-McCoy Feud fame.
2Son of William and Cordelia (Campbell) McCoy.
Anderson Hatfield Deposition Relating to Civil War Case (1869)
30 Tuesday Mar 2021
Posted in Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Abe C. Ferrell, Appalachia, civil war, Devil Anse Hatfield, farming, genealogy, Greenville Taylor, history, Kentucky, Lewis Sowards, Logan County, M.C.W. Sowards, Peach Orchard, Peter Creek, Pike County, R.M. Ferrell, Thomas J. Sowards, West Virginia
The deposition of Anderson Hatfield taken on the 20th day of August 1869 at the house of Greenville Taylor near the mouth of Peter Creek in Pike County Ky. To be read as evidence in behalf of the defendant (Jacob Cline) in the suit of M.C.W. Sowards, Lewis Sowards, and Thos. J. Sowards, plantiff, against Jacob Cline, defendant, pending in Pike Circuit Court.
The deponent Anderson Hatfield of lawful age and being by me first sworn deposeth and says:
Question: State your age residence and occupation.
Ans. I am 30 years old my residence in Logan Co., West Virginia. My occupation is farmer.
Question by same: Are you acquainted with the defendant Jacob Cline?
Ans. Yes sir.
Question by : Do you or not know how deft Cline happened to go with the squad to take Sowards goods at Peach Orchard Ky.?
Ans. He had come back from the Federal army and give up to the rebels and they were talking around that if he did not join the rebels that they would kill him and he joined the rebels under these circumstances and went to Peach Orchard. He made several excuses to get out of going but none of them were availing and he had to go.
Question by same. Did he go willingly or unwillingly?
Ans. He went unwillingly.
Question by same. State if you know where defendant Cline was at the time Sowards goods were taken.
Ans. He was on the point this side of the store of Sowards. Something near half a mile distant. He was placed there as a _____.
Question by same. Do you or not know who got the goods after they were taken from Sowards?
Ans. I do not know who all did get goods.
Question by same. Did Jacob Cline get any of the goods taken?
Ans. If he did I do not know it. He did not take any from the store. I was with him and come out with him from there and if he had any goods I did not see them. If he had any goods I think I would have certainly seen them.
Question by same. Would he not have endangered his life by refusing to go, taking everything into consideration that is all the surrounding circumstances of the case?
Ans. He was threatened that if he did not join the company and go he would be killed and this was by men who did kill sometimes.
Question by same. State as near as you can the amount of goods taken from Sowards also how much they had in store at the time of the robbery.
Ans. I don’t think there was exceeding $500.00 worth of goods in Sowards store at the time and I think $300.00 would be the greatest possible amount of the goods taken. And further this deponent saith not.
Attest. Abe C. Ferrell, Ex Anderson (his mark) Hatfield
1 days attendance 26 miles $2.04
State of Kentucky
Pike County
I Abe C. Ferrell Examiner for County and state aforesaid do certify that the foregoing deposition of Anderson Hatfield was taken before me and was read to and subscribed by him in my presence at the time and place and in the action mentioned in the caption the said Anderson Hatfield having been by me first sworn that the evidence he should give in the action should be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and his statement reduced to writing by me in his presence the defendant Jacob Cline being above present at the examination. Given under my hand this 20th day of August 1869.
Abe C. Ferrell, Examiner
Pike Co.
Examiners Fee 1 Deposition $1.00
Entering 1 witness 25 80 miles $4.00 $4.25
$5.25
$2.04
1 witness claim $7.29
***
[On the reverse side of the last paper:]
Jacob Cline & C
Ans: Deposition of Anderson Hatfield
M.C.W. Sowards & C
Filed Aug 24th 1869.
Abe C. Ferrell, D. for R.M. Ferrell, CPC
Anse Hatfield Letter to Perry Cline (1886)
06 Saturday Mar 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Pikeville
Tags
Appalachia, Cap Hatfield, Coleman Hatfield, Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Jeff McCoy, Kentucky, Logan County, Mingo County, Nancy E. Hatfield, Perry Cline, Pike County, Pikeville, Preacher Anse Hatfield, Ron Blackburn, Tom Dotson, Tom Wallace, West Virginia, William S. Ferrell
Logan County, W.Va.
December 26, 1886
Mr. P.A. Cline
Pikeville, Ky.
Dear Sir:
I had to answer your Letter in regard to the Late Trouble. We are all very sorry that the Trouble occurred but under Somewhat aggravated circumstances it hapened. but I know and solemnly affirm that if such could have been prevented by me I would have stoped the Trouble. but it has gone by & cannot be ___. Cap was away from Home and Jeff went there to his house in the presents of his wife lying on her sick bed and had been under Treatment of the Doctor for three or four weeks and in undertaking to arrest Wallace shot into the House and when Cap came home he went and arrested Jeff to hand him over to a peace officer. & he met with Tom Wallace, and Wallace went with him and at William S. Ferrell’s he Broke loose in the presents of Wallace, and swam the river and Wallace followed shooting at him. I hope that if their is any question Relative to this affair that it will be ___ by a fair statement of the case.
Your friend
Ans. Hatfield
William S. Ferrell statement
At the time Jeff started Cap was of conversing with me some 40 or 50 yds and I never seen Cap Hatfield fire a single shot. You can write to Wm S. Ferrell for now in conclusion I will say to all the relatives of Jeff McCoy that neither one of the Hatfields has any animosity against them and very sorry that such has occurred and sincerely Trust that there will be no more Trouble in regard to the matter. Perry the very Bottom of this crime is nothing more nor less than Mary Daniels and her girls. Now Bill is gone and says he won’t come back. No person is going to Trouble him let him come back.
Very Respectfully,
Anderson Hatfield
NOTE: Ron G. Blackburn owns the original letter. A copy can be seen in Thomas Dotson’s The Hatfield & McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner: Rescuing History (2013), p. 232-233. Coleman Hatfield said that Nancy E. Hatfield, wife of Cap, wrote the letter, while Tom Dotson feels that Preacher Anse Hatfield wrote the letter.
Absentee Landowners of Magnolia District (1870, 1876, 1886, 1889)
22 Monday Feb 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Matewan
Tags
A.J. Baker, Alexander Mounts, Anthony Lawson, Appalachia, Asbury Hurley, Charles Mounts, Charleston, Christian M. Cline, Cincinnati, Edward Cline, Eli Trent Jr., Four Pole Creek, genealogy, history, J.C. Alderson, J.D. Sergeant, Jackson Mounts, Jacob Smith, James Laidley, James M. Lawson, James OKeeffe, John Counts, John Mullins, Julius C. Williamson, Julius Williamson, Kanawha County, Kentucky, Lewis Ferrell, McDowell County, Minnesota, Morehead, Oswald Schaaf, Philadelphia, Pike County, Pond, Roane County, Stuart Wood, T.W. Blankenship, Tazewell County, W.W. Adams, Warren Alderson, Warren M. Alderson, Wayne County, West Virginia, Wheeling, William Collins, William P. Payne, William Prater, Wytheville
What follows is a list of absentee landowners in Magnolia Township/District of Logan County, WV, for 1870, 1876, 1886, and 1889… There are three significant types of absentee landowners: 1) those who live outside of Logan County; 2) those who live in Logan County but outside of Magnolia District; and 3) those who own property, for example, at Mate Creek but reside, for example, at Grapevine Creek (both within the district). This list does not include the latter type.
1870
Alexander Mounts, Kentucky, 300 acres
John Counts, Minnesota, 230 acres
Charles Mounts Estate and Jackson Mounts, Kentucky, 150 acres
John Mullins, McDowell County, 150 acres
Christian M. Cline, McDowell County, 85 acres
1876
Jacob Cline’s Heirs, Kentucky, 5000 acres
Warren M. Alderson, Kentucky, 4518 acres
Julius Williamson, Kentucky, 1375 acres
William Collins, Kentucky, 1045 acres
John W. Deskins, McDowell County, 555 acres
Eli Trent, Jr., Wayne County, 524 acres
James M. Lawson, Kentucky, 417.25
William Prater, Kentucky, 240 acres
Asbury Hurly Heirs, Kentucky, 214 acres
Alexander Mounts, Kentucky, 75 acres
Edward Cline, McDowell County, 25 acres
John Mullins, McDowell County, 15 acres
1886
Warren Alderson, Morehead KY, 2999 acres
Jacob Smith, Mouth of Pond KY, 2050 acres
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1581 acres
Julius C. Williamson, Kentucky, 1353 acres
T.W. Blankenship, Roane County, 1200 acres
Anthony Lawson estate, Wytheville VA, 816 acres
Oswald Schaaf, Cincinnati OH, 650 acres
A.J. Baker, unknown, 300 acres
James Laidley, Kanawha County, 141 acres
1889
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 8976 acres
James OKeeffe, Tazewell County VA, 3592 acres
Stuart Wood, Philadelphia PA, 1093 acres
Warren Alderson, Morehead KY*, 800 acres
F. Slutienburgh, Cincinnati OH, 350 acres
J.C. Alderson and W.W. Adams et al., Wheeling and Charleston
Lewis Ferrell heirs, Pike County KY
Anthony Lawson heirs, Wytheville VA
William P. Payne et al., McDowell County
*Note: Residence located in Logan County in 1889 but in Morehead, Kentucky, for all other years.
Source: Land Book 1866-1872, Land Book 1873-1874, Land Book 1880-1886 and Land Book 1887-1892.
Significant Tracts in Magnolia District (1867, 1870, 1876, 1886-1889)
19 Friday Feb 2021
Posted in Beech Creek, Big Sandy Valley, Matewan, Wharncliffe
Tags
Alex D. Trent, Beech Creek, Ben Creek, Bend Creek, Big Sandy River, David Mounts, Devil Anse Hatfield, Elias Hatfield, Elkhorn Sandy River Trust Company, genealogy, Glen Alum, Grapevine Creek, history, Isabella Rutherford, J.C. Williamson, J.D. Sergeant, Jacob Cline, Jacob Phillips, Jacob Smith, James Vance Jr., John Ferrell, John Francesco, John W. Deskins, Joseph Glen, Julius Williamson, justice of the peace, Kentucky, Lewis Ratcliff, Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, M.A. Ferrell, M.B. Lawson, Magnolia District, Michael A. Ferrell, Mingo County, Morehead, Philadelphia, Pigeon Creek, Richard Ferrell, Richard Maynard, Richard Ratcliff, Richard Ratliff, Right Fork, Roane County, Spring Fork, Spruce Fork, T.W. Blankenship, Thacker Creek, Tug River, Warren Alderson, West Virginia, William Ferrell, William S. Ferrell
What follows is a list of 1000-plus-acre tracts in Magnolia Township/District of Logan County, WV, for 1867, 1870, and 1886-1889…
1867
Jacob Cline’s Heirs, Logan County, 5000 acres, Sandy River
William Ferrell, Logan County, 3900 acres, Sandy River
Richard Maynard, Logan County, 3250 acres, Sandy River
David Mounts, Logan County, 3000 acres, Tug River and Tributaries
John Ferrell, Logan County, 2812 acres, Sandy River
Warren Alderson, Logan County, 2740 acres, Right Fork Ben Creek
John Ferrell, Logan County, 1814 acres, Pigeon Creek
Richard Ratliff, Logan County, 1340 acres, Stafford and Beech Creek
John W. Deskins, Logan County, 1305 acres, Thacker Creek and Sandy River
Warren Alderson, Logan County, 1300 acres, Spring Fork of Ben Creek
John Ferrell, Logan County, 1100 acres, Sandy River
Jacob Phillips, Logan County, 1000 acres, Sandy River
1870
Jacob Cline’s Estate, Logan County, 5000 acres, Sandy River
Richard Ferrell, Logan County, 3900 acres, On Sandy River
John Ferrell, Logan County, 3075 acres, 7 Tracts on Pigeon
David Mounts Estate, Logan County, 3000 acres, Tug Fork and Tributaries
Warren Alderson, Logan County, 2740 acres, Right Fork Ben Creek
Richard Maynard, Logan County, 2430 acres, On Sandy River
John W. Deskins, Logan County, 1305 acres, Turkey Sandy River
Warren Alderson, Logan County, 1300 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek
William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 1100 acres, Sandy River
1876
Jacob Cline’s Heirs, Kentucky, 5000 acres, Grape Vine and Sandy
William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 3000 acres, Thacker and Sandy River
Warren M. Alderson, Kentucky, 2640 acres, Right Fork of Ben Creek
Isabella Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River
Michael A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River
Warren M. Alderson, Kentucky, 1175 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek
Richard Ratcliff, Logan County, 1140 acres, Stafford Branch Sandy
Julius Williamson, Logan County, 1000 acres, Sandy and Branches
1886
William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres
Warren Alderson, Morehead KY, 2640 acres, Sandy River
Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres
Jacob Smith, Mouth of Pond KY, 1500 acres
James Vance, Jr., Logan County, 1500 acres
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1481 acres
Elias Hatfield, Logan County, 1431 acres
M.A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres
T.W. Blankenship, Roane County, 1200 acres
1887
William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thackers Creek and Sandy River
Warren Alderson, Morehead KY, 2640 acres, Sandy River
Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2360 acres, Grape Vine
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1481 acres, Beech Creek
Elias Hatfield, Logan County, 1471 acres, Four tracts on Mates Creek
M.A. Ferrell, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River
T.W. Blankenship, Roane County, 1200 acres, Spruce Fork of Ben Creek
1888
Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2656 1/2 acres, Grapevine Creek
William S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thacker and Sandy
J.C. Williamson, Logan County, 1837 acres, Four tracts on Alum and Sandy River
Lewis Ratcliff, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River
John Francesco, Logan County, 1500 acres, Grapevine and Thacker
Simpkins and M.B. Lawson’s Heirs, Logan County, 1500 acres, Richard Ratcliff Farm and Sandy River
Elkhorn Sandy R. Trust Co., Logan County, 1481 acres, Ben Creek and Sandy
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1385 acres, Sandy River
M.A. Ferrell*, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River
1889
Anderson Hatfield, Logan County, 2656 1/2 acres, Grapevine Creek
W.S. Ferrell, Logan County, 2650 acres, Thacker and Sandy River
J.C. Williamson, Logan County, 1837 acres, 4 Tracts on Alum and Sandy River
Lewis Rutherford, Logan County, 1600 acres, Sandy River
Jacob Smith, Logan County, 1500 acres, Richard Ratcliff’s Farm and Sandy River
John Francesco, Logan County, 1500 acres, Grape Vine
Elkhorn Sandy River Trust Company, Logan County, 1481 acres, Ben Creek and Sandy River
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1385 acres, Sandy River
Joseph Glen, Logan County, 1377 acres, Tug River Below Mouth Bend
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1354 1/4 acres, Mates Creek
J.D. Sergeant, Philadelphia PA, 1338 3/4 acres, Grapevine
M.A. Ferrell*, Logan County, 1300 acres, Sandy River
Alex D. Trent, Logan County, 1246 acres, Spring Fork Ben Creek
Note: On November 6, 1888, M.A. Ferrell was elected justice of the peace; his term commenced on January 1, 1889.
Source: Land Book 1866-1872, Land Book 1873-1874, Land Book 1880-1886, and Land Book 1887-1892.
Hatfield-McCoy Feud Radio Spot
16 Tuesday Feb 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Appalachia, Big Sandy River, Elias Hatfield, feuds, fiddle, Floyd Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Johnse Hatfield, Kentucky, Randolph McCoy, Roseanna McCoy, Tolbert McCoy, Tug Fork, West Virginia
Perry A. Cline Deed to Anderson Hatfield (1877)
12 Friday Feb 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Hatfield-McCoy Feud
Tags
Devil Anse Hatfield, genealogy, Green W. Taylor, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, history, Jacob Cline Sr., Kentucky, Logan County, Martha Cline, Perry Cline, Pike County, Tug River, West Virginia
Nancy E. Hatfield Memories, Part 2 (1974)
02 Saturday Jan 2021
Posted in Big Sandy Valley, Civil War, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Women's History
Tags
attorney general, Battle of Gravepine, Battle of Scary Creek, Cap Hatfield, Charleston, civil war, Confederate Army, crime, Dan Cunningham, detective, Devil Anse Hatfield, Ellison Mounts, feuds, Frank Phillips, Hatfield-McCoy Feud, Howard B. Lee, Jim Comstock, Johnse Hatfeild, Kentucky, Logan Wildcats, Nancy Hatfield, Roseanna McCoy, Tug Fork, Union Army, West Virginia, West Virginia Women
Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia, provided this account of Nancy Hatfield (widow of Cap) in the early 1970s:
Our next stop was at the home of Nancy Elizabeth, the same home where I visited with her and Cap during my campaign. For nearly three hours I asked questions and listened to that remarkable woman recount many of her experiences as the wife of America’s most celebrated feudist.
Nancy Elizabeth’s home also held a number of guns, pistols, and other relics of the feud days. But the most interesting item was Cap’s bullet-proof, steel breastplate, designed to cover the entire front half of his body from his beck to his lower abdomen.
“Mrs. Hatfield,” I said, “judging from the three bullet marks on it, this breastplate was a great protection to Cap; but what was to prevent an enemy from shooting him in the back?” Her eyes flashed as she replied: “Mr. Lee, Cap Hatfield never turned his back on an enemy or a friend.”
“I have read two stories, Mrs. Hatfield, each purporting to give the true cause of the feud: One book stated that it was the result of a dispute between a McCoy and a Hatfield over the ownership of a hog. Another book said that it grew out of the seduction of a McCoy girl by Johnson Hatfield, oldest son of Devil Anse. Is either one of these stories true?”
“No, neither story is true,” she replied. “The McCoys lived on the Kentucky side of Tug River, and the Hatfields lived on the West Virginia side. Hogs don’t swim rivers. I never heard the girl story until I read it in a book, written long after the feud was over. Both stories are pure fiction.”
“The truth is,” she continued, “in the fall of 1882, in an election-day fight between Ellison Hatfield, a younger brother of Devil Anse, and three McCoy brothers, Ellison was shot and knifed. He died two days later. In retaliation, Devil Anse and his clan captured and shot the three McCoy brothers. It was these four senseless killings that started the feud.”
In answer to my inquiry, Nancy Elizabeth said: “Yes, there had been ‘bad blood’ between the two families since the Civil War. In that struggle the Hatfields were ‘rebels’,–loyal to their State, Virginia. Devil Anse organized and was the captain of a company of Confederate sympathizers called the ‘Logan Wildcats’. They were recruited for local defense; but they left the county long enough to take part in the battle of Scary, fought along the banks of the Kanawha River, a few miles below Charleston.
“The McCoys, and their mountain neighbors, were pro-Union; and to protect their region against invasion by ‘Virginia rebels’, they organized a military company called ‘Home Guards’. There were occasional border clashes between the two forces, with casualties on both sides. The war ended only seventeen years before the feud began, and the bitterness still existed in the minds of the older generation, and they passed it on to their children. It was the old sectional and political hatreds that sparked the fight between Ellison Hatfield and the McCoy brothers.”
Nancy Elizabeth declined to estimate the number killed on either side of the feud.
“It was a horrible nightmare to me,” she said. “Sometimes, for months, Cap never spent a night in our house. He and Devil Anse, with others, slept in the nearby woods to guard our homes against surprise attacks. At times, too, we women and our children slept in hidden shelters in the forests.
“But these assaults were not one-sided affairs. The Hatfields crossed the Tug and killed McCoys. It was a savage war of extermination, regardless of age or sex. Finally, to get our children to a safer locality, we Hatfields left Tug River, crossed the mountains, and settled here on Island Creek, a tributary of the Guyandotte River.
“No, there was no formal truce ending hostilities. After a decade or more of fighting and killing, both sides grew tired and quit. The McCoys stayed in Kentucky and the Hatfields kept to West Virginia. The feud was really over a long time before either side realized it.
“Yes, Kentucky offered a large reward for the capture of Devil Anse and Cap. The governor of West Virginia refused to extradite them because, said he, ‘their trials in Kentucky would be nothing more than legalized lynchings’. It was then that Kentucky’s governor offered the reward for their capture–‘dead or alive’. Three attempts were made by reward seekers to capture them.
“Dan Cunningham, a Charleston detective, with two Cincinnati detectives, made the first attempt. They came through Kentucky, and crossed Tug River in the night; but the Hatfields soon captured them. A justice of the peace sentenced them to 90 days in Logan County jail for disturbing hte peace. When released, they were told to follow the Guyandotte River to Huntington, a distance of 60 miles, and ‘not to come back’.
“Next, a man named Phillips led two raids from Kentucky into Hatfield territory. In the first, he captured ‘Cottontop’ Mounts, a relative and supporter of the Hatfields, and took him to Pikeville, Kentucky, where he was hanged. But the second foray met with disaster at the ‘Battle of the Grapevine’. Phillips, and some of his followers escaped into Kentucky, but some where buried where they fell.
“This was the last attempt of the reward seekers. However, Kentucky never withdrew the reward offer, and that is why Devil Anse and Cap were always alarmed and on the alert.”
Source: West Virginia Women (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 151-152
Brandon Ray Kirk 