Hatfield-McCoy feud

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Hatfield-McCoy feud
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The Hatfield-McCoy feud (1878–1891) is an American story about two families fighting that has become world famous. It involved two families of the West Virginia-Kentucky area along the Tug Fork River, off the Big Sandy River.

The Hatfields lived on the West Virginia side of the Tug Fork, and the McCoys lived on the Kentucky side. Both families were part of the first wave of pioneers to settle the Tug Valley. Both were involved in the manufacture and sale of moonshine. Both apparently were involved in pro-Confederate guerrilla activity during the American Civil War. The Hatfields were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield (1839–1921). The McCoys were led by Randolph "Ole Ran’l" McCoy (1825–1914).

They had both acquired much land and respectability. The Hatfields were more affluent than the McCoys and were well-connected politically, but both families owned a good amount of property.

According to historian Altina L. Waller, "Most accounts of the Hatfield-McCoy feud begin with the death of Asa Harmon McCoy on 7 January 1865." The uncle felt hatred toward Harmon McCoy because he had joined the Union army. Harmon had been discharged from the army early because of a broken leg. Several nights after he returned home, he was murdered in a cave nearby.

As legends go, the first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1878 dispute about the ownership of a pig. Floyd Hatfield had it and Randolph McCoy said it was his. But in truth, the dispute was over land or property lines and the ownership of that land. The pig was only in the fight because one family believed that since the pig was on their land, that meant it was theirs; the other side objected.

The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace, and the McCoys lost because of the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. In June 1880, Staton was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, who were later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.

The feud got worse after Roseanna McCoy began an affair with Johnse Hatfield, leaving her family to live with the Hatfields in West Virginia. Roseanna eventually returned to the McCoys, but when the couple tried to resume their relationship, Johnse Hatfield was kidnapped by the McCoys, and was saved only when Roseanna made a desperate ride to alert Devil Anse Hatfield, who organized a rescue party.

Despite what was seen as a betrayal of her family on his behalf, Johnse thereafter abandoned the pregnant Roseanna, marrying instead her cousin Nancy McCoy in 1881. The feud burst into full fury in 1882, when Ellison Hatfield was brutally murdered by three of Roseanna McCoy's brothers, Tolber, Pharmer, and Bud, stabbed 26 times and finished off with a shot.

The brothers were themselves murdered in turn as the vendetta escalated. They had been kidnapped after they had murdered Ellison. They were tied to Paw Paw bushes and shot many times each. Their bodies were described as "bullet-riddled".

Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families, becoming headline news around the country and compelling the Governors of both Kentucky and West Virginia to call up the United States National Guard to restore order after the disappearance of dozens of bounty hunters sent to calm the bloodshed. The Hatfields claimed more lives than the McCoys did by the time order had been restored.

Eight Hatfields were kidnapped and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of a female member of the McCoy clan, Alifair. She had been shot after exiting a burning building that had been set alight by a group of Hatfields. Because of issues of due process and extradition, the Supreme Court of the United States became involved.

Eventually, the eight men were tried in Kentucky, and all eight were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, and the eighth was executed in a public hanging (even though it was prohibited by law), probably as a warning to end the violence. Thousands of spectators attended the hanging in Pikeville, Kentucky. The families finally agreed to disagree in 1891.

On June 14, 2003, descendants of the Hatfield and McCoy families signed a truce in Pikeville, though the conflict had ended a century earlier. Many tourists each year travel to parts of West Virginia and Kentucky to see the areas and historic relics which remain from the days of the feud.