Hatfield N Mccoy's Adventures

09/13/2024

The McCoy Legacy: Uriah McCoy (1824-1889) of Pike County was the well-respected son of Sam and Elizabeth Davis McCoy. Uriah married Elizabeth Ann Rutherford McCoy on May 23, 1850. She was the daughter of Reuben and Mary Polly Keesee Rutherford.

The children from their marital union included Asa McCoy, Elliott Alexander McCoy, Mary Polly McCoy Bragg, Vicie McCoy Gregory, Thomas McCoy, Arizona McCoy Staton, and Sallie McCoy Roberts.

Seibern Hazelett, a friend of this page, once added that Uriah was a “brother of Randolph ‘Ran’l’ McCoy's wife, Sarah ‘Sally’ McCoy. Sarah and Uriah were also first cousins of Randolph.”

Uriah and Elizabeth Ann McCoy were buried at the McCoy Cemetery at Burnwell, Kentucky.

Hazelett added, “The McCoy Cemetary at Burnwell is on a hill overlooking the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, and a couple of miles downstream from Matewan, WV. Aunt Betty McCoy's home, the wife of Uriah, which was a prominent location in the TV series about the feud, was in the valley at the northwest end of this hill.”

09/10/2024

07/31/2024

Let me start by saying my brother Scotty knows more than I do about the feud. Here is my story:
If I made a C on my report card, I had to go to Miss Gay’s house for tutoring. She was married to Ellison Hatfield’s youngest son, Kirk. Since Devil Anse was my great-uncle, Gay would help me with my studies, and Kirk would tell me about the family. At the time, I should have paid more attention. Kirk’s grandson, Ralph Michael, was my best friend, and we hung around all the time, sharing more stories.

I never understood why people were so interested in the feud until Scotty appeared on the television show “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s White Lightning.” I would have never given it another thought. I do know a few stories that were told by Kirk that others may not know, but I am proud to be part of the family. None of my kids were interested in the stories, but I have collected them in the hope that someone down our line will want to learn. This is why this page is here.

Call now to connect with business.

06/11/2024

You are welcome to email any questions about Hatfields and Mccoys to [email protected]

05/10/2024

I now have my account back. If you have questions you may message me. I grew up in Newtown WV. I am married to the beautiful Ruth Ann I go to the Martin County Free Will Baptist Church. It has taken a while but the person that took advantage has dissapeared from his village.

11/29/2023

SURVEYING FOR THE RAILROAD: Mapping out the future. In this rare photograph from 1893, William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield is shown, second from left, with a pistol on his hip. The southern West Virginia sharpshooter, woodsman, Confederate States Army veteran, logger, and feud patriarch works in conjunction with a surveying team on portions of rural southern West Virginia.

No one knew the area better than Devil Anse Hatfield. It’s believed the members of the crew, with his help, mapped out areas in preparation for the cutting and construction of railroad lines through the Appalachian Mountains and river valleys.

Anse offered his expert advice concerning geography and topography of the region, as he also protected his own timber business interests.

With the coming of the railroad, southern West Virginia would change in many ways.

— SOURCE, photo from WVU Regional History Collection

11/10/2023

AD ENDING FOR A FAMILY PATRIARCH: This heart-breaking image was taken during the solemn funeral services conducted for Randolph "Ol' Ran'l" McCoy (October 30, 1825 – March 28, 1914).
For some McCoys, with Ran’l’s passing, it seemed that this was the unexpected end to an era. Ran'l, who was a key character in the Hatfield-McCoy vendetta, died in March 1914 from complications from injuries suffered after toppling into a blazing cooking-fire at his home. A sad ending, indeed. His casket, as shown, was especially ornate for its period in eastern Kentucky.
***
Randolph McCoy grew up in the Tug River Valley, which marked the boundary between Kentucky and West Virginia. He was born on the Kentucky side of the valley, one of 13 children. There he learned to hunt and farm, two main ways people living in this part of Appalachia supported themselves. McCoy grew up in poverty. His father, Daniel, had little interest in work, so his mother, Margaret, had to struggle to care for, feed and clothe the family.
In 1849, McCoy married his first cousin, Sarah "Sally" McCoy. Sally inherited land from her father a few years after they married. They settled on this 300-acre spread in Pike County, Kentucky, where they had 16 children together. During the Civil War, McCoy served as a soldier for the Confederacy. He may have even been a part of the same local militia as his later nemesis, William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield. While most of the McCoys supported the Confederacy, his brother Asa Harmon McCoy fought for the Union side. When Asa returned home, he hid out in a cave for a time. But he could not avoid his Confederate neighbors forever. In 1865, he was shot and killed by someone who objected to his Union sympathies. It is believed by some that either Devil Anse Hatfield or his fellow Confederate leader Jim Vance murdered Asa.
Initially, some considered Asa Harmon McCoy's death as one of the causes of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. Others have ruled it out, saying that the McCoys were staunch Confederate supporters, too. They probably did not take kindly to Asa's Union activities. The bad blood between the two families did not develop until much later ...
(For the entire story, see: https://www.biography.com/military-figure/randall-mccoy)
After the [feud era and] trials, Randall seemed to live a quiet life in Kentucky. He operated a ferry in Pikeville for some time. He died in 1914 from injuries he suffered after falling into a cooking fire. Once a leading player in one of history's most notorious family feuds, McCoy seemed to slip from this world without much notice. He was buried in the Dils Cemetery in Pikeville, Kentucky.
Since his death, however, McCoy has received some notoriety. The Hatfield-McCoy feud has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries, films and even a musical.
— Short excerpts were used from Biography.com on McCoy’s early days, © 2019 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC.

07/13/2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This rare image is of feud patriarch William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, taken in front of a rustic cabin. Devil Anse, best known for his involvements in the Civil War and the infamous Hatfield-McCoy vendetta, is the bearded fellow sitting on the primitive house’s wooden steps. The others with Anse are unnamed, being forgotten by Father Time.

Even in the 1880s or early ‘90s, at the time this photograph was likely taken, Devil Anse Hatfield, besides being a successful businessman, was becoming a national celebrity, of sorts, mostly due to the intense nationwide newspaper coverage published of the happenings centered around the Hatfield-McCoy feud.

— repost, kd

04/24/2023

"Willis Hatfield responded with a loud howl, “I’m not allowin’ no man to draw blood on me.” He whipped out a 32 caliber pistol and fired three shots at the doctor, who fell to the floor, according to one witness. Hatfield then drew another gun from his pocket, a .38 special, and fired two more shots into the body and head of poor Dr. Edwin Thornhill, who lay bleeding on the floor." — Jack Feller (1922-2013), Wyoming County historian

____

DR. THORNHILL SHOT TO PIECES

Emmanuel Wilson "Willis" Hatfield, son of the noted feudist, "Devil Anse" Hatfield, was once a deputy and jailer in Logan County, W.Va.

On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31st, 1911, Willis Hatfield, who was already intoxicated and rambling through the streets of Mullens, in Wyoming County, stopped by the office of Dr. Edwin O. Thornhill, the company physician and pharmacist for Ritter Lumber Company. Willis stumbled inside the entrance to the office and demanded liquor — a bottle of his best "drugstore whiskey.”

Doc Thornhill doctor refused him, since Willis didn’t already have a prescription with him—and since he was obviously wasted drunk. Willis, angered by the doctor’s refusal, pulled his Colt single-action pistol and pulled the trigger. Willis emptied six-rounds into the doctor, as the small office filled with gunsmoke. Doc Thornhill collapsed hard on the wooden floor of the office. Dead.

On Jan. 4, 1912, the Fayette Tribune newspaper described the gruesome incident in this manner: “Willis Hatfield, of Herberton, emptied all six chambers of his pistol into the body of Dr. E.O. Thornhill … killing him instantly. Hatfield had been drinking … and his supply of whiskey ran down.”

Author F. Keith Davis briefly documented the eventual trial in his book, "Images of America: Logan County, WV,” and wrote: When the case went to trial, Willis’s brother, Cap Hatfield, an attorney, assisted in his defense. Cap was also once described as the most violent in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.

Willis and Cap's father, William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, along with other sons and supporters, attended each day of the trial. The grim-faced feudist sat in the Pineville courtroom with his double-barrel shotgun resting across his lap.

At one point in the courtroom, it was reported in the news that the distinct sound of a gun being cocked was heard. It was then that Judge James H. Miller, likely upset and shaken from the clicking sound, ordered Anse and his clan to take their weapons—Winchester repeaters, single shot, and pump shotguns—outside the courtroom. They all complied without incident, according to David “Bugs” Stover, Wyoming County circuit clerk at the time.

After deliberation, the jury charged Willis with murdering Doc Thornhill, returning a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. Judge Miller sentenced Hatfield to serve four years in the pen.

Was Devil Anse and his shotgun responsible for influencing the judge and jury, and for the extremely light sentence?

Regardless, Willis served his time peacefully and returned home, living the rest of his life in a private and non-violent manner.

— Photo, a young Willis Hatfield is shown at left; Willis in his later years, shown at right.

04/24/2023

03/28/2023

Sometime after the 1882 killing of Ellison Hatfield by three McCoys— sons of Randolph and Sally McCoy—and the subsequent capture and murder of the brothers by the Hatfields, another brutal moment took place as part of the family feud.

According to feud lore, around 1886, Skunk Hair Tom Wallace (pictured), an employee of the Hatfields, and William Anderson “Cap” Hatfield Jr., second son of Devil Anse and Levicy Hatfield, broke into the residence of Mary Magdalene McCoy Daniels and severely whipped Mary and her sister, Nancy McCoy Hatfield, with a cow's tail. Incidentally, Mary and Nancy were the daughters of Asa Harmon McCoy.

At the time, Nancy was married to Cap’s older brother, Johnson “Johnse" Hatfield. Even so, Cap and Tom suspected both women were leaking pertinent family secrets to the McCoy clan. In fact, according to the 1927 writings of historian G.T. Swain, the Hatfield faction felt that personal details were being passed directly to Ran'l McCoy and his kinfolk; and, due to this, the McCoys were sending back vicious death threats toward members of the Hatfields.

Jeff McCoy, brother of Mary and Nancy, and son of Asa Harmon McCoy, later tried to seek revenge for the beatings (and the humiliation of his sisters. And through a series of related events, Jeff was ultimately found shot to death along the banks of the Tug River (purportedly by Cap Hatfield, although he was never charged with the murder due to a lack of evidence).

***

Nancy, Mary, and Jeff McCoy were the children of Asa Harmon McCoy (1828-1865), the brother of Randolph McCoy. Asa, a Union soldier, was killed as an act of war in 1865 by members of the Logan Wildcats, a Confederate band of irregulars protecting the borderlands during war-time.

***
Photo: Skunk Haired Tom Wallace
Source: "THE McCOYs: Their Story," by Truda Williams McCoy; and the writings of Coleman A. Hatfield

03/14/2023

1894: DEVIL ANSE PROVIDES A COMMUNITY BANQUET CONSISTING OF WILD GAME AND HARD-CIDER!

As the honored Masters of Ceremonies, Captain William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, brought a canvas travel bag with three presentation-style pistols to a grand activity along the streets of Logan, WV.

Besides this, the nationally known feudist served visiting crowds an array of victuals: eight barbecued black bears, wild 'possums, cooked pheasant, wild turkeys, plump rabbits, and an array of domestic fowl. He brought roasted potatoes, homegrown vegetables, and pumpkin pies.

Anse also provided citizens with many gallons-worth of hard-cider and more for a community-wide banquet held along the streets of Logan County Court-House (now known as the City of Logan). Hard cider, in particular, was an alcoholic drink made by fermenting the juice of apples or other types of fruit. “The addition of ‘hard’ in its name is used to distinguish the drink from its non-alcoholic counterpart, simple apple cider, which is made by pressing apples to produce juice.”

The special banquet was held in 1894 in behalf of the official vote that applied toward the division of Logan County’s vast acreage, which would create Mingo County from a portion of the existing county.

Can you even imagine what this feast must have been like, as Logan County citizens gathered in town? The news clipping below is from the Chicago Tribune, Mon. Dec. 10, 1894.

— Repost. Submitted by a friend of the Hatfield and McCoy Feud page, Barbara Vance Cherep, researcher and historian.

02/09/2023

This photograph is of Ol’ feudist, Captain William Anderson “Devil Anse” and Levicy Hatfield at their home place at Island Creek District, at Sarah Ann, in Logan County, WV. William Anderson was often called Uncle Anse by close family members. This is one of our favorite photos of the patriarch and matriarch of the Hatfield family in their golden years.

01/15/2023

11/13/2022

Standing on the porch of the Hatfield home-place at Sarah Ann, WV, Louvicey “Levicy” Chafin Hatfield (center) poses next to her husband, William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield (1839-1921). Amongst family members is circuit-riding preacher Uncle Dyke Garrett (with white beard). Uncle Dyke stands directly behind Levicy and Devil Anse.

Dyke happened to be a longtime friend, hunting buddy, and spiritual mentor to the feud patriarch. It was Uncle Dyke who eventually led Devil Anse to the Lord, and baptized the feudist on Sept. 23, 1911 in the waters of Island Creek. This image may have been taken early on the day of the baptism.

Hatfield descendant, Wendy Griffith — a reporter with CBN News, co-anchor of The 700 Club, and the Anchor of Christian World News — once reported, "Devil Anse spent the last 10 years of his life in peace, knowing that he was forgiven, his sins washed away in the cool mountain stream.”

Circa 1911; Coleman C. Hatfield Photo Collection