Blood Feud

by Lisa Alther

  64Waller, Feud, 184.

  65Ibid., 185.

  66Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 175.

  67Waller, Feud, 269, note #62.

  68Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 177.

  69L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 33; Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 104. Hatfield and Spence (Tale of the Devil, 177) say that Bill Dempsey was a cousin of Jack Dempsey, the heavyweight boxing champion in the 1920s.

  70McCoy, The McCoys, 177.

  71McCoy (The McCoys, 172–79) places the Battle of Grapevine Creek before the murder of Jim Vance.

  72Waller, Feud, 186.

  73Crawford, An American Vendetta, 18.

  74Ibid.

  75Based on photo #038535 in the West Virginia State Archives.

  76Hatfield and Spence,Tale of the Devil, 178. McCoy (The McCoys, 175) and Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 104) state that Cap Hatfield shot Bud McCoy.

  77Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 178.

  Chapter 9: All Over but the Shouting

  1Ibid., 178–79.

  2Waller, Feud, 206–7.

  3Charles Howell, Pittsburgh (PA) Times, February 1, 1888, as quoted in Waller, Feud, 222.

  4Howell, Pittsburgh Times, as quoted in Rice (Hatfields and the McCoys, 73–74).

  5Howell, Pittsburgh Times, as quoted in Waller (Feud, 222).

  6Waller, Feud, 221.

  7Ibid., 198–99.

  8Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 179.

  9Waller, Feud, 198–99.

  10Ibid., 201.

  11Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 180–81.

  12Crawford, An American Vendetta, 34.

  13Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 93.

  14Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 142.

  15Accounts of these wranglings are given in Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 107–30; Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 181–82; Waller, Feud, 207–19; McCoy, The McCoys, 186–95; and Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 76–91.

  16Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 124.

  17Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 133.

  18Waller, Feud, 209–10.

  19Crawford, An American Vendetta, 14.

  20Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 93.

  21Waller, Feud, 212.

  22McCoy, The McCoys, 199.

  23Ibid.

  24Editorial, New York Times, February 18, 1888.

  25Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), February 7, 1888, as quoted in Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 117).

  26Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 124.

  27New York Times, February 18, 1888, as quoted in Waller (Feud, 213).

  28Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 128.

  29McCoy, The McCoys, 155.

  30Waller, Feud, 240–41.

  31McCoy, The McCoys, 162–4.

  32Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 92.

  33Ibid., 94.

  34Crawford, An American Vendetta, 84: note 18 by Eldean Wellman.

  35Ibid., 14–15.

  36Waller, Feud, 222.

  37Crawford, preface to An American Vendetta, 1. Crawford’s arrogance and temerity astonish me. I have lived in the southern Appalachians for much of my life, but even I make statements and judgments about the area with great reluctance and caution.

  38Waller, Feud, 221.

  39Crawford, An American Vendetta, 26.

  40Ibid.

  41Ibid., 25.

  42Ibid., 2.

  43Untitled editorial, New York Times, December 26, 1878.

  44Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 98–99.

  45Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 149–50.

  46Ibid., 150.

  47Hatfield and Davis, Feuding Hatfields, 48–52.

  48Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 95.

  49Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys,150.

  50Ibid., 151–52.

  51Ibid., 152.

  52McCoy, The McCoys, 224.

  Chapter 10: “The Hatfields Made Me Do It!”

  1Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 153–54.

  2Accounts of the trials can be found in: Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 154–56; McCoy, The McCoys, 198–204; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 101–6; and Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 182–83.

  3McCoy, The McCoys, 198.

  4Waller, Feud, 229.

  5Ibid.

  6Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 101.

  7Ibid., 102.

  8Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 48.

  9Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 103–4.

  10McCoy, The McCoys, 199.

  11Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 182.

  12McCoy, The McCoys, 200.

  13Ibid., 202.

  14Ibid., 203.

  15Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 159.

  16Ibid., 158.

  17McCoy, The McCoys, 74. The McCoy descendants agree with Truda’s assessment of Bill’s role in the murder of Ellison Hatfield, because they have installed a stone marker in Hardy, Kentucky, that reads: Six of the sixteen children of Randolph and Sarah McCoy lie buried here having suffered untimely death. Three bound to paw paw trees at the mouth of Blackberry Creek in August 1882. One is believed to have died of grief because his brother had been shot in his stead. Two perished when their home was burned in January 1888. The homesite is visible across the valley above this place.

  18Ibid., 111–12.

  19Accounts of this episode can be found in: Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 161–67; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 107–8; and Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 183–87.

  20Hatfield and Spence (Tale of the Devil, 185) say the beverage in question was brandy.

  21L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 40; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 107.

  22Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 162) says five.

  23Ibid.

  24Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 187.

  25Waller, Feud, 232.

  26McCoy (The McCoys, 205) says the hanging occurred on December 3, 1889. In reality, it was delayed because of an appeal.

  27Accounts of the hanging can be found in: Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 168–74; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 110–11; and McCoy, The McCoys, 205–11.

  28McCoy, The McCoys, 208.

  29Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 168–9.

  30Ibid., 170–71.

  31McCoy, The McCoys, 208–9.

  32Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 171.

  33McCoy, The McCoys, 209.

  34Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 172.

  35McCoy, The McCoys, 206–7.

  36Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 172–73. McCoy (McCoys, 209) says that he whispered to the sheriff that he didn’t kill Alifair McCoy.

  37Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 173.

  38McCoy, The McCoys, 211.

  39Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 194.

  40Ibid., 184.

  41Williams, West Virginia, 125–26.

  42Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 182; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 113.

  43Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 185; Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Feud Reader, 14.

  44Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 183.

  45Ibid., 185.

  46Ibid., 186.

  47Ibid., 197.

  Chapter 11: Survivors

  1Ibid., 208.

  2McCoy, The McCoys, 214.

  3Ibid., 215.

  4Ibid.

  5Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 221.

  6Ibid
., 215–16.

  7McCoy, The McCoys, 216.

  8Ibid., 316.

  9Waller, Feud, 238.

  10Ibid., 241.

  11McCoy, The McCoys, 229.

  12Ibid., 213–14.

  13Ibid.

  14McCoy (The McCoys, 219) says Johnse expected Nancy to join him there. But this seems unlikely because he had already divorced her by then, and she was having babies with Frank Phillips.

  15Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 238.

  16Ibid., 243.

  17Ibid., 250–51.

  18L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 38.

  19Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 210–11.

  20Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 296.

  21Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 217.

  22Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 305.

  23Ibid., p. 235.

  24Ibid., p. 221.

  25Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 209.

  26Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 252.

  27Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 209; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 120.

  28Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 253.

  29Ibid., 254–55; Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 219.

  30Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 236. Eldean Wellman (Crawford, An American Vendetta, 85) also maintains that Rebel Bill Smith was the brother of Devil Anse Hatfield’s sister Emma’s husband, thus the uncle of Emma’s daughter Nancy Elizabeth Smith.

  31Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 223.

  32Ibid., 224.

  33Ibid., 225.

  34Ibid., 224.

  35Waller, Feud, 242–43.

  36Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 229.

  37Ibid., 115.

  38Ibid., 228–29.

  39Waller, Feud, 41.

  40Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 230.

  41Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 199.

  42Accounts of this episode can be found in: Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 118–19; Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 199–203; and Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 230–33.

  43Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 231.

  44Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 200; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 119.

  45Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 201; Rice (Hatfields and the McCoys, 119) says that Joe Glenn shot this Rutherford to protect Cap.

  46Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 233. The attic was that of Dan Christian, an orphan whom Devil Anse Hatfield had rescued from a westward-bound wagon train and taken into his home.

  47Ibid., 233–34.

  48Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 203; Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 119.

  49Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 206.

  50Ibid., 203.

  51Ibid., 206.

  52Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 234–35.

  53L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 35.

  54Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 221.

  55Ibid., 272.

  56Ibid.

  57Ibid., 273; Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Feud Reader, 15.

  58Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 221. Aileen Hatfield died young. Severely depressed for several years, she was perhaps another case of collateral damage from the feud (Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 314). The legacy of violence passed down by her great-grandfather and grandfather was, no doubt, a dispiriting one for an idealistic young person—just as the hanging of his great-grandfather Abner Vance had proved so disastrous for Devil Anse Hatfield.

  59Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 217.

  60Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 246.

  61Ibid., 222.

  62Waller, Feud, 243.

  63Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 222.

  64Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 185.

  65Waller, Feud, 243.

  66Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Reader, 16.

  67Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 222.

  68Ibid., 265.

  69Ibid., 222.

  70Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Feud Reader, 15.

  71Ibid.

  72Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 171.

  73Ibid., 14.

  74Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 173.

  75Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 216) says that Devil Anse covered the logs of his original cabin with siding and added porches, rather than building a new house.

  76Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 259.

  77Ibid., 244.

  78Crawford, An American Vendetta, 21.

  79Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 217.

  80Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 115.

  81Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 121. Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 220) says Devil Anse’s conversion occurred after the shooting deaths of his sons Troy and Elias.

  82Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 97.

  83Ibid., 256. Jones (Hatfields and the McCoys, 220) says, incorrectly, that the baptism occurred after the deaths of Troy and Elias and that Cap and Johnse were baptized with Devil Anse.

  84Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 215.

  85Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 222.

  86Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 121.

  87“Steel Casket Purchased by Feudist Leader at a Cost of $2000,” Intelligencer (Williamson, WV), January 9, 1921.

  88McCoy (The McCoys, 218) says there were five thousand at the funeral. Rice (Hatfields and the McCoys, 123) says “several thousand.”

  89Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 233.

  90Ibid.; Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Feud Reader, 22; Waller, Feud, 290, note 10.

  91L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 51; Donnelly, Hatfield-McCoy Feud Reader, 22.

  92L. D. Hatfield, True Story, 51.

  93Based on photo #038401 in the West Virginia State Archives.

  94Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 234.

  95Based on my own observations and photos.

  96Hatfield and Spence, Tale of the Devil, 154.

  97Ibid.

  98Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 124.

  Chapter 12: Other Feuds

  1John Ed Pearce, Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1994). The most cogent account of the various feuds is found here. Pearce has struggled valiantly to make sense of the nonsensical.

  2Pearce, Days of Darkness, 133.

  3Ibid., 135.

  4Ibid., 150.

  5Ibid., 162.

  6Ibid., 165.

  7For details see Pearce, Days of Darkness, 187–94.

  8Pearce, Days of Darkness, 184.

  9Ibid., 198.

  10Ibid., 33.

  11Ibid., 36.

  12Ibid., 37–38.

  13Ibid., 41.

  14Ibid., 40.

  15Ibid., 43–44.

  16Ibid., 44.

  17Ibid., 97. Other accounts of the Rowan County Wars: Rice, Hatfields and the McCoys, 42–45; Fred Brown and Juanita Blair, Days of Anger, Days of Tears: The History of the Rowan County War (Nicholasville, KY: Wind Publications, 2007); and Lewis Franklin Johnson, excerpt from Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials on the Alexander Stewart Family of Kentucky webpage: www.kentuckystewarts.com/RowanCounty/TheolliverMartinFeud.htm.

  18Pearce, Days of Darkness, 98.

  19Ibid., 96.

  20Ibid., 99.

  21Ibid., 101.

  22Ibid., 102–3.

  23Ibid., 106.

  24Ibid.

  25Ibi
d., 107.

  26Ibid., 107–8.

  27Ibid., 109–10.

  28Ibid., 110.

  29Ibid., 110.

  30Ibid., 95.

  31The national press had a field day with the Turner-Howard feud. Reports were published in papers from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, from New York City to Los Angeles. At the height of it, in 1889, the New York Times published five articles about it in six weeks (September 17, October 15, October 24, October 27, and October 28). The Atlanta (GA) Constitution also printed articles on July, 28, 1889, and October 24, 1889.

  32Pearce, Days of Darkness, 15.

  33Ibid., 17.

  34Ibid., 16.

  35Ibid., 17.

  36Ibid.

  37Ibid., 18.

  38Ibid., 19.

  39Ibid., 22–23.

  40Ibid., 26–27.

  41Ibid., 76–77; “The French and Eversole War,” based on Charles Mutzenburg, Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies: http://echandgs0.tripod.com/feuds/id1.html.

  42Pearce, Days of Darkness, 78–79.

  43Ibid., 79–80.

  44Ibid., 81.

  45Ibid., 81–82.

  46Ibid., 82.

  47Ibid., 85.

  48Ibid., 88–92.

  49Ibid., 111.

  50Waller, Feud, 221.

  Chapter 13: The Corsica of America

  1Ibid., 169.

  2Elihu Jasper Sutherland, Pioneer Recollections of Southwest Virginia (Clintwood, VA: Mullins Printing, 1984), 174.

  3Shapiro (Appalachia on Our Mind, 80), quoting Ellen Churchill Semple, “The Anglo-Saxons of the Kentucky Mountains: A Study in Anthropogeography,”Geographical Journal (London: June 1901) 17: 588–623.

  4Daniel Sharfstein, The Invisible Line: Three American Families and the Secret Journey from Black to White (New York: Penguin, 2011), 74.

  5Ibid., 173.

  6Brewton Berry, Almost White (New York: Collier Macmillan, 1969) 16.

  7Edgar Thompson, “The Little Races,” American Anthropologist 74, no. 5 (1972): 1295–1306.

  8John S. Kessler, Donald B. Ball, and N. Brent Kennedy, North from the Mountains: A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement, Highland County, Ohio (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2001) 35–42.

  9McCoy, The McCoys, 114.

  10Caryl Lamont, “Thomas Bailey Christian and Chief Cornstalk,” Christian Family Genealogy Forum: http://genforum.genealogy.com/christian/messages/2949.html.

  11McCoy, The McCoys, 73.

  12Jones, Hatfields and the McCoys, 38.

  13Crawford, An American Vendetta, 32.