The Hatfield-McCoy feud
Kentucky Studies
The two sides
The two sides
The Hatfields
• Led by patriarch Anderson
“Devil Anse” Hatfield
• Lived in Logan County,
Virginia (now West Virginia)
• Devil Anse was not a
church-going man, though
much of his family was (he
was finally baptized in 1911)
• Owned a logging operation
The McCoys
• Led by patriarch Randolph
“Randall” or “Ol’ Ran’l” McCoy
• Lived in Pike County, Kentucky
• Religious
• Raised Tobacco and pigs
• The two families lived across
the Tug Fork (a tributary of the
Big Sandy) from each other
The beginnings of the feud
• Devil Anse formed a guerilla group during the civil
war called the “Logan Wildcats”
• Asa Harmon McCoy, a cousin to Ran’l McCoy,
fought for the Union and was ambushed and
murdered on his way home
• Many believed the “Wildcats” were to blame,
though Devil Anse always denied it
• Even if they were, Devil Anse was home sick at
the time, so the group would have been led by
Devil Anse’s uncle, Big Jim Vance
Origins of the Feud
• 13 years later, Ran’l
McCoy saw a hog on the
farm of Floyd Hatfield and
said it was one of his that
had run away
• The notches on the pig’s
ears were clearly McCoy’s
doing according to Ran’l
• According to Floyd, the
hog was on his land, that
made it his
Origins
• The case was brought to trial
• The Justice of the Peace was
Anderson “Preacher Anse”
Hatfield
• Hatfields won based on the
testimony of Bill Staton, who
was related to both families
• Two McCoy brothers
murdered Bill Staton fro
revenge
• It was later deemed self
defense because Staton was
drunk at the time
The Feud
• Johnse Hatfield began a
relationship with
Roseanna McCoy Both
children of patriarchs
• McCoys arrested Johnse
on bootlegging charges
• Hatfields ride into
Kentucky and take him
back
• Johnse then abandoned
Roseanna and married
her cousin, Nancy
The Feud
• On election day 1882,
Devil Anse’s brother,
Ellison was attacked by 3
of Roseanna’s brothers
• He was stabbed 26 times
and shot once
• He initially survived the
attack
• Constables arrested the
three brothers and began
transporting them to
Pikeville for trial
The Feud
• Devil Anse organized a
posse and intercepted the
transport
• They kidnapped the
brothers and took them
back across the West
Virginia to await Ellison’s
fate
• Ellison eventually died
from his wounds
• The brothers were tied to
Pawpaw bushes and
executed
The New Years Night Massacre
• January 1st 1888
• Hatfield gunmen surrounded
the house of Ran’l McCoy
• Fired repeated volleys into the
house
• Lit the house on fire
• Ol’ Ran’l escaped into the
forest
• Two McCoy children were
murdered
• McCoy’s wife, Sarah “Sally”
McCoy was beaten and left for
dead (she ultimately survived)
The effects
• McCoy and his remaining
family moved to Pikeville to
escape the West Virginia
raiding parties
• More than a dozen members
of the families were murdered
during the feud
• Both Governors had to call
state militia in to try and keep
the peace
• The Governor of West Virginia
even threatened to have his
militia invade Kentucky
The effects
• Kentucky Governor sent
General Sam Hill and his
troops to investigate
• In the resulting battle, a
dozen more men died and
ten were wounded
• In 1888 a posse led by
Frank Phillips arrested
nine Hatfields, including
Wall Hatfield, Devil Anse’s
brother and brought
them back to Kentucky
for trial
The Effects
• They were to be tried for
the murder of Alisair
McCoy, one of the children
who was murdered in the
New Years Massacre
• The U.S. Supreme Court got
involved because of illegal
extradition
• The U.S.S.C ruled in favor of
Kentucky, stating even
though the men were
arrested illegally, they could
still stand trial
Aftermath
• Wall Hatfield and all but
one of the others
sentenced to life
• Ellison “Cottontop”
Mounts, an illegitimate
and developmentally
challenged Hatfield was
sentenced to hang
• Thousands came to the
hanging in Pikeville
Aftermath
• June 14th, 2003 descendants
of both families offered an
official truce
• More than sixty
descendants signed the
truce
• June 14th declared
Hatfield/McCoy
reconciliation day in both
Kentucky, and West Virginia
• Many films, television
shows, and books made
about or mentioning the
feud