Wonderful West Virginia Magazine Apr 1988 pg 20-27 "The Hatfields & McCoys" by Nancy Clark photo credits: courtesy of Osa Browning & Arnout Hyde Jr. OSA BROWNING remembers her grandfather as a gentle man who told her in his final minutes in 1921 that he had never killed anyone. Well, during the Civil War as a Confederate home guard he thought he may have killed a man named JIM PHILLIPS who was fighting for the Union. There were a lot of shots fired so he wasn't sure. ANDERSON HATFIELD, aka "Devil Anse" was the patriarch of the Hatfield Family. of Logan & Mingo Co. They were the mountain clan which carried on the famous bloody feud with the McCoy family of KY in 1882=88. Devil refers to Devil's Knob, W.V. where he was Capt in Conf. army. This article has surnames of: JIM VANCE a Hatfield relative & member of the Logan Wildcats, Confederate militia founded by Devil Anse. HARMON MC COY leader of a Union home guard unit. ANDERSON "DEVIL ANSE" HATFIELD lived with wife and 13 children at what is now Delorme on the West Virginia side of the Tug River, 5 miles above Matewin in now MingoCo. (At the time it was Logan Co). RANDOLPH "RANDALL" MCCOY, his wife & 13 ch lived across the Tug in Pike Co, KY As one story goes, The McCoys let their razerback hogs run loose. In 1873 a McCoy was visiting a Hatfield and saw one of his pigs in the other family's pen. There was a hearing held and 6 jurors from each family. A McCoy juror who was married to a Hatfield voted with his wife's family. Within a few weeks that juror was found with his head blown off. Later that day a McCoy was mysteriously wounded when he was shot in the hip. There was another version of the story but after this both families started carrying guns and travelng in groups. ABout 1880 Devil Anse's son JOHNSE & Randall McCoy's daughter ROSEANNA wanted to marry but their families said no.. Thus the beginning of the active feuding 2 years later. In Aug 1882 Devil Anse's brother ELLISON was said to have made a remark about Roseanna & announced she was pregnant. By then the Hatfield-McCoy lovers had ended their affair but it was true that Roseanna was carrying Johnse's child. Hearing their sister's name disgraced in public by a Hatfield was too much for DICK, FLOYD, & TOLBERT MC COY. The 3 brothers shot and stabbed ELLISON HATFIELD and he died 2 days later. The following morning the 3 McCoy brothers were found tied to trees & shot to death. It was said anywhere from 27 to 100 were killed in the time of feuding during the worst years 1882-88. WV Gov. EMMANUEL W. WILSON & KY GOV. SIMON B. BUCKNER alerted their militias. FRANK PHILLIPS (who had married a McCoy girl) was deputized by Gov. Buckner and charged with ending the feud. Phillips organized a posse, crossed the Tug, brought some Harfields back to the Pike Co jail. The WV Gov. asked the KY Gov to release the men; the request denied. Gov Wilson fought for release of the Hatfields through the legal system, and the case went to the U. S.Supreme Court which upheld the lower courts' decisions in favor of KY. Hatfields and McCoys were then tried in both states for various crimes and among them, ELLISON MOUNTS an illegitimate son of ELLISON HATFIELD. Mounts was hanged in 1889 by the State of KY for the murder of ALLIFAIR MCCOY. Some say Mounts was innocent and that CAP HATFIELD, (Devil's son) had killed RANDALL MC COY's daughter ALLIFAIR. This feud gradually subsided. RANDALL MC COY died age 88 in 1914. Roseanna McCoy and Johnse Hatfield's little son died in infancy. Johnse reportedly moved to the state of Washington. Roseanna's fate is unknown. All the participants in the feud died long ago. Some of descendants still live in the valley but live/work congenially and some have even married each other. One hundred years after the bloodshed the feud exists in books and on the stage of Grandview State Park ampitheater where it is performed each summer in outdoor musical drama. ============================== This is a good stopping place for this series of WV Magazines. My subscription ran out... and my fingers are getting little tired. Fun reading these articles through again. Shirley