Hogs, Bitterness, and Blood
It started with a possible murder and pig-stealing.
It ended, almost thirty years later, with a wedding.
The McCoy family, headed by patriarch Randolph McCoy, lived on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork River. They were a lower-middle-class family, owning a 300-acre farm and subsisting mainly from its bounty.
On the other side, in West Virginia, lived the Hatfield family, led by William “Devil Anse” Hatfield. The Hatfields were affluent, thanks in no small part to Anse’s successful timber operation, and benefited from many political connections.
Despite their economic disparities, the families shared some key similarities. Both families dabbled in the manufacture and selling of illegal moonshine. And both families fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, with the lone exception being Asa Harmon McCoy, Randle’s brother, who fought for the Union.
And that’s where the trouble started.
In 1865, Asa was wounded in battle and returned home to convalesce. Before he could recover, however, he was murdered. A group of Confederate Home Guards known as the Logan Wildcats were held responsible, but rumors persisted that Devil Anse Hatfield, though he may not have pulled the trigger, was somehow involved. By all accounts, Hatfield did not take the death of the Confederacy well.
Nothing was proven, however, and the conflict between the two families didn’t escalate until thirteen year later, in 1878, after a dispute about the ownership of a hog.
Floyd Hatfield, Anse’s cousin, claimed ownership of the hog, but so did Randolph McCoy, who said the notches on the pig’s ears were McCoy, not Hatfield, marks. The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace–a Hatfield named Anderson “Preacher Anse”–who, unsurprisingly, ruled in favor of the Hatfields. He based his judgment on the testimony of Bill Staton.
In June 1880, Staton was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, who were later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
Tensions between the two families ratcheted up when Roseanna McCoy entered a relationship with Devil Anse’s son Johnson, known as “Johnse,” and left 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 was arrested by the McCoys on outstanding Kentucky bootlegging warrants.
It only got worse from there.
A year later, Ellison Hatfield, brother of Anse, was stabbed twenty-six times by three of Roseanna’s younger brothers: Tolbert, Phamer (Pharmer), and Bud during an Election Day party. The McCoy brothers were eventually arrested. Before they could be transported to Pikeville to stand trial, however, a large group of Hatfield vigilantes, lead by Anse, ntercepted the constables and their prisoners. The brothers were taken by force to West Virginia where each was tied to pawpaw bushes and shot numerous times. Soon, another McCoy, the second son of the murdered Asa named Larkin “Lark” McCoy, was ambushed by an alleged West Virginia posse led by the Hatfields.
Warrants were issues, but political wrangling and back-room deals ensured no parties were ever truly held responsible. Over the next several months, dozens more Hatfields and McCoys were found dead, with each body claiming to be revenge for the one before it.
The feud reached its peak on January 1, 1888. Several members of the Hatfield surrounded the McCoy cabin and opened fire on the sleeping family. Awakened by the shooting, the McCoys managed to grab their weapons and fired back. The cabin was then set on fire in an effort to drive the McCoys into the open. Panicking, the McCoys rushed to every exit they could find. Randolph managed to escape and hide inside the pig pen. Most of his children managed to escape into the woods. Two of Randolph’s children, Calvin and Alifair, were shot and killed near the family well as they exited their home. Randolph’s wife, Sarah, was caught, beaten, and eventually killed. With his house burning, Randolph and his remaining family members were able to escape farther into the wilderness; his children, unprepared for the elements, suffered frostbite. The remaining McCoys moved to Pikeville to escape the West Virginia raiding parties.
With over two dozen dead on either side, the governors of West Virginia and Kentucky threatened to have their militias invade each other’s states in order to restore the peace. On August 24, 1888, eight of the Hatfields and their friends were indicted for the murder of Randolph’s young daughter, Alifair McCoy , who was killed during the New Year’s Massacre. Eventually, the men were tried in Kentucky; all were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, while the eighth, Ellison “Cottontop” Mounts, was sentenced to death. His last words on the gallows?
“The Hatfields made me do it.”
Although the trials provided some closure to the feud, most believe it didn’t end officially until the March 21, 1891 wedding between Rosanna McCoy’s daughter, Nancy McCoy, and Devil Anse Hatfield’s son, Johnse Hatfield, 134 years ago today. The couple was married in Pike County, Kentucky, with the ceremony attended by members of both families.
The marriage between Nancy and Johnse did not immediately quell all animosity, as suspicions and tensions still lingered. However, as the years passed, the families began to coexist more peacefully, with the younger generations intermarrying and forging friendships that would have been unimaginable during the height of the feud.
Today, The Hatfield and McCoy Reunion Festival and Marathon are held annually in Kentucky and West Virginia, attracting thousands. In addition to the races, there is also “a tug-of-war across the Tug Fork tributary near which the feuding families lived, a live re-enactment of scenes from their most famous fight, a motorcycle ride, live entertainment, Hatfield–McCoy landmark tours, a cornbread contest, pancake breakfast, arts, crafts, and dancing.”
