Of all the feuds fought in the mountain country, the Hatfield-McCoy feud is the most famous. The families of the feud leaders were of strong stock, and from them have come leaders of many professions - education, medicine, governors, senators, lawyers, etc. The clans, both Hatfields and McCoys, were honest, hardworking, and proud. They came into the wilderness of Kentucky and Virginia (now West Virginia) and patented thousands of acres of land.
The leaders of the McCoys in Kentucky was Randolph McCoy (Randall, Old Ran'l). He was a tall, broad shouldered, bearded man. He married his cousin Sarah (Sally). The couple had 15 children, 9 sons and 6 daughters.
The leader of the West Virginia clan was William Anderson Hatfield (Devil Anse), also tall and bearded. Devil Anse and his wife, Levicy, had 13 children, 9 sons and 4 daughters.
The Civil War
In 1863, Devil
Anse, a southern sympathizer, formed the Logan Wildcats to patrol
the Tug Valley against guerillas from both sides who stole
animals and horses. The first victim of the feud was a Union
veteran, Asa Harmon McCoy, younger brother of Randolph McCoy.
Harmon broke his leg and was mustered out of service on December
24, 1864. He returned home and was told by James Vance, an uncle
of Devil Anse, that the Logan Wildcats would soon pay him a
visit. Harmon hid out in a nearby cave on Blue Spring Creek. His
black slave, Pete, carried provisions to him. The Logan Wildcats,
most of the West Virginians, traced Pete through the snow to the
cave. There they found Harmon and shot him. His service in the
union army was considered an act of betrayal by the southern
sympathizers. No suspects were brought to trial.
The Hog Trial
For several years peace reigned in the Tug Valley. Then one day on 1873, Randolph McCoy stopped to visit Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of Devil Anse. Floyd lived in Stringtown on the Kentucky side of the Tug. Randolph happened to see a hog which he said bore the McCoy marking on his ear. McCoy immediately accused Floyd of penning up one of his hogs. Floyd denied stealing the hog. Randolph went to preacher Anderson Hatfield (Preacher Anse), a Baptist minister and a justice of the peace. There he brought suit against Floyd for recovery of his hog. On the day of the trial, at the home of Preacher Hatfield, both McCoys and Hatfields heard the case. Bill Staton, a nephew of Randolph and brother-in-law of Ellison Hatfield, swore to Floyd Hatfield's ownership of the hog. Floyd won! Staton was marked for death and within months he was killed by Paris and Sam McCoy. The hatred grew and the feud was on!
A Love Match
To mountain people, an election
was a great social event. At the election of 1880, Johnse
Hatfield, son of Devil Anse, came from 
West Virginia to
the Kentucky election grounds with romance in mind. He spied
Roseanna, daughter of Randolph. Soon the two disappeared in the
nearby woods. They returned two hours later and Roseanna found
that her brother, Tolbert, had left for home without her. Johnse
suggested that she come home with him to the Hatfield cabin in
West Virginia. Devil Anse was not pleased at the idea of the
couple's marriage. Some months later, Roseanna's sisters came and
begged her to return home and Roseanna went. Roseanna was not
happy at home and fled to the home of her aunt, Betty McCoy, at
Stringtown Kentucky. There she re-kindled her love affair with
Johnse. One night her McCoy kinsmen surrounded 
them
and took Johnse prisoner and set out for Pikeville jail. Roseanna
knew Johnse would be killed at the first convenient spot. In an
act of devotion to Johnse and family disloyalty, Roseanna
borrowed a horse from a neighbor and rode to Devil Anse. Quickly
gathering his sons and friends, he went through a short cut,
stopped the McCoys, and reclaimed his son without incident. From
that day, Johnse never risked being with Roseanna. Hopeless and
pregnant, she went back to her father who considered her ride an
unforgivable sin. She contracted measles and miscarried a
daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who is buried in the cemetary next to
her aunt Betty, in Stringtown Kentucky.
War Declared
When the polls opened at Blackberry Creek precinct on August 7, 1882, the West Virginia Hatfields appeared, as was their custom. Early in the day, after whiskey had begun to flow, Tolbert McCoy, son of Randolph, accused "Bad Lias" Hatfield, brother of Preacher Hatfield, of owing him a small sum of money for a fiddle, but "Bad Lias" angrily protested that he paid Tolbert previously. As the day wore on, Ellison Hatfield, brother of Devil Anse, made remarks to Tolbert which led him to turning his wrath on Ellison. He attacked Ellison with a knife and the two younger McCoys rushed to the aid of Tolbert and began cutting Ellison. At that instant, Pharmer grabbed his pistol and shot Ellison in the back. Elias, brother of Ellison, forced the gun from Pharmer's hand and tried to shoot him. The McCoys ran and sought cover in the woods. The McCoy brothers were captured and put in custody of a justice of the peace and a constable for the trip to the Pikeville jail. Ellison Hatfield was taken on a stretcher to his home in West Virginia. The next day, before the McCoy boys could be taken to Pikeville, Devil Anse organized a posse and took the McCoy boys away from the guards. Crossing the Tug River at the mouth of Blackberry Creek, the Hatfields took the three boys to an unused schoolhouse on Mate Creek. Sarah McCoy, hearing of the capture of her sons, lost no time riding to Devil Anse across the river. Sarah demanded to know why Devil Anse was holding her sons in West Virginia when they should be in jail in Pikeville. Devil Anse replied, "I'm holding them to see if Ellison dies. If he dies or gets better, I promise I'll bring them back to Kentucky alive."
Revenge Taken
On August 9, 1882, the news came that Ellison Hatfield was dead. At the schoolhouse, the three McCoy boys were tied and marched off to Kentucky. At the mouth of Mate Creek, they crossed the Tug River to the Kentucky side. Here they bound the McCoys to some pawpaw trees. In the space of a few seconds, some 50 shots were fired into the brothers. Devil Anse had kept his promise to bring the boys back to Kentucky alive. The three brothers, Tolbert, Pharmer, and Randolph, Jr., were buried in a single grave in the McCoy cemetery on the side of the hill on Blackberry Fork of Pond Creek.
Fire!
In 1866, the Kentucky governor appointed a special officer, Frank Phillips, to arrest the murderers of the McCoy brothers. He also offered a large reward that unleashed an army of bounty hunters in the state of West Virginia. Determined to leave no witnesses to convict them, the Hatfields raided the McCoy family home on New Year's Day, 1888, killing daughter Alifair and son Calvin, burning the cabin to the ground. Randolph and Sally escaped death.
The End
Public opinion shifted against the Hatfields and Frank Phillips began his wok, though he lacked properly executed extradition papers. In response, the governor of West Virginia put up his own reward offers, sued Kentucky for unlawful arrest of nine prisoners, and eventually took the case to the United States Supreme Court. The men were eventually returned to Kentucky for sentences of prison terms for the death of the three McCoy brothers and a sentence of death by hanging for Ellison Mounts for the shooting of Alifair and Calvin McCoy.
Roseanna moved to Pikeville and died, some say, of a broken heart. She was 30 years old. She is buried in the Dils Cemetery in Pikeville.
Randolph and Sarah McCoy moved to Pikeville to get away from the Hatfields. They lived in the last house on Main Street at the corner of Scott Avenue. Randolph ran a ferry across the river. Sarah died first, date unknown. Randolph, while living with a nephew, died of burns received when his clothes caught on fire. He died on March 28, 1914. Both he and Sarah are buried in Dils Cemetery. Also buried in Dils are Randolph's son, Sam and his wife, Martha.
Devil Anse Hatfield died on January 6, 1921 and is buried in the Hatfield Cemetery at Sarah Ann, West Virginia.