He was also described as having a eye injury that was caused by a percussion cap explosion, giving him the appearance of being wall-eyed. Cap was perhaps better suited for his role as Devil Anse's Lieutenant than Johnse, as Cap's quarrelsome demeanor and affinity for violence is legendary.
William Anderson Hatfield was born in Logan County, West Virginia, when Logan County was still within the state of Virginia on September 9, 1839. Later his widow and children had a life-sized Italy marble statue of “Devil Anse” Hatfield made to mark his grave near where he lived.
No one visits the Hatfield Cemetery on a whim. First, you have to drive all the way to Sarah Ann, West Virginia (and no one does that except to visit the Hatfield Cemetery), and second, you have to climb the steep, rutted, rocky path to the graveyard, a muddy slog in all but the driest weather.
The name is derived from when the Hatfield family once lived in either of the places called Heathfield in Somerset or Sussex, or in one of the various settlements called Hatfield in Essex, Herefordshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcester, the East Riding of Yorkshire, or the North Riding of Yorkshire.
The actual fighting between the Hatfields and McCoys has been long over. Although they ended the feud in 1891 and shook hands in 1976, Saturday, June 14, 2003, marked the official end to the Hatfields and McCoys' feud when the families signed a truce, in an event broadcast by the The Saturday Early Show.
Anse won the land dispute and was granted Cline's entire 5,000-acre plot of land. A few months after the verdict, Randolph McCoy stopped to visit Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of Devil Anse.
How did McCoy really die?
The baby died of measles later that year. Johnse Hatfield, who would be married four times in his life, met Nancy McCoy (the daughter of Asa Harmon McCoy, who had been killed by the Hatfields) and they were married on May 14, 1881. The McCoys waited bound on the floor of the schoolhouse.
So the answer is yes. There are many descendants of both families still alive today. Direct descendants are dying off sadly more often. I have a friend, Elmer who is the direct descendant of both Devil Anse and Hog Floyd, the one who supposedly stole the pig.
Selkirk McCoy, the McCoy who voted against Randal in the pig trial, worked on Anse's timber crew along with his two sons. Further, analysis of the 35-40 members of Anse's work crew shows that many of them were not related to Devil Anse at all.
The origins of the feud are obscure. Some attribute it to hostilities formed during the American Civil War, in which the McCoys were Unionists and the Hatfields were Confederates, others to Rand'l McCoy's belief that a Hatfield stole one of his hogs in 1878.
His nickname "Devil Anse" has a variety of supposed origins: it was given to him by his mother; by Randolph McCoy; earned from his bravery during battle in the American Civil War; or as contrast to his good-tempered cousin, Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield.
The actual fighting between the Hatfields and McCoys has been long over. Although they ended the feud in 1891 and shook hands in 1976, Saturday, June 14, 2003, marked the official end to the Hatfields and McCoys' feud when the families signed a truce, in an event broadcast by the The Saturday Early Show.
He died in 1914 from injuries he suffered after falling into a cooking fire. Once a leading player in one of history's most notorious family feuds, McCoy seemed to slip from this world without much notice. He was buried in the Dils Cemetery in Pikeville, Kentucky.
The Hatfield–McCoy feud, also described by journalists as the Hatfield–McCoy war, involved two rural American families of the West Virginia–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River in the years 1863–1891.
Randolph McCoy
| Randall McCoy |
|---|
| Spouse(s) | Sarah McCoy (m. 1849–1890s) |
| Relatives | Nancy McCoy Dempsey, niece Asa Harmon McCoy, brother Paris McCoy, brother Ruth McCoy Farley, sister Maryetta McCoy Roberts, sister Sam McCoy, brother Levisa McCoy Stone White, sister |
| Military career |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
On hearing of it, Capt. Hatfield secured leave of absence from the army, and promptly settled with the villains. Early in 1864, dozens of soldiers, including Hatfield, deserted the Confederate unit for unknown reasons.
The Hatfields of West Virginia were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, while the McCoys of Kentucky were under the leadership of Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy. Those involved in the feud were descended from Joseph Hatfield and William McCoy (born c. 1750).
The Big Sandy River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 29 miles (47 km) long, in western West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along its entire course. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.
February 18, 1890: Ellison “Cotton Top” Mounts Hanged in Kentucky. Ellison Hatfield mortally wounded by three McCoy brothers. In 1882, Mounts' father was killed by three of Randolph McCoy's sons. The Hatfields retaliated for Ellison's murder by tying the three McCoy boys to pawpaw bushes and executing them.
Hatfields & McCoys - (2012) - Netflix
Dramatization of the bitter blood feud between the two families on the West Virginia/Kentucky border in the years after the Civil War.
