The Feud
The Hatfield-McCoy feud took place from 1863 to 1891 in this area, and my Ferrell ancestors were tangentially connected to it, largely on the Hatfield side (having intermarried heavily). The Hatfields were the more politically active and socially and financially successful of the families, which each lived on both sides of the Tug/Big Sandy Rivers in both Kentucky and West Virginia.
The 'opening salvo' was meant to be the slaying of Asa McCoy right after the Civil War in 1864[1] to Logan County, but it didn't really flare up more then.
The affair ramped up with the "stolen pig" incident in 1878[1] when great grandman Clearisa would've been 3. It ebbed and flowed until 1888 (when Clearisa would've been 13) and the New Year's Massacre at Randall McCoy's home, which culminated in the Battle of Grapevine Creek on January 19. Trials would last until 1901, two years after Clearisa marries Moses Ferrell - and they marry in Mingo (which we have from the Marriage Index - 26 Aug 1899[2]). That strongly suggests that she was not overly concerned about the Feud.
But, if we look at her family, her father Lloyd Hatfield, son of Thomas Hatfield Sr, who's father was Valentine "Wall" Hatfield himself, making Wall Clearisa's great grandfather. That would make Thomas' (her grandfather) brother Ephraim "Big Eph" Hatfield her great granduncle.
The Hatfield–McCoy feud, also described by journalists as the Hatfield–McCoy conflict, 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. 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 feud has entered the American folklore lexicon as a metonym for any bitterly feuding rival parties.
The McCoy family lived primarily on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork; the Hatfields lived mostly on the West Virginia side. The majority of the Hatfields, although living in Mingo County (then part of Logan County), fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War; most McCoys also fought for the Confederates,[3] with the exception of Asa Harmon McCoy, who fought for the Union. The first real violence in the feud was the death of Asa as he returned from the war, murdered by a group of Confederate Home Guards called the Logan Wildcats. Devil Anse Hatfield was a suspect at first, but was later confirmed to have been sick at home at the time of the murder. It was widely believed that his uncle, Jim Vance, a member of the Wildcats, committed the murder.
The Hatfields were more affluent than the McCoys and had many more political connections. Anse's timbering operation was a source of wealth for his family, while the McCoys were more of a lower-middle-class family. Ole Ran'l owned a 300-acre (120 ha) farm. Both families had also been involved in the manufacturing and selling of illegal moonshine, a popular commodity at the time.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wikipedia - Hatfield-McCoy Feud
On muster rolls beginning on May 6, 1864, Asa is reported in a Lexington hospital, suffering from a leg fracture. Beginning in December 1864, the 45th Kentucky Infantry began mustering its companies out of service. Asa's Company E was mustered out on December 24, 1864, in Ashland. He was killed near his home on January 7, 1865, just thirteen days after leaving the Union Army. A group of Confederate guerrillas took credit for the killing and his wife's pension application states that he was "killed by Rebels". There are no existing records pertaining to his death and no warrants were issued in connection with the murder. McCoy family tradition points to James "Jim" Vance, an uncle of Anse and a member of a West Virginia militia group, as the culprit.
The second recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred thirteen years later, in 1878, after a dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield, a cousin of Anse's, owned the hog, but Randolph McCoy claimed it was his, saying that the notches on the pig's ears were McCoy, not Hatfield, marks. The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace, Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield, who ruled in favor of the Hatfields by the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. In June 1880, Staton was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, who were later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
- ↑ Mingo County Marriage Index
Clarrisa Hatfield, 23 years old, marries M.F. Ferrell, 24 years old, 26 Aug 1899, Mingo, WV