BOOK REVIEW: 'Feuding Hatfields & McCoys' offers introduction to element of Appalachian history

By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
(see www.huntingtonnews.net)

"The Feuding Hatfields & McCoys" (Woodland Press LLC, 192 pages, $18.95) by Dr. Coleman C. Hatfield and F. Keith Davis is billed as a "time-line and pictorial history" to the 19th Century feud between the Kentucky McCoys and the West Virginia Hatfields.

It's a useful introduction to the subject, but it's not a scholarly book on the legendary feud. To be fair to the authors, they don't claim to produce such a work with this volume.

Whenever I read about the feud, I end up getting thoroughly confused, so I consulted the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud. Yes, I know that you can't always depend on Wikipedia to get to the heart of the story, but this particular entry is a useful start. It includes a bibliography of the feud, along with a comprehensive listing of the players on both sides.

The feud began in 1878 and the Hatfields and McCoys finally agreed to stop the fighting in 1891.

From the Wikipedia entry: "In 1979, the two families united for a special week's taping of the popular game show "Family Feud", in which they played for a cash prize and a pig which was kept on stage during the games. [A wandering pig is blamed for the start of the feud, but it really was about ownership of land]."

Central to the book is Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, the great grandfather of Coleman Hatfield. "Devil Anse" underwent a spiritual conversion and baptism on Sept. 23, 1911, which is described in the book.

This element of the feud was examined in depth earlier this year by CBN News (Christian Broadcasting Network), based on the Hatfield-Davis book. Wendy Griffith, co-anchor of CBN Newswatch -- and a descendant of the Hatfields involved in the feud -- visited Logan and Mingo counties, West Virginia last July to conduct research and to interview co-author Davis, a prominent Logan County historian and author.

It should be noted that most of the West Virginia action took place in what is now Mingo County, but was part of Logan County until the creation of Mingo County in 1895.

I found this in a Google search: "Mingo County is the youngest county in the state, formed by an act of the state legislature in 1895 from parts of Logan County. Its founding was related to a legal protest by a moonshiner who claimed that the Logan County Court that had found him guilty did not have jurisdiction over his case because his still was actually located in Lincoln County. A land survey was taken and discovered that the defendant was correct. The charges were then refilled in Lincoln County court. Although the moonshiner was ultimately found guilty of his crime, the state legislature was made aware of the situation and determined that Logan County was too large for the expeditious administration of justice and decided to create a new county, called Mingo. The county was named in honor of the Mingo Indian tribe that had been the earliest known settlers of the region."

Author Hatfield says in the book's foreward: "As a scion of one of the feuding families of the Allegheny and Cumberland hills, and one whose forebears began their trek westward from the Virginia coast, I offer the following for all who may be interested or desire to hear the facts from one who has first-hand knowledge of the people of whom he writes. This unique book is about two proud families....[and] includes a comprehensive timeline of the Hatfield family migration westward and documents the history before, during and following the bloody Hatfield and McCoy feud era. Included are special stories, which have never been published before, offered directly from the Hatfield family that adds color and clarity to this famous vendetta. This work also includes the exhaustive research of the late C. A. Hatfield, a well-known attorney in the City of Logan."

"The Feuding Hatfields & McCoys" also shows that it all wasn't feudin', fussin' and fightin' with Chapter 23 describing how Devil Anse and his men came to the aid of widow Phoebe Mounts and spent a busy day hoeing the weeds from her corn crop. Delightful anecdotes like this make the book essential to those exploring the nation's most famous family feud.