What Caused the Feud Between the Hatfields & McCoys?

The Big Picture

• The origin of the Hatfields and McCoys feud is mysterious, involving possible causes like a stolen pig or a relationship scandal.
• Initial violence didn't sever family ties; conflicting loyalties escalated tensions, leading to bloody altercations.
• The feud ended with brutal acts like the New Year's Day Massacre and court trials that eventually brought justice.

For over a hundred years, we've recounted the infamous tale of the blood feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families. These two clans, led primarily by patriarchs William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield and Randolph "Randall" "Ole Ran'l" McCoy, lived on the divide between West Virginia and Kentucky during and after the American Civil War, and their story has birthed plenty of derivative works in years past. One of which is the History Channel's infamous Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, which starred Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton as the respective opposing leaders. But while the miniseries might be pretty realistic in its portrayals of post-war life following America's bloodiest conflict, there's a lot more to the feud than meets the eye, even if the exact particulars are a bit confusing.

Hatfields & McCoys

A captivating miniseries that depicts the legendary feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families, highlighting the bloody clashes and deep-seated animosities that defined their rivalry. Set against the backdrop of the rugged Appalachian Mountains, the series traces the origins and escalation of the conflict, driven by personal grudges, land disputes, and the lingering effects of the Civil War. Through intense drama and vivid characterizations, the show illustrates the devastating impact of the feud on both families and their community, capturing a pivotal moment in American history.

The Exact Origins of the 'Hatfields & McCoys' Family Feud Are Unknown

According to Ken Andersen in a 1981 issue of TIME Magazine, "Exactly what made the clans so extravagantly unfriendly is open to conjecture." Andersen notes that there are a few different possibilities that could account for why Devil Anse (Costner) and Ole Ran'l/Randall (Paxton), and their kin, all hated each other so much. Tug Valley was set afire by this feud, but its origins are questionable. "Maybe Randolph McCoy was sore at a Hatfield for stealing a razorback hog. Maybe he was angry at his daughter Rose Anne, pregnant by Johnse Hatfield after a frolic in 1880, for moving, unmarried, into the Hatfield compound. Or maybe the cause was the packs of Hatfields who crossed the Tug Fork and went swaggering around the Kentucky election grounds." These are some of the potential reasons that would all be understandable in explaining why we still talk about it all these years later, but the truth is much more complicated.

Unlike what we see in the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, there was actually a fair amount of overlap between the two titular families. Christopher John Farley of the Wall Street Journal notes that, "Since family relationships were not clearly defined, there must be some other explanation for who was loyal to Devil Anse and who was loyal to Randall McCoy when push came to shove." Early on, the miniseries frames Anse's uncle Jim Vance (Tom Berenger) as the murderer of Randall's brother, Asa Harmon McCoy (Chad Hugghins), in 1865, largely because of his commitment to the Union Army during the Civil War. Most of the McCoys, and seemingly all the Hatfields, were members of the Confederate Army. There was never a conviction, but tradition considers Vance to be the murderer.

This act might seem like it would drive a wedge between the Hatfields and the McCoys, but there's a bit more to the story. Jim Vance was a member of a local militia known as the Logan Wildcats. Devil Anse was the leader of this group, and many believe that he too may have been involved in the murder of Randolph McCoy's brother because of his Yankee affiliation. However, because many McCoys fought on the side of the Confederacy (and considered Asa a traitor), there was no immediate retaliation against the Hatfields. Rather, it wasn't until 1878 that Randall McCoy accused Floyd Hatfield (Lloyd Hutchinson), Anse's cousin, of stealing the aforementioned razorback pig from the McCoy's farm (via Hatfield McCoy Foundation). This eventually went to trial in McCoy's county, but a Hatfield (who also had McCoy relations) judged the proceedings. However, in an attempt to be fair in his judgment, he created a jury that consisted of one-half Hatfields and one-half McCoys. It's because of these results that many historians consider this the linchpin of the whole bloody affair.

The 1880s Were the Worst of It Between These Warring Families

While in court, the entire pig affair ultimately hinged on the testimony of Bill Staton (Michael Greco). Staton was a McCoy who was actually married to a Hatfield. While we don't know why he did so, he testified in Floyd Hatfield's favor, though many assumed it was because of his wife's relations. This resulted in the McCoy's claims being thrown out, and it was here that the feud really ignited. Two years after the trial, Staton was murdered by Randall McCoy's two nephews, Sam and Paris McCoy (the former played by Jack Laskey in the miniseries). Despite the violent nature of Staton's death, the McCoys were ultimately acquitted, with the judge ruling the attack a trademark case of self-defense. This further infuriated the McCoy family, who fixated on the Hatfields as their ultimate opponents. But things would only get worse before they got better. A few months later, Devil Anse's son, Johnson aka "Johnse" (Matt Barr), became infatuated with Randall's daughter Roseanna (Lindsay Pulsipher), and the two started a Romeo & Juliet-type romance that put them in the middle of two warring factions.

Afraid of her own family, Roseanna stayed with the Hatfields during the affair. Just as the miniseries portrays it, this made Randall McCoy furious. The pair met on election day and stuck together for months before Roseanana eventually got wise and discovered that Johnse never intended to marry her. Some believe that Devil Anse wouldn't allow them to marry, but there's frankly a lot we don't know. Despite being pregnant, Johnse abandoned Roseanna in favor of her cousin, Nancy McCoy (Jena Malone), whom he eventually married instead. However, Nancy and Johnse wouldn't stick together either, and she'd leave the Hatfield to marry the bounty hunter "Bad" Frank Phillips (Andrew Howard) — but we'll get to him later on. Roseanna eventually gave birth to Johnse's daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who soon died of pneumonia (via Explore KY History). Roseanna herself died in 1889, and many believe it was due to a broken heart.

With these two conflicts in mind, things only heated up throughout the decade. In 1882, some of Randall's sons escalated things further when they encountered Ellison Hatfield (Damian O'Hare), the brother of Devil Anse, on election day (a popular meeting spot for the two families). One of them (some say it was Tolbert McCoy) stabbed an unarmed Ellison seventeen times and the Hatfield was shot by a revolver before he eventually died. "The eye-for-an-eye-for-an-eye retaliation began: three McCoys were captured by Hatfields under the command of Ellison’s brother Devil Anse, tied to a pawpaw bush, and shot to death," Kurt Andersen wrote for TIME. But that wasn't enough blood for the Hatfields. Four years later, in 1886, Anse's son William "Cap" Hatfield (Boyd Holbrook) killed Randall's nephew Jeff McCoy (Jonathan Fredrick), the brother of Johnse's wife Nancy, brewing even more tension as the timeline continued.

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The 'Hatfields & McCoys' Feud Ended Bloody

But before all this bad blood could end, the law came down hard on the Hatfield family. "Despite the charges, the Hatfields eluded arrest, leaving the McCoys boiling with anger about the murders and outraged that the Hatfields walked free," the Hatfield McCoy Foundation notes. "Their cause was taken up by Perry Cline, an attorney who was married to Martha McCoy, the widow of Randolph’s brother Asa Harmon." Cline (played by Ronan Vibert in the miniseries) likely had some revenge of his own on his mind. Years prior, he had brought a lawsuit to Devil Anse for the loss of a considerable acreage of land. Cline lost, but clearly never forgot the legal tussle. "Using his political connections, Cline had the charges against the Hatfields reinstated. He announced rewards for the arrest of the Hatfields, including Devil Anse," the Foundation further explained.

The McCoy attorney went directly to the governor of Kentucky to put out a bounty on the Hatfields, and detectives and bounty hunters — including "Bad" Frank Phillips — soon found their way into West Virginia to capture as many Hatfields as possible. Devil Anse's surviving brother, Valentine (Powers Boothe), was among those kidnapped. But the Hatfields didn't much care for the law. Instead, they opted to settle the feud once and for all. The family, and some say Devil Anse in particular, devised a plan to stop their kin from being hanged at trial and thought that if the McCoys were wiped out, the whole thing would fall apart with no one to pursue them legally. "Cap" Hatfield, Jim Vance, Johnse Hatfield, and others raided the McCoys homestead on New Year's Day 1888, where they murdered Alifair and Calvin McCoy (two of Randall's children, played by Katie Griffiths and Max Deacon on the History series) and beat Randall's wife Sarah (Mare Winningham) within an inch of her life, before then burning their home to the ground. This event became known as the "New Year's Day Massacre."

Soon after, Jim Vance was killed by Frank Phillips, and Devil Anse initiated a final retaliation against the McCoys. Called "The Battle of Grapevine Creek," Phillips assembled a team and met the Hatfields on the battlefield, which didn't go so well for the West Virginian family. The bounty hunter captured nine members of the Hatfield clan, and they were sent off to jail. The trial continued for years, even reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled 7-2 that the Hatfields could be tried after all, despite being illegally extradited over state lines, and seven of them were sentenced to life in prison (via History Channel). One of them, Ellison Hatfield's son, the mentally challenged Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts (Noel Fisher), was publicly hanged despite public elections being illegal in Kentucky at the time. His last words were reportedly, "They made me do it! The Hatfields made me do it!"

Devil Anse and Ole Ran'l Lived Well Beyond the Feud

Devil Anse Hatfield ultimately escaped any convictions himself. Because he wasn't present at the New Year's Day Massacre, and couldn't be tied directly to the murder of the McCoy brothers, Anse wasn't ever tried. Instead, he ran off and hid in the mountains. It's said that, in his later years, Devil Anse found God after all. Despite the bloodshed he engaged in, both in the Civil War and throughout the feud, and his notoriously anti-Christian stance, Devil Anse was baptized in 1911, only to die a decade later at his home in Island Creek. He was 81 years old. Likewise, Randolph "Randall" McCoy lived into his 80s. Following the feud, Randall became a ferry operator in Pikeville before he died in 1914 due to some serious injuries after falling into a fire. After all the battles and skirmishes they'd been through, both the Hatfield and McCoy patriarchs finally kicked the bucket.

Over 100 years later, the infamous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys still makes waves. Since the early 20th century, the bloody conflict has been heavily dramatized in film, television, books, and other mediums. It is even the namesake for the popular game show, Family Feud. In 2003, following the events of 9/11, the descendants of the original Hatfields and McCoys sat down and signed an official truce between them, hoping to prove that peace really is possible (via CBS News). In 2012, the History Channel's most in-depth adaptation, Hatfields & McCoys did the feud the most justice. While some of the particulars are a bit questionable, for the most part, the miniseries captures the spirit of Devil Anse, Ole Ran'l, and the rest of the gang.

Hatfields & McCoys can be purchased digitally on Amazon Prime Video.

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