HATFIELD & MCCOY fued?

Question

what realy started the fued? i am a hatfield (one of my great grandmothers was a hatfield) and i don't know the TRUE story

i live in kentucky near the BIG SANDY RIVER

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud

Answer 2

The feud between the Hatfield's and the McCoy's was actually not spurred by one single event but by many events over a period of time that escalated. The first event had to do with the civil war and it was "overlooked" by both families. Then came the fateful day when there was a battle over the ownership of a pig and it went on from there. If you go to the website I am leaving it will answer you in detail. It is a genealogy site and has been researched well. There is too much detail to list here.

Answer 3

The Hatfields and McCoys were prominent families who lived along the Kentucky-West Virginia border, on opposite sides of a stream known as Tug Fork, off the Big Sandy River. Both clans were part of the first wave of pioneers to settle the Tug Valley. The McCoys, led by patriarch, Randolph "Randel" McCoy, lived on the Kentucky side of the river, while the Hatfields, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, occupied the West Virginia side. Though it wouldn't have been readily apparent from their crude log cabin homes deep in heavily forested mountain territory, both men were prosperous farmers.

The true origins of the feud between these two men and their families are lost in the mists of history, but legend has it that the bitter feelings began in 1878 when Randolph McCoy accused Floyd Hatfield of stealing one of his hogs. Such an offense was taken very seriously in those times as hogs were an extremely valuable part of the farming economy of the valley.

Answer 4

As legends go, the first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1878 dispute about the ownership of a hog. The feud escalated after Roseanna McCoy began an affair with Johnse Hatfield, leaving her family to live with the Hatfields in West Virginia.

Answer 5

Beginning of the feud
As legends go, the first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1878 dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield had it, and Randolph McCoy said it was his. But in truth, the dispute was over land or property lines and the ownership of that land. The pig was only in the fight because one family believed that since the pig was on their land, that meant it was theirs; the other side objected. The matter was taken to court, and the McCoys lost because of 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.

Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud

Answer 6

It began with a property dispute between the two families, the Hatfields in West Virginia, and the McCoys in Kentucky. That particular matter was settled in court through testimony of a man who was a realtive of both families. The losing family, the McCoys, later killed that man.

The feud escalated due to a Romeo and Juliet kind of romance between Roseanne McCoy and Johnse Hatfield. Roseanne went to live with Johnse in WV. Johnse Hatfield was kidnapped by the McCoy family, and was rescued by a man called Devil Anse Hatfield. Despite this, Johnse abandoned Roseanne and later married her cousin, Nancy McCoy. The feud burst into full fury when Ellison Hatfield, brother of Devil Anse, was killed by three of Roseanne McCoy's brothers, who were in turn killed in the vendetta which followed. It took the National Guards in both WV and KY to finally restore order many bodies later.

So the property dispute started the feud, but people prefer to focus on the romantic aspect of this historical feud.

Answer 7

Beginning of the feud
As legends go, the first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1878 dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield had it, and Randolph McCoy said it was his. But in truth, the dispute was over land or property lines and the ownership of that land. The pig was only in the fight because one family believed that since the pig was on their land, that meant it was theirs; the other side objected. The matter was taken to court, and the McCoys lost because of 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.
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Escalation
The feud escalated after Roseanna McCoy began an affair with Johnse Hatfield, leaving her family to live with the Hatfields in West Virginia. Roseanna eventually returned to the McCoys, but when the couple tried to resume their relationship, Johnse Hatfield was kidnapped by the McCoys, and was saved only when Roseanna made a desperate ride to alert Devil Anse Hatfield, who organized a rescue party.
Despite what was seen as a betrayal of her family on his behalf, Johnse thereafter abandoned the pregnant Roseanna, marrying instead her cousin Nancy McCoy in 1881.
The feud burst into full fury in 1882, when Ellison Hatfield, brother of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, was brutally murdered by three of Roseanna McCoy's brothers, stabbed 26 times and finished off with a shot. The brothers were themselves murdered in turn as the vendetta escalated.
Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families, becoming headline news around the country and compelling the governors of both Kentucky and West Virginia to call up the National Guard to restore order after the disappearance of dozens of bounty hunters sent to calm the bloodlust. The Hatfields claimed more lives than the McCoys did by the time order had been restored.
Eight Hatfields were kidnapped and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of a female member of the McCoy clan, Alifair. She had been shot after exiting a burning building that had been set aflame by a group of Hatfields. Because of issues of due process and illegal extradition, the U.S. Supreme Court became involved. Eventually, the eight men were tried in Kentucky, and all eight were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, and the eighth was executed in a public hanging (even though it was prohibited by law), probably as a warning to end the violence. Thousands of spectators attended the hanging in Pikeville, Kentucky. The families finally agreed to disagree in 1891.

Answer 8

Did you make it to the family re-union? If not you should go!
http://www.real-mccoys.com

It's really one of those urban legand things... just two families who truly hated each other. The fued began over property rights, murder, and love. Then it just grew into all out gang warfare. Check it all out at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud

Answer 9

Johnse Hatfield Wikipedia

Answer 10

I saw that on the history channel, one or the other had a daughter who ran off with the other clan, then they went after them and some folks got killed.