I’ve pretty much heard about the Hatfields and McCoys all my life. It’s probably hard to hear the word Hatfield without immediately thinking, “McCoy.” It’s, arguably, the most famous feud in history. Yesterday I read something that caught my attention — apparently, that famous feud was the primary inspiration for the TV game show “Family Feud.” I don’t know if that’s really true, but the real Hatfields and McCoys competed on the program in 1979.
The Hatfield-McCoy feud took place in two separate states, Kentucky and West Virginia — it started in 1863 and lasted until 1891. The two families settled on land on opposite sides of Tug Fork, a stream that forms part of the West Virginia — Kentucky border. The Hatfields lived on the West Virginia side and were a logging family of 15. Head of the family was “Devil Anse” Hatfield, a former Confederate officer that was none too happy that his state had joined the Union. The McCoys were also a big family, with 13 children, headed by Randolph “Old Ranel” McCoy. For a number of years, the two families coexisted more or less peacefully, working together and even intermarrying.
Some historians think the trouble began when young Harmon McCoy joined the Union army and fought for the North during the Civil War — an offense for which, when he returned to Tug Fork, he was hunted down and killed by a group of Hatfields. Bad feelings continued to build through the 1860s and 1870s and flared up again when a dispute over ownership of a pig led to another murder — this one committed by the McCoys.
But things didn’t really come to a head until Roseanna McCoy fell in love with a Hatfield. This backwoods version of Romeo and Juliet eventually led to the murders of at least 20 members of the two families.
There was lots of family feuding in Appalachia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but no squabble got the attention like that of the Hatfields and McCoys. There have been many folk songs, books, plays and moves about the two families and most depicted them as violent, poorly educated, incestuous hillbillies — that contributed to creating the popular misperception of Appalachia.
But grudges can only last so long — in 1891, after the fighting got so bad that it was making national headlines, the families finally decided to call a truce. Over the next century, they lived in a kind of uneasy harmony — and, really did appear on the “Family Feud” TV show.
This gives me a whole new perspective when I watch Family Feud….
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