14. America’s Most Iconic Grudge
The grudge between the Hatfields and McCoys, a protracted vendetta between neighboring clans along the Kentucky and West Virginia border, is America’s most infamous family feud. Fought largely in the 1880s, it pitted the Hatfields, who lived mostly in Logan County, WV, against the McCoys, most of whom lived in neighboring Pike County, KY. Bad blood between the rival clans led to significant violence, mayhem, and murder. As modern science has revealed, and as seen below, there was literal bad blood that drove and amplified the vendetta. The McCoys were led by Randolph “Old Ran’l” McCoy, while the rival Hatfields were led by William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield. The earliest known violence dates to 1865, when Harmon McCoy, a Union Army veteran who had fought in the US Civil War, was murdered by Confederate guerrillas led by Devil Anse Hatfield.
Bushwhacking had been common throughout the conflict, so the killing did not lead to an immediate feud. However, it stored hard feelings for the future. In 1878, a McCoy accused a Hatfield of stealing a hog. The Hatfield was acquitted, but a witness who took his side was murdered by the McCoys soon thereafter. Tensions increased in 1880, when Devil Anse Hatfield’s son impregnated Old Ran’l McCoy’s daughter. Then in 1882, Devil Anse’s brother was mortally wounded in a brawl with three McCoys over a small debt owed on a fiddle. In retaliation, the Hatfields captured and executed three McCoys. The grudge then exploded into a prolonged back forth vendetta.
