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Yesterday And Today—Perry McCoy Has Feudists’ PicturesBy SHIRLEY DONNELLYPerry McCoy of MacArthur was born Jan. 24, 191S, on Peters Creek at Freebura, Ky., 13 miles across the Tug from Matewar.. and remembers the details of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud as they were handed down from those who fought.A sixth grade dropout and veteran of World War II, who SDPDt some time in the Army i n California i a 1943. Ferry McCoy is one of the real McCoys’* indeed.There on Peters Creek, the McCoys and other mountaineers put the com they raised to several useful purposes, according to Perry, whose father. Frank McCoy, was a p3st master at making moonshine likker.”Perry says of his father. He made thousands of gallons of it before the revenoors cut up his Still.Free as is the right of all mountaineers to lie. the people who lived on Peters Creek felt they were free to do as they pleased with the com and other crops they raised.PR1ZF.D AMONG possessions Perry McCoy has in his home arc pictures — a few of them enlarged and framed — o: his relatives who were on the firing line in the days of the Hatfield-McCoy feud of the 1882-1890 era and before.One enlarged portrait in a 30 by 30 inch frame is that of Bud McCoy, who was wounded during the Civil War and during the feud but not fatally until after the feud.Harmon McCoy had a son named Lark McCoy, called Devil Lark,” who was Perry McCoy's grandfather, HarmonMcCoy was killed during the Civil War and his death generally credited to William A. Devil Ansc” Hatfield, who was a Confederate captain.The wife cf Lark McCoy was Mary Elizabeth McCoy, who posed with her husband for a picture in 1905 and that picture is before me as this is typed. Lark McCoy died in 1937 of natural causes.ACCORDING TO PerryMcCoy, Harmon McCoy, victim of Devil Ar.sc Hatfield’s aim. as it is alleged, was the son of a red-haired Irishman who came to America. Harmon McCoy's mother hailed from Scotland.Perry described Harmon's mother as Amazonian in size, weighing about 275 pounds, while her husband was so small that it was almost necessary to shake the sheet to find him. He tipped the scale at around 125 pounds.Bud McCoy, whose enlarged picture is in Perry McCoy’s possession, was waylaid by two of his cousins, who shot him 16 times. It was after the feud, though, that Bud McCoy was shot and killed by Pleas” McCoy and Bill Dyer because Bud McCoy had gone over” to the Hatfields.Bill Dyer and Bud McCoy had grown up together. Pleas” McCoy was only a teenager when he helped ventilate Bud McCoy. For his part in the killing, Pleas” spent 3G years in prison before being released.IN TELLING how the two cousins finished off Bud McCoy. Perry said He was shot square through with a rifle.”Bud McCoy and Lark McCoy were brothers. Like a lot of mountain people. Lark had a by-word expression he always used when he wanted to emphasize what he was about to say. It was, “Well, blast my looks!”Lark and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, had a girl baby who died when quite young. In Perry's collection is a large picture of a young woman clinging to a crass in a storm at seas. Tne inscription on the large picture certificate is, Ida McCoy. Died June 18, 1903. Aged 5 months and 6 days. Cild of L. H. McCoy.This child was one of the seven sons and two daughters of Lark and Mary McCoy, grandparents of Perry.LARK McCOY’S chief accomplishment in the feud was shooting Jim Vance during a fight with the Hatfields and their confederates. Jim Vance was ailing from eating too much coon meat the day before and he was ur.ahle to keep up with his Seeing friends.Frank Phillips finished Jim Vance in the fight, giving him the mercy shot through the head.According to Perry McCoy. Lark McCoy was a man who meant what he said. He forbade his daughter to go out with Jim Wolford, locally known as Gourd Nose Jim” because his nose resembled a gourd. Later, Lark saw his daughter. Vicy, talking with Gourd Nose Jim” by a fence, so he shot her through the hips with a 30-30 rifle!She reccovcrcd and lived to be nearly 90 before she died in 1963.PERRY McCOY’S mother was America Hatfield, daughter of J. P. Hatfield, my notes stale.Perry married Miss Lula Roberts, a very attractive young woman bom at Bradshaw on Feb. 3, 1922. They have reared a family of fine sons and daughters and now have eight grandchildren.Perry’s hobby is gardening and his gardens show that he is a good gardener.
Newspaper Details
Post Herald and Register
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Sat, Jun 07, 1969
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Susan R.
USA 24 Mar 2017
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