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Yesterday And Today—Chapter X: Two Sons Of Devil Anse Shake Hands Over Grave Of FatherEditor’s Note: This Is the last of a series of JO columns first appearing in this paper in September, 1957, and being reprinted now by popular request generated by the new outdoor drama, “Hatfields and McCoys,” which will premiere tonight in CUffside Amphitheatre at Grandview State Park.By SHIRLEY DONNELLYAn expensive marble monument, lopped by a life-sized statue oi the famed feud leader, marks the graves of William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield and his wife, Levicy C h a f i n Hatfield, in the Hatfield Cemetery on Island Creek near Omar in Logan County.Both died of p n e umonia, he at the age of 82 and she eight years later at the age of 87.Her full name is on the marker with her birth and death dates, 1842-1929, but he is identified as Capt. Anderson Hatfield, with dates 1839-1921, without his first name or the descriptive nickname by which he was known from Civil War days and still is called in historical accounts of the feud.The tall monument lists the names of the couple’s 13 children: Johnson, William A., Robert L., Nancy, Elliott R., Mary, Elizabeth, Elias, Troy. Joseph 0., Rose, Willis E., and Tennis.TROY’S REAL name was Detroit and Tennis’s given name was Tennyson. William A. was commonly called “Cap.”Can and his brother. Dr. Elliott R. Hatfield (Nov. 12,1872-April 20, 1932) wereestranged for a long time before their father’s death on Jan. 6. 1921. They were bitter toward each other for years and this grieved their father. Devil Anse. It was his death-bed request that these two sons forgive each other and be friends.On the funeral day, Cap led in the reconciliation and the two brothers shook hands. Tears flowed down the cheeks of both men like bubbles on the clear mountain streams of Logan County.AT THE GRAVE of hisfather, Cap, the long-fierce feud lieutenant, who had killed perhaps more men than he could recall, told old “Uncle Dike” Garrett, Baptist preacher, that he had made his peace with God and was ready to be baptized any time the venerable old minister set “I will baptize you, boy,” the preacher told Cap, “in the very hole whar I baptized yore pappy.”Cap Hatfield then raised his hand above his head and declared that he was done with malice and fighting and if any man wanted his life or his blood, he would not resist It was a dramatic moment et the funeral and made a profound impression on the minds of the great crowd presentCAP DIED IN John Hopkins Hospital, Md., in August, 1930, less than 11 years after his father died. His brother. Elliott, died two years later. “At Rest” is inscribed on the doctor's stone in the hillside burial ground on Island Creek.The marker of the eldest child of Devil Anse gives his full name, Johnson Hatfield, and dates, Jan. 6, 3862-ApriI 19,1922. Johnse was not as large as most of his brothers but be was far more handsome than the rest and was the Casanova of the clan.Johnse died of a heart attack as he rode along Twisted Gum Creek, a stream between Gilbert Creek and Ben Creek in Logan County.Other inscriptions are for Troy (Jan. 20, 1881-OcL 17, 1911) and Elias M. (Nov. 2,1873-Oct. 37, 1911), who were killed in the same gun fight with a liquor competitor salesman. Troy and Elias were the first of Devil Anse’s children to die and it was a score of years after the Hatfield-McCoy feud had subsided.Another stone in the same cemetery on Island Creek reads: “Nancy A. VanceMullens, Aug. 13. 1869-May 1, 1939. Loved by alL” There is a stone for “Lilly Curry, wife of Mess F. Hatfield. 18S5-1921. On a little boy’s grave is an inscription: “Cap S. Hatfield. Born April 2, 1891; died June 5, 1898. God's finger touched him and he slept”tv VTIVCA rOTTVTV
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Post Herald and Register
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Sat, Jun 20, 1970
Page 2
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USA 25 Mar 2017
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