The same thing that most fights are about. Money, greed, politics.
Hatfields served with the confederacy and a relative of Devil anse killed a Mccoy who was serving with the union forces. After the civil war, Devil Anse owned large amounts of timber land. He caught Mccoy and his nephew trespassing and cutting his timber for sale. Sued them, won law suit and they had to forfeit their timber land to pay the lawsuit. There was another point of contention over a pig that a Hatfield won in court that was decided by a jury of 6 Hatfields and 6 McCoys. One of the McCoys voted with the Hatfields. I believe he was later killed by members of the Mccoys for siding with the Hatfields.
On election day people in the area met to vote and get together.3 McCoys got into a argument with Devil Anse's brother. He was whipping three of them when they pulled knives and a gun shot Hatfield in the back and stabbed him. Devil Anse took his brother back to West Virginia and also took the three McCoy brothers and told them. If my brother lives, you will stand trial, if he dies you will be killed. Brother died the next day, the three Mccoys was tied to PawPaw bush and shot dead. Feud was on for the next 10 years or more. Devil Anse did not loose any immediate family member, Randel McCoy lost every one of his sons in the feud.
Governors of Kentucky and West Virginia got involved, feud quieten down for several years. Coal was discovered in area and Devil Anse timber land had valuable coal deposits. That nephew of Randel McCoy, who lost his timber land, was now a lawyer, and got the govenor of Kentucky to reissue the murder warrants on the Hatfields and sent posses into Hatfield territory to arrest or kill Devil Anse and members of his family. The nephew wanted to get rid of Devil Anse and possibly make a grab on his land and the coal deposits.
When Devil Anse got word a posse crossed the tug river into W.Virginia, he would hide out in a mountain top cave they called the fortress. My grandfather, who was about 7 would go with him. Devil Anse also had a reputation of being one of the best shots in that area and they never got to him.
The oldest son, Cap Hatfield, got tired of the bounty hunters and posses being sent against them and led a party of Hatfields into the Kentucky side and encircled the McCoy home and set fire to it using kerosene. They shot the McCoys as they fled the fire. One of the McCoy daughters was also shot as she fled the flames wearing her brother's coat and hat, possibly given to her by her brother to protect her from the flames. Needless to say, shooting a woman was not a thing you did in those days.
Several Hatfields were arrested and I believe two went to prison and a cousin to the Hatfields was sentenced to death and hung as he admitted to being the one who shot McCoy's daughter.
Devil Anse was never arrested, he did not take part in the McCoy raid. In fact he was against it but Cap Hatfield was fed up with the McCoys and went against his Father's wishes and burned out the McCoys.
Randel Mccoy and his wife were mentally broken after that and the feud died down again. I have heard figures of 15 to 100 killed in the feud. Based on what I have heard in the family the true figure was about 25-35 killed. The vast majority was Mccoys or paid bounty hunters who never came back and their bodies never found after riding into Hatfield territory on the West Virginia side.
Devil Anse Hatfield lived to 1922 and his funeral was the largest ever held in Logan County, West Virginia.
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