Two new players in the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud sparked an escalation of violence
BLOOD for BLO OD
SUMMARY OF PART I Since the turbulent times of Civil War along the Border States, there had been hard feelings, punctuated by acts of murderous violence, between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky. The former, under the leadership of the powerful William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, seemed by far the stronger and more financially stable, benefiting from Anse’s canny business sense and political contacts within his home state. For his part, Randolph “Old Ran’l” McCoy had always struggled to support his large family on land that was unyielding and unforgiving. At one time, the clans had seemed compatible. Members of the two families intermarried, shared friendships, and often worked together. Devil Anse
himself employed several McCoys as laborers in his timbering operation. Beginning during the Civil War, the series of events that led to the savage taking of lives reflected a set of unwritten laws and traditions that left little room for the proverbial turning of the other cheek. In 1887, when Old Ran’l found himself outmaneuvered by Devil Anse, he turned to his in-law, politically connected and vengeance-minded lawyer Perry Cline, for help. This was precisely the opportunity the ambitious Cline had been looking for, ever since Devil Anse had finessed him out of some 5,000 acres of prime timber property. Further adding to Cline’s thirst for payback, Anse’s son, Cap, was directly responsible for the shooting death of Cline’s nephew, Jeff McCoy. Q
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