A Forgotten Feud of "Bloody" Breathitt County, Kentucky

The Hatfields and McCoys were not the only notable Kentucky feud in history. A turn of the century feud in Breathitt County called the Hargis-Marcum-Cockrill-Callahan Affair was just as startling, but far less well known. The History Guy remembers a forgotten feud in United States history.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
Facebook: / thehistoryguyyt
Patreon: / thehistoryguy
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
Subscribe for more forgotten history: / @thehistoryguychannel .
Awesome The History Guy merchandise is available at:
teespring.com/stores/the-hist...
Script by HCW
#ushistory #thehistoryguy #Kentucky

[@jasong428]

God Bless Breathitt County. From Whick to Vancleve and every broken down shack and every relative's grave in between. What a place.

[@gratefuldudegaming.8170]

and god remember O.H Napier by god!

[@dugroz]

About 1/3 of the way in, I lost track of who killed who.

[@snowwhite7677]

That's how the old blood feuds went, til there was no one left.

[@jamesstepp9982]

@@snowwhite7677 In current day gang wars,they go on so long both sides forget what it's all about,but for the "fact" that "It all started when THEY....."

[@bforman1300]

The genome project in Iceland was made possible due to the meticulous family trees kept since Iceland was first settled in order to keep track of the feuds related in the sagas.

[@roryjones95]

@@bforman1300 i think it's so you dont fuck someone that shares a little to much dna but ok

[@carl-cx9uh]

yeah need a chart or something like this

[@localcrew]

It’s not necessarily that we in Kentucky are more violent than others - it’s just that we are real good shots.

[@bethbartlett5692]

baaaaaaa! There ya go!

[@bethbartlett5692]

@bisquitnspanky lololololol

[@70M80]

I mean it is the KENTUCKY long rifle after all..

[@jimjambananaslam3596]

Pretty sure you're known for chicken, not violence.

[@coltonregal1797]

@@jimjambananaslam3596 I think you forgot what video you're commenting on.

[@1046fireman]

My dad was from bloody Breathitt. It is still referred as such.

[@stone1andonly]

Wow... that *does* make the Hatfield/McCoy feud seem tame by comparison. I suppose the Hatfields and McCoys get more notice because it was across state lines and a much longer and protracted feud.

[@myklmichaels5007]

My grandmother was a Hargis. We are very old southern family and proud of our history. Good or bad. Great story.

[@prairielandoutdoors7544]

Hargis here

[@Penekamp11]

I am a 7th generation Kentuckian. The first member of my family to come to Kentucky, came from Virginia to Woodford County Kentucky right after he got out of the Colonial army following the War Of Independence. I knew that Kentucky was totally ravaged by the armies of both the North and South but I didn’t know that it continued to such a degree in Breathitt County. Jackson County Kentucky was known for its moonshine for many many years before it became legal to distill moonshine. Starting in the late sixties, premium grade marijuana, sometimes called “Kentucky Bluegrass”, superseded moonshine as the illicit substance of choice to be produced in the area. Excessive poverty and unemployment caused people to grow marijuana to survive. Everyone knew when the weed crop had come in by the number of new pickup trucks being driven in Jackson.

[@healinggrounds19]

Sounds similar to Hawkins County Tennessee!

[@gutterman-1966]

Many of the families in Jackson County, Ky came from Hawkins and Hancock Counties, Tennessee.

[@bethbartlett5692]

My 7-8 X Grandpa founded Lynchburg, WVA

[@1952jodianne]

Jackson KY is the county seat of Breathitt Co. McKee KY is the county seat of Jackson Co. The two towns & the their respective counties are not particularly close to one another considering the mountainous terrain & early road conditions

[@BL-no7jp]

I had a relative who grew his own in the early 70’s in a county south of Breathitt . The church was across the road, and bootleggers lived nearby. It was a peaceful place to live surrounded by beauty.

[@macnutz4206]

You tell the best stories, demonstrating that fact is often stranger and more interesting than fiction.

[@joezeigler1064]

Indeed it is

[@winnifredforbes8712]

Macnutz420 Always!

[@helenbarker4573]

I'm related to the Callahans in this story. Fueding goes back to before the Civil War and became even more intense afterwards when lawlessness was rampant and Capt. Bill Callahan formed a group to try to maintain order but instead made things worse and more polarized. Very interesting times!

[@ion2010ify]

My great grandfather was Roger Callahan we are likely related.

[@GdashO]

James Marcum was my great grandfather. The story that's been passed down is that there was a failed assassination attempt that occurred before the courthouse incident. James was traveling to town, possibly to file some documents and was expected to be traveling alone but was accompanied with his family. When the buggie they were riding came past some cover on the side of the road, there was a man with a shotgun pointed at them. With only a shotgun the would-be assassin could not be sure to hit only James and not his wife or child. This is what prompted James to start carrying his son with him when he left the house. Thanks for doing this, I'll have to show this to my dad.

[@thebonesaw..4634]

I hail from the Landrum family, and I'm also related to the Combs. My great-uncle, Sewell Landrum had a farm in Lost Creek.

[@GdashO]

My grandmother remarried and she and her son(my father) took another sir-name.

[@GdashO]

My Grandmother married James Marcum Jr.( the baby in the video) and became a Marcum. She had my father, James Marcum the 3rd. Jr. died in a mining accident when my father was 5-ish. My grandmother remarried and took a new sir-name for herself and her son. So my father was a Marcum until my grandmother remarried and both their names got changed.

[@tammyland4411]

@@thebonesaw..4634 my maiden name is Combs mother & father from Jackson & Hazard

[@thebonesaw..4634]

@@tammyland4411 -- Oh, yeah... you and I are definitely related then. If you don't mind me asking, what is the name of your dad and grandfather along the Combs line, also... what was your mother's maiden name (just out of curiosity, because I've run into people from that area before and discovered I was related on both sides - my grandmother and great aunt, who were sisters, married two brothers... so all their kids became double first cousins). My last name is Quisenberry, but again, besides that line, I'm closely related to the Landrums as that's where my grandmother's people were from.

[@katehansen6339]

Very clear rendition. I am related to the Hargis family, and as you mention, by association most of the participants!

[@michaelhargis7036]

Hello Kate, nice to meet you. I'm a descendant of the eastern Tennessee Hargis'. My father's family is from the Davidson, Jamestown, Grimsley, Tennessee region. I'm late seeing this video however it is very interesting. I just wanted to shout a friendly Hi your way. Be proud to be a Hargis.

[@prairielandoutdoors7544]

Hargis here

[@BTaul00]

Much respect for you my friend!! My home town right here!!!!!!

[@thebonesaw..4634]

My entire family (on my dad's side) is from Breathitt County. My great uncle has a farm in Lost Creek, just a couple miles south of Jackson, and we've had personal dealings with the Cockrill family even to this day (I'm literally related to almost every single person you mentioned in this story). I have to admit that it's very odd to have such a close personal connection to one of your stories.

[@eottoe2001]

In Campbell county people are told to find a wife or husband out of the county to make sure you don't marry a relative. I get it.

[@heyokaempath5802]

Most of my Ky family were from Owsley Co. But some were from Breathitt, Pike and Clay Co.

[@garymingy8671]

Lol bone saw ,. It's all fun till someone alters the lighting , throwing one into Stark relief

[@thebonesaw..4634]

@@garymingy8671 -- Right? (in my best millennial/stoner voice) _"Uh... that's not 'history'... that's, like... my dad."_

[@johnbrattan9341]

The small gene pool led to Trump's election.

[@josephdotson7937]

My family is from nearby pike county KY. Feuds are serious business in those areas. Most folks there are friendly and many old wounds have healed, but bad blood still runs sometimes.

[@dyingbreed1282]

Hard to believe its possible. But your content continues to get better with every episode you release. Thank you History Guy. So many of us really appreciate what you do.

[@rampart55]

I live in Louisville Ky. And have heard about this for years. I have in the past read up on this feud. From what I have read THG Could have gone on for over an hour with Info on this matter. But as always THG Did an outstanding job bring the main parts of the story to light.

[@paulkolodner2445]

Malcolm Gladwell has made the point that American families who engage in these blood feuds tend to have immigrated, generations ago, from areas in England and Scotland where long-standing blood feuds are also common. This kind of cultural heritage takes many decades to die out, even if there is no direct connection with previous generations of one's family.

[@tango6nf477]

There is some truth in that although I don't think it is limited to England and Scotland. Going back a couple of hundred years people did not tend to travel or move very far and instead lived in the same town or village for generations. This resulted in "clans" developing sometimes numbering in the dozens or even more. Human nature being what it is these clans had a pecking order often based on wealth, numbers, influence etc and the belief in their own superiority. As a result of that they demanded respect from others and were determined to maintain that social position as in their tiny little world it meant everything. I know of examples of this to this day in villages, towns and neighbourhoods. Grudges are maintained and sometimes it leads to conflict though thankfully not always in violence. I imagine the same applies across the world.

[@rorycraft5453]

My mother was from Lynch, KY in Harlan county. Harlan County was called @Bloody Harlan county” due to skirmishes between the United Mine Workers Union(UMW) and mine operators. Different circumstances, same tragic loss of life, but lacking the same level of loathing (familiarity breeds contempt) as in Breathhitt county. Excellent video!

[@jfrankcarr]

Thanks for posting this. Curtis Jett is my great-great uncle. I didn't find out about him and what he did until recently when I was doing some genealogical research. Nobody on that side of the family ever talked about him and they disowned him after he got out of prison.

[@thexsoar]

That was a lot of careful alliteration, well spoken sir.

[@neilwilson5785]

Well spotted. I just enjoy the flow of informative language, but yes, it's nicely crafted. Great channel.

[@joezeigler1064]

It is a delightful channel. Professionally produced, carefully researched, intelligently presented. Fine work!

[@r.claymccullough890]

I am a "Bloody" Breathitt County High School Graduate, Class of 1976 (The nation's Bicentennial year, of course). I transferred to Breathitt from Camden, Wolfe County, where I had attended Hazel Green Academy. Hazel Green closed down many years ago. Maybe you could do a story on it? Hazel Green NEEDS its story told. Thank you for the very interesting article/video on Breathitt. - Clay (now retired "63" years old and living in New England).

[@DeanCainLover]

Hazelgreen would be a great video. Wasn't it once a fancy resort because of the springs?

[@bubblesbabe1121]

Very interesting....... I always knew Breathitt County to be called Bloody Breathitt, just never knew why. Now I do. 😀 Thank you for all of your interesting stories.

[@bonniemoerdyk9809]

1 branch of my family tree hails from Breathitt County KY, last name of Sewell. They arrived there about 1802 and stay until the outbreak of the Civil War when they moved north into Clark Co. Illinois. A couple brothers stayed in KY and after the war, another brother moved back. I remember reading about one of the fueds where one cousin of theirs was caught in the crossfire and was shot in the leg.

[@johnlandreth9350]

As a life long resident of Kentucky, I can say this: Kentucky 5 million people 20 last names.

[@feurigerStern]

So true!

[@moorek1967]

@John Landreth And I am related to about 15......lol

[@winnifredforbes8712]

Inbred, you say.

[@bethbartlett5692]

roflol - My Granddad was born there - but Louisville and his fam from Lynchburg, WV - "Lynch" last name. lol - funny

[@bethbartlett5692]

@@winnifredforbes8712 heeheehee - 1 or 2 maybe.

[@ejwa12]

I'm from Oneida, Clay County, KY. Kentucky had many feuds, just as was stated in this video. But the Clay County feud involved 4 families. The feud was know as the Baker/Howard feud and the White/Garrard feud. It lasted for 3 generations and is estimated that 150 people died, unknown how many more were injured.

[@jmeyer3rn]

Alford brothers of Alfordsville IN. Three brothers of one family who died fighting for the North in the Civil War. There’s a book titled “We All Must Dye Sooner or Later”. The book is a compilation of family letters during the war years.

[@jusjukinallen8845]

There’s actually a song called JB Marcum that you can find on KZbin. This is a nice narrative of one of the feuds that occurred later towards the end of The Bloody Breathitt era, there are actually many feuds that occurred in Breathitt, starting in the early 1800’s and ending in the mid-to late 1920’s, early 1930’s.

[@angelafugate9907]

I live in Breathitt county!!💕

[@kevincrosby1760]

Fugate? Breathitt County? That could add a whole new meaning to "I'm feeling a bit blue today"... :) On the flip side, at least you know how to spell your last name. My ancestors couldn't seem to decide if they wanted to be "Back" or "Bach".

[@TheBamaChad-W4CHD]

Another fantastic video from The History Guy! This is why we love the channel. Why have we never heard of this? It is indeed, history that deserves to be remembered!

[@appalachianamerican7171]

I always heard the ol timers speak of Bloody Breathitt. Now I understand why, thanks for the history lesson.

[@normcameron2316]

This is such a complicated story it needs a list of characters like a Dickens story and a time line of events.

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

Story's like this are perfect examples proving disputes turn violent with the sheriff's and courts in the south over many subjects . Civil rights was no speciality just another strongly disputed subject .

[@philipmarlowe2415]

Need a genealogical chart to follow this story

[@crazytrain7114]

Not sure that would help!

[@571951rhoehn1]

Love your videos! History is my passion and you help fill that void!

[@gregoryshorts700]

I live in Madison County Kentucky and I love your channel . I darn neer lose my mind til you down load an episode on your channel. Thank you for your hard work to bring us all a little bit of history.

[@brucerayson3544]

Thank you for posting your video. It actually got a conversation going as my family originated there. An ancestral grandfather shot and killed a man on the jackson courthouse steps. He was lynched on those same steps by the town. The words etched on his rifle? "Death to many" he was one of many family sharpshooters

[@teries2051]

I live in Danville, KY. Especially enjoyed this episode. Thanks.

[@haley4725]

My last name is Marcum and I stumbled across this entire thing a few years ago while browsing a newspaper archive and searching my name. J.B. is my around my fourth cousin! I knew my family was from the mountains but this story really is crazy.

[@michaelhargis7036]

Hello Haley, I live in Illinois and up into 3 years ago I dated a Marcum. Diane Marcum. I haven't seen her since then, we peacefully went our separate ways. She would have gotten a big kick out of this. Im a little late to this video, I just wanted to shout a friendly Hi your way.

[@trailmix2062]

Thank you for yet another great video, History Guy! Keep up the good work, and thank you! Enjoy your morning!

[@josecolon8143]

This channel is a school of its own!!!

[@kunneman]

Your uploads are always on time! Like a Swiss watch 😊

[@g00gleminus96]

Whelp, now we need a video on the history of Swiss watches. :|

[@heyokaempath5802]

My great great grandfather caused a lot of grief in Jackson Co. He was known as One-Armed Andy Barrett.

[@bonniemoerdyk9809]

I just 'googled' him....there's a picture of him in 1899!

[@1952jodianne]

Jackson KY is not near Jackson Co. KY.

[@shoeshinegirl101]

Looking good history guy! I was going to suggest certain shades of green, so I'm glad to see you and the Mrs. are on it. Thank you so much! Always learning new things, especially about history and I love your presentations. 👍💕

[@badbackmom]

I have studied this feud in depth. You do a very good job of bringing out all of the people and the relationships. My great-grandfather was a Jett so Curtis Jett has always been an interesting person to study. However, he was not the only Jett in the family to be involved in a deadly feud.

[@hoosierplowboy5299]

Another educational and entertaining video, HG; thank you...

[@sameyers2670]

Thank you History Guy I enjoy your videos and learn a lot from them

[@johnkelley9877]

What a feud. Thanks for sharing this.

[@lgregg2478]

Thanks, I really enjoy your videos,. This one reminds me of Rev. John J. Dickey’s diaries which is a mix of Kentucky history, and memories of those living during those turbulent years.

[@gmonnig]

You sir, are such a great history professor! In light of the unfortunate fire of Notre Dame, can you do a segment on the lesser known history of the cathedral?

[@kathleenparr7401]

Thank You History Guy!

[@kevinlesch9656]

I was having a hard time following the names but then you said they were all related. I might have to watch it a couple more times to get it straight. Very interesting Mr history guy!

[@Nocturnal_Rites]

In another comment, someone mentioned the influence of the Scots in the area, and I find that to be very much the case. There aren't formal 'clans', per se, in the style of the Scots, but the family networks are very, very similar. Too, get a couple of very, very large (i.e., Duggar-size) families (and there were several), and the relationship maps (if there were any) would show incredible sprawl.

[@schwerm63]

Hillbilly Elegy is a great book and very illuminating for those of us who's parents and grandparents migrated away from the hills for better opportunity but brought not only a lot of good but also some tragic lifestyles with them.

[@stephaniels5421]

Still living here, right where some of that took place. My gr gr gr grandfather was Captain Bill Strong. There is a ton of his direct descendants who still live here.

[@PapaPhilip]

My mother's family is from Breathitt. My GG grandfather was killed in the Little-Strong Feud (killed trying to stop violence). There's a good ballad about the killing of J.B. Marcum. Google The Ballad of J.B. Marcum and you'll find it.

[@jasong428]

I'm a long descended Strong. Hope you were on our side! J Green, Ann Arbor MI.

[@edthesecond]

My mother was from Lee County, which is not far from Breathitt County. She left Kentucky for Arizona in 1926, when she was 18, and stayed in the West most of the rest of her life. This episode might explain why she got the hell out.

[@bushpilot-bm3kf]

Kain-tuc-kee ;{Dark and Bloody ground. is the Cherokee name for Kentucky.

[@rosaleerich2090]

I didn't know that!!

[@bushpilot-bm3kf]

@@rosaleerich2090 My Family settled in Ky before there were fort's. We are known as the first white face's by the cherokee. We started FT.Harrodsburg in what is now Harrod'sburg Ky. We are Norse. scot irish and eastern band Cherokee. Happy hunting ground for the Eastern band Cherokee. Thing's are still crazy in the little town's, and they are dangerous place's for outsider's.

[@celialovett5880]

@@bushpilot-bm3kf You nailed that on the head. As a native, there are places in Kentucky I would never venture. If you weren't born there, you are an outsider and liable to get yourself killed just for being there.

[@bushpilot-bm3kf]

@@celialovett5880 Yep, tiny town's are scary,Try Harlan Ky. for a thrill ride. Lol

[@bushpilot-bm3kf]

@@TugIronChief It is because the cherokee and other tribe's along w/ white's fought to the death for the land. Hence dark and bloody ground. Has nothing to do w/ clay content in the soil Lol

[@daveshrum1749]

Every time I watch one of your videos I learn new things. Just awesome content. And wow! You need a spreadsheet to see who's related to who and who killed who in the story!

[@CDNShuffle]

Woooo good morning history guy, good morning everyone. Happy days I wish you all well!

[@maudiepeterson7325]

My birth place is gauge (Breathitt county). I love the mountains.

[@zachdietrich4648]

i really enjoy your efforts. i look forward to ones i've yet to see. having spent time in kentucky myself, this episode particularly resonates. i think, if you are looking for unremembered things that deserve remembering, you might enjoy examining the actual history of "fair Verona," and the families which WS translated into Capulets and Montegues. that story of the Avignon Heresy truly does deserve your attention. in fact, the historicities of any Shakespeare play! i think you might be pleasantly surprised at how many are based in history.

[@hatfieldmccoy2359]

Love me some feud n! You’re a great story teller, enjoyed your video!

[@rileyatkinson6737]

I'm from kentucky myself, louisville in particular and I know quite a lot about the state's history and have never heard of this

[@bushpilot-bm3kf]

Then u know quite a little about Ky and who settled it Lol Hilarious, No one read's history book's! Goddamn this is funny.

[@bearbryant3495]

A good many of my Dad's family are from Breathitt Co. I have a photo of Tom Cockrill and I always wondered who he was and how I'm related to him.

[@Daledavispratt]

"Them's fightin' words!" :-) Nice one. Thanks!

[@dobypilgrim6160]

"Them's fightin' words', said just about everybody, I think.

[@breadlowry]

I really love what you do for our society. Might I suggest a bio about yourself and your journey to hear and now, as a person and a channel. Keep fighting the good fight!!

[@mikerhodes3563]

It’s very common for people who live in isolated communities to have a lot of intermarriages -On the bayous of South Louisiana travel was mostly by boat and buggy-the Matriarchs of the families kept tract of who was who and made sure that cousins didn’t marry -once i told my mother of a girl i met at a dance on. Bayou Terrebonne -that got quashed immediately because she was a second cousin who I didn’t know-also it was seldom that people from one bayou would marry people from another bayou-of course except my Uncle Carol who ended up living there-it felt like i was going to a foreign country when i was called upon to help him build his boat and I didn’t dare stop at any bar there because there would have been big trouble

[@americanpatriot2422]

Outstanding video and presentation

[@Biber0315]

Your efforts are an inspiration to me.

[@shelbybrown8312]

Man oh Man you are good at you craft!

[@tedcarl5382]

“Merci! I am killed!” I’ll make sure to note that in my “things to say before death” file. 🤣

[@williamblair3610]

My pawpaw use to tell us story about this when we was kids. He said on the day his dad die, he said he had killed over 20 people and he knew he was going to Hell

[@dodadeb8954]

Wow!

[@justmike2944]

Cool vid. love history... love your content....you will never run out of content .. idea . Skidmore MO.

[@richardenglehardt1082]

I live in Breathitt County and this is a very nice piece of history.

[@richardenglehardt1082]

The book "Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky" is a great history of the feuds of all Kentucky Appalachia.

[@sludgefactory241]

What an entertaining video! Always enjoy hearing about history from my beloved state. I also share the last name of one of the people involved in this account. Fascinating. Thank you!

[@haroldchinsolo4676]

Always love what you do. Thank You.. maybe someday you could do one on the Battle of Matewan .. I’m from Welch, WV so I would enjoy that video. Thanks again for what y’all do... and love the cats on Facebook

[@DeanCainLover]

I'm from the county next to Breathitt, but I lived in South Williamson and was a substitute teacher in Matewan/ Mingo County, WV for a bit. I taught at Williamson HS it's last year of operation. I miss that area. It's beautiful and you can just feel the history in the air. The Matewan Massacre was a big deal even ten years ago when I was there.

[@muddybuddys1135]

Best voice and presentation ever i love you history guy

[@davidfarler9110]

Loved this episode. I am very familiar with Jackson

[@jonathanmarcum4195]

Born and raised in Kentucky, that’s the first time I ever 👂 that story...

[@drinkcoffeewithjasmin5938]

Wow📜📜very interesting informations. The situation in that time was very chaotic

[@danhillman4523]

Dang. Those guys didn't mess around back then.

[@bheineez]

Nothing about this video precisely, just saying I like history and your doing a great job of sharing your passion for the past... thank you Sir.

[@MargaretFugate-xg7ty]

There are so many other stories from there my mom and dad were born and raised there my mom moved us away from there in 1985 but we always enjoy going back for visits I moved there when I was older with my children one of the other stories is the election day massacre

[@nicegal317]

I was born and raised in Breathitt County. Thanks for the video.

[@HillbippieDlux]

As a Kentuckian,,thank you for the lesson,,,right down the road from me.

[@crystallittlepage2246]

Well it is true that most kentuckians are possibly hot headed in most cases we're still loyal to one another. But then again we are fiercely protective lot of our own and in a lot of cases will stop at nothing to protect those that are near and dear to us. But in most cases like Bloody Breathing, the Clay county war, and the Rowan county war a few people let their hats get away from their heads and in most cases a lot of blood was shed needlessly just because their pride was first and foremost. But I must say I really enjoy all of the videos that you put out so far and then maybe one day you might put forth a video about our sitting Governor that was murdered here in Kentucky in 1900 Governor William Goeble and why he was assassinated. Thank you from a loyal Kentuckyian and subscriber.

[@henrycantrell6397]

Your Videos are awesome I enjoy your Videos very much

[@Kevinegan1]

During the 1920's one of my relatives owned the building that is now the Hard Rock Cafe Souvenir Shop in Nashville, TN. I think then it was called The Silver Dollar Saloon but I'm not certain about that. Somewhere I have an old photo of my relative and several other men standing in front of the building and also in the photograph are shabbily dressed men in a soup kitchen line. Another relative, from the same time period, was a Nashville cop. I think he was known as Uncle Dave. One day he got into a confrontation with a black man and wound up shooting him right between the eyes. The black man's head supposedly swelled considerably but he lived. The .38 caliber bullet bounced off the black's head.

[@Blaklege63]

that is so wild. crazy crazy stuff took place back in the day

[@Nocturnal_Rites]

I've never understood why the Hatfields and McCoys got so much press. Comparatively speaking, it was pretty small potatoes compared to the feuds in Bloody Breathitt or the French-Eversole War in Perry County in the late 1880s-early 1890s. The government ended up sending in state troops twice to break up the latter feud, without much success. Personally, I find the latter interesting in terms of the culture of the region because the conflict was over coal (or rather, mineral) rights. That doesn't sound like much, but it had an enormous impact upon the region. Most of the settlers had held the land there for over a century, and they'd never part with the property. What the coal companies did was go for mineral rights, telling people that they could get money (which they desperately needed, since the economy had tanked) yet keep their land. Kentucky was a border state and that area was largely pro-Union and anti-slavery, but that area borders on both Tennessee and Virginia, and there was a lot of vicious in-fighting. The aftermath crippled the area for years, so people were desperate. Of course, what the companies *didn't* tell people was that owning the mineral rights mean the companies could come in and pretty much do anything they wanted. Afterward, the land was so destroyed, it was worthless. It also meant that they purchased billions of dollars in coal for pennies. It didn't take long for people to figure out what was happening and to start refusing these companies. That's when the coal operators hired men like Fulton French, a former Confederate, to put on some pressure. If French (a lawyer) couldn't coax them into selling, he brought his thugs (paid for by the coal companies) and tried to coerce the owners through physical violence or property destruction. His primary targets for that were the widows of Union soldiers since they were women and more vulnerable to that type of pressure, and generally they were more in need of money. That's actually how the Eversoles came into it; the family sent over 3 dozen men to the war to fight for the Union, many of whom had died, and their widows turned to Joseph Eversole, the acknowledged family head and a fairly well-to-do businessman whose father-in-law was one of the county judges, for legal advice and protection. French wouldn't stop and Eversole wouldn't back down, and thus, the feud was born. Sociologically speaking, though, it was people like French (and in SE Kentucky, it largely *was* French), funded by Big Coal, who ended up causing the economic crisis and environmental problems that plague SE Kentucky today. The area still had a frontier quality to it before the Civil War, but it had been slowly developing as transportation improved. Although Kentucky was a border state and the SE area, in particular, was pro-Union, the area had been hit hard by the Civil War, both economically and in terms of sheer number of men lost. French's actions to procure mineral rights on the cheap allowed coal companies to essentially set up modern day fiefdoms, controlling the economy and infrastructure in the region to a mind-boggling degree. Eventually, the choices for young people came down to leaving the area to find education and other work (which many did) or working for the coal companies. Also re: 8:54 -- it's amazing how blind people could become during such feuds. Fulton French survived the French-Eversole war (unlike Joseph Eversole and Eversole's father-in-law, Judge Combs, both of whom French paid to have assassinated), though he wore a bulletproof vest for years. A couple of decades later, French approached Eversole's widow, Susan on the street in town. The official story is that he greeted her; the unofficial story is that he said something much less polite. Eversole's son Harry, who was escorting his mother, shot French in the spleen, just below the edge of his vest. The incident took place in the middle of town, during the busiest part of the day, and in fact, Harry was fined for 'disturbing the peace'. Though well over thirty people could attest to the fact that Harry *had* discharged a firearm, somehow, none of them managed to see him actually shooting French. French took over a year to die of his wounds. The general consensus seemed to be that it was long-delayed justice, right down to the months of agony in dying. Also: Night Comes to the Cumberlands by Harry Caudill is a great overview of these two feuds and several others in the region, with the added bonus of being written by a native of the area. It's old (early 60s, I believe) but well worth the read.

[@AprilPray]

Coal companies are still that evil.

[@GaldirEonai]

Part of why the Hatfield/McCoy thing gets such a mythical reputation is that it was fought across state lines which made it a _federal_ matter and thus national news.

[@Nocturnal_Rites]

@@GaldirEonai Agreed. Plus, the purported cause was over a pig, which lends itself to ridicule. (I'm not saying that was correct or that I laugh at it, because even if it *was* correct, a pig in those days was a good share of your winter food and its lack meant your children went hungry. Just saying, that's what's commonly believed.) Sadly, something that allows outsiders to laugh at the mountain people is going to get more attention than politics or property rights.

[@1952jodianne]

The Martin-Tolliver feud in Morehead & Rowan County was quite bloody, although it did not last as long as some of the others. It was very political, starting because of animosity between two candidates for Sheriff & accusations of election fraud. I believe my grandfather was sympathetic to the Martins, although he was distantly related to the Tollivers (his distant ancestor had immigrated to Virginia when the family name was still Tagliaferri/o. They had originally emigrated from Venice to London, then to Virginia the following generation.

[@darkaxel1991]

Good video. Just one small nitpick. The photo displayed at 4.14 is of "Bad Tom" Smith, not Tom Cockerill. Bad Tom Smith was involved in the French - Eversole War, and he was hanged (The only legal hanging in Breathitt County History).

[@richardyoder3646]

Another great video

[@jimvick8397]

And there hasn't been a movie made about this?... Good Lord...

[@healinggrounds19]

This would need at least 3 seasons on Netflix!

[@c.w.johnsonjr6374]

Great video! The author of Blood Feud: The Hatfields And The Mccoys: The Epic Story Of Murder And Vengeance had a chapter on feuds, most of them in Kentucky, which were either bloodier or longer than the Hatfields and McCoys but less known. In one of the feuds a mother supposedly told her dying son to stop groaning as he lay on the family's front porch during a gunfight. Blood Breathitt should be a TV show. Cue I Know These Hills by Kevin Costner & Modern West.

[@113dmg9]

Great job!

[@jerrywinters6914]

My East Kentucky (Carter County) family lines had the Underwood-Holbrook feud, my line is Holbrook.

[@georgej.dorner3262]

And then there was the Little Lake Vendetta of the Coats and Frost families in northern California. It began with a gunfight twice as deadly as the OK Corral, then twisted into an intra-family feud featuring a triple lynching. A principal player was gunman Mart Frost, involved in seven shooting deaths.

[@rosannecoffman1933]

INCREDIBLE!!

[@margaretfugate9584]

Everyone is still related in breathitt county in one way or another I have always loved breathitt county

[@cherrytop9616]

I grew up in Breathitt County....oh the stories told round the tables while knockin back some bourbon.....good days.

[@zell9058]

Very interesting, my family hails from Salyersville in the neighboring Magoffin County.

[@chrisj197438]

Douggernaut84 Home of Larry Flynt!!!!!!

[@zell9058]

Chump Johnson yeah the flynts are the only notable people to be listed on the Magoffin Wikipedia. 🤦‍♂️

[@1952jodianne]

My wife's family were Blantons from Magoffin Co., But her father moved to Breathitt Co. with his widowed mother when he was a small child.