Devil Anse Hatfield
{{Short description|American patriarch of the Hatfield clan (1839–1921)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Devil Anse Hatfield
| image = Devil Anse Hatfield.webp
| alt =
| caption = Hatfield {{circa|1910}}
| birth_name = William Anderson Hatfield
| birth_date = September 9, 1839
| birth_place = Logan, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = January 6, 1921 (aged 81)
| death_place = Stirrat, West Virginia, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| spouse = {{marriage|Levisa Chafin|April 18, 1861}}
| children = 13
| known_for =
| relatives =
| module = {{infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States of America}}
| branch = {{army|CSA}}
| serviceyears = 1861–1865
| rank = Captain
| commands =
| unit = 45th Virginia Battalion Infantry
| battles = American Civil War
}}
}}
William Anderson "Devil Anse" or “Uncle Anse” Hatfield ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|s}}; September 9, 1839 – January 6, 1921) was the patriarch of the West Virginian Hatfield family who led the family during the Hatfield–McCoy feud.
Biography
Hatfield was born September 9, 1839, in western Virginia (now Logan, West Virginia), the son of Ephraim and Nancy (Vance) Hatfield.{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/military-figure/devil-anse-hatfield |title=Devil Anse Hatfield Biography (1839–1921) |author= |date=December 4, 2014 |website=Biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=August 13, 2019}} His nickname "Devil Anse" has a variety of supposed origins. Among these are that it was given to him by his mother; that he was named it by Randolph McCoy; that he earned the nickname from his bravery during battle in the American Civil War; or because it contrasted to his good-tempered cousin, Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield.
A supporter of the Confederacy, Hatfield enlisted in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was commissioned a First Lieutenant of Cavalry in the Virginia State Line in 1862, a group made to protect the territory along the Kentucky-Virginia border where resident loyalties to the Union and Confederacy were mixed.{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwarprofiles.com/devil-anse-hatfield-fights-his-first-border-war/|title=Devil Anse Hatfield Fights His First Border War |last=Lively|first= Mathew W. |publisher=Civil War Profiles |date=March 25, 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2015}} The Virginia State Line eventually disbanded in 1863 and Hatfield enlisted as a private in the newly formed 45th Battalion Virginia Infantry, before being appointed First Lieutenant and later Captain of Company B. His unit spent most of its time patrolling the border area against bushwhackers sympathetic to the Union as well as engaging in guerrilla warfare against Union soldiers. Devil Anse has been connected to killings of several Union fighters, including trackers Ax and Fleming Hurley in 1863.Davis, William. Virginia at War, 1863. University Press of Kentucky; 1st edition (December 5, 2008). pp. 70-71. {{ISBN|978-0813125107}}
Devil Anse and his uncle Jim Vance later formed a Confederate guerrilla fighting unit called the "Logan Wildcats."[http://www.libby-genealogy.com/hatfield-mccoy.htm Hatfield - McCoys] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219175933/http://www.libby-genealogy.com/hatfield-mccoy.htm |date=February 19, 2006 }} at www.libby-genealogy.com One of the group's victims was Union General Bill France, killed in revenge for losing one of their members to France's unit.{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/12/true-story-real-feud-hatfields-mccoys/|title=THE REAL FEUD BETWEEN THE HATFIELDS AND MCCOYS |last=Blitz|first=Matt |publisher=Today I Found Out |date=December 29, 2014 }} In 1865, he was suspected of having been involved in the murder of his rival Asa Harmon McCoy, who had fought for the Union Army and was waylaid by The Wildcats on his return home. Hatfield had been home ill at the time of the killing, which was probably committed at the instigation of his uncle, Jim Vance. This may have sparked the beginning of the notorious feud between the two families.
Devil Anse deserted the Confederate Army in 1864 and returned home to his family in West Virginia where he began acquiring land. Despite being illiterate, he managed to build a profitable lumber business, much of which was on thousands of acres of virgin timberland he had won in a lawsuit from McCoy relative Perry Cline.{{cite web |last1=Phillips |first1=Jayne |title=Love's Labors Lost |url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/rivalry-feud/loves-labors-lost |website=laphamsquarterly.org |publisher=Lapham's Quarterly |access-date=18 February 2022}}
Devil Anse was the patriarch during the Hatfield–McCoy feud. His family and Randolph McCoy's fought in one of the bloodiest and most well-known feuds in American history.{{cite web|last=History.com|title=The Hatfield and McCoy Feud|url=http://www.history.com/shows/hatfields-and-mccoys/articles/the-hatfield-mccoy-feud|access-date=October 24, 2013}} He was instrumental in the execution of McCoy boys Tolbert, Pharmer and Bud, as well as being present during the Battle of Grapevine Creek before most of his sons and friends were arrested for the murder of the McCoys.
Hatfield was baptized on September 23, 1911, in Island Creek by William Dyke "Uncle Dyke" Garrett and converted to Christianity (he had maintained a largely agnostic or anti-institutional view of religion prior to this conversion). He went on to found a Church of Christ congregation in West Virginia.{{Cite book |first=Lisa |last=Alther |year=2012 |title=Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance |publisher=Globe Pequot |isbn=978-0762785346}} He was an uncle of the eventual Governor of West Virginia, and United States Senator, Henry D. Hatfield.
= Marriage and children =
Hatfield married Levisa "Levicy" Chafin (December 20, 1842 – March 15, 1929), the daughter of Nathaniel Chafin and Matilda Varney, on April 18, 1861, in Logan County, West Virginia (then Virginia). Their 13 children were:
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Name !Nickname !Lifespan !Son/Daughter !Notes |
| Johnson Hatfield
|Johnse |1862–1922 |Son |Most known for his brief affair with Roseanna McCoy. Later married her cousin Nancy McCoy. |
| William Anderson Hatfield Jr.
|Cap |1864–1930 |Son |Killed Jeff McCoy in 1886. Deputy sheriff of Logan County, West Virginia |
| Robert Lee Hatfield
|Bob |1868–1931 |Son |Operated a saloon at Wharncliffe, Mingo County, during the 1890s |
| Nancy Bell Hatfield Vance-Mullins
|Nannie |1869–1939 |Daughter |Her first husband, John Totten Vance, killed James Thompson in 1897 |
| Elliott Rutherford Hatfield
| |1872–1932 |Son |Physician in Kanawha County, West Virginia |
| Mary Hatfield Hensley Simpkins Howes
| |1873–1963 |Daughter |Her husband, Frank Howes, was a fiddler from Catlettsburg, Kentucky |
| Elizabeth Hatfield Caldwell
|Betty |1876–1962 |Daughter | |
| Elias M. Hatfield
| |1878–1911 |Son |Murdered in Fayette County, West Virginia |
| Detroit W. Hatfield
|Troy |1881–1911 |Son |Murdered in Fayette County, West Virginia |
| Joseph Davis Hatfield
|Joe |1883–1963 |Son |Republican sheriff of Logan County, West Virginia |
| Rosada Lee Hatfield Browning
|Rosie |1885–1965 |Daughter | |
| Emmanuel Willis Wilson Hatfield
|Willis |1888–1978 |Son |Killed Dr. Thornhill in Mullens, West Virginia {{Citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Cannot find mention of this including in his NYT obituary}} |
| Tennyson Samuel Hatfield
|Tennis |1890–1953 |Son |Republican sheriff of Logan County, West Virginia |
=Death=
Hatfield died on Thursday, January 6, 1921, in Sarah Ann, Logan County, West Virginia at the age of 81 of pneumonia at his home along Island Creek. He is buried in the Hatfield Family Cemetery along West Virginia Route 44 in southern Logan County. His grave is topped by a life-sized statue of himself made of Italian marble. Levicy outlived her husband by eight years. Her great-nephew was the political kingpin and Logan County sheriff Don Chafin.
In popular culture
Hatfield was portrayed by actor Kevin Costner in the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. For his role, Costner won both the Emmy and Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Miniseries or TV Movie.{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/shows/hatfields-mccoys |title=Hatfields & McCoys | Television Academy |publisher=Emmys.com |date=January 14, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2017}}
In the 1975 TV movie The Hatfields and the McCoys, Jack Palance played Devil Anse Hatfield opposite Steve Forrest as Randall McCoy.
He makes a spectral appearance in Manly Wade Wellman's 1963 collection of short stories, Who Fears the Devil?.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.wvculture.org/history/hatfield/devilansedeath.html Obituary for Devil Anse Hatfield]
- [http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/hatfield.html Sources for the Hatfield and McCoy Feud]
{{Appalachian people}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Devil Anse}}
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Category:People from Logan, West Virginia
Category:People of West Virginia in the American Civil War
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in West Virginia
Category:Converts to Christianity