Blood in West Virginia: Brumfield v. McCoy

The Lincoln County feud was one of the most sensational events that occurred in the Southern Appalachian Mountains prior to 1900. Arising out of personal grievances between two prominent residents in a rough-and-tumble West Virginia timber town, it quickly escalated into a struggle for supremacy between business competitors and political rivals. During its hey-day, between September 1889 and May 1890, the feud commanded headlines in newspapers all over the country. Journalists, anxious to please an American audience hungry for news of mountain feuds, investigated the trouble, groped to acquire facts, and printed stories both long and short. Writing of citizens who waged a cut-throat war of extermination and of a community nearly destroyed, journalists hyped the Lincoln County trouble as something even more awful than the Hatfield-McCoy feud. For the most part, while managing to chronicle some of the feud's major events, they largely missed the real story. It is only now that the true story of this once-famous West Virginia feud is told. Based on county records, local and national newspaper articles, and oral histories provided by descendants of the feudists, historian Brandon Kirk profiles pivotal characters, bringing these mountaineers to life and presenting each individual's perspective on the feud. A descendant of the original feudists, Kirk has a unique insight into the blood battle that transpired in his own hometown. With more than twenty photographs, this well-researched book thoroughly documents the saga of a community and its residents in turmoil.   Read more