John Kleber of Morehead State University not only opened his own files but introduced me to archivists in the MSU library, who found for me voluminous accounts of the Martin-Tolliver feud. Fred Brown of Morehead let me read Days of Anger, Days of Rage, which he wrote with Juanita Blair (More-head, Ky: Pioneer Press, 1989). Pauline Asher Logan of Pineville let me see articles on the Rowan County feud and photographs of her late husband’s father, D.B. Logan, who played such a critical role in the Rowan war. The Pineville Sun of March 23, 1954, carried a detailed obituary of Logan.
I had trouble with Harlan. Murphy Howard, an old friend and county attorney at the time, warned me not to ask too many questions about the Turner-Howard feud or I’d risk trouble. I think Murphy was pulling my leg. No one in Harlan seemed reluctant to talk to me, but few knew much about the feud. Ed Cawood of the Bank of Harlan showed me some of the Turner graves, two of which were practically covered with trash in a weedy corner of a building beside a parking lot. He said they had been there almost a century and some of the Turners did not want them moved. They seemed terribly neglected, considering the prominence of the Turners. Cawood said he had heard that the feud had something to do with a dispute over a dog; where these dog stories come from I don’t know. I talked with John Egerton, whose Generations (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1983) is an account of the Ledford family that came to Harlan early in the nineteenth century but moved out because of feud violence, but he knew few particulars. The Led-fords tended to blame the Howards but left no details. The most interesting item I found was the manuscript “A Cumberland Vendetta” by C. A. Ballou at the Kentucky Historical Society Library in Frankfort. Ballou gives a one-sided view and makes no bones about putting the blame for the Turner-Howard feud squarely on the Turners. That is quite different from the version by Jamie Howard III of Harlan, who wrote the feud entry for the Kentucky Encyclopedia (Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1992), and who tends to regard the Howards as the outlaws at fault. He was most helpful. Holly Fee, owner of the genealogical library Footprints, in Harlan, was my best source for courthouse records and family genealogies. The Courier-Journal of September 23, 1889, gives Wilson Lewis’s version of the feud, which is self-serving.
The Kentucky Explorer, published by Charles Hays of Quicksand, Kentucky, is probably the best source I found for data on the Breathitt County wars. The issues of April, May, and June 1989 give pretty full accounts. One of the best eye-witness accounts of the feud is a long feature by the late Tom Wallace in the Louisville Times of May 22, 1959, in which Wallace recalls the Hargis-Marcum fight and a hilarious interview with James Hargis. The Hazel Green Herald also carries a long story on the hanging of Bad Tom Smith at the Breathitt County Courthouse, and in the July 15, 1885, issue, a long defense of Breathitt County by the Reverend Dickey. The issue of March 25, 1885, has an article about Dickey and the schools.
My best source for data on the Perry County French-Eversole war has been Allen Watts of Cincinnati, formerly of Letcher County, who is currently writing a history of the French-Eversole clash that will be far more extensive than my condensed version. Mr. Watts furnished me copies of the Hazel Green Herald, and his letters gave me valuable insights into the personalities of Fult French, Susan Eversole and her son Harry. The Herald was a major source of regional news stories and other news of the time.
Otherwise, dependable accounts of the French-Eversole War are hard to find. Perhaps the best are: the Kentucky Explorer, June 1988; the Hazel Green Herald for November 13, 1888 (the letter from Judge Lilly refusing to hold court in Perry unless he was given troops for protection); the November 14, 1888, issue for its account of the fight on Hazard Courthouse Square, and related stories on September 1, 15, 22, and November 24, 1886; June 1, July 6, August 12, and October 7, 1887; November 2, 1889; September 3 and 10, 1890; May 15 and November 21, 1891; April 22, 1892; September 27, 1894; January 3, April 25, May 2, 9, and 23, August 22 and 29, September 26, and December 19, 1895; the Boone County Recorder for February 11, 1891; the Dickey Diaries for April 26, 1898; notes from the Record of the D.A.R. Perry County History, 1910; the Cincinnati Enquirer, June 27, 1895; and the Louisville Commercial, May 30, 1895, April 21, 1896, and November 16, 1899. All carry accounts of the Perry County or Breathitt County troubles. Nearly all of the Hazel Green stories were furnished by Allen Watts. Clippings from the Cincinnati Enquirer were given to me by Stanley DeZarn. Dr. Samuel Thompson of Louisville helped me with the Filson Club files.
On January 2, 1902, Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly published Edwin Carlisle Litsey’s “Kentucky Feuds and Their Causes.” It is of questionable value. J.S. Johnson’s “Romance and Tragedy of Kentucky Feuds,” Leslie’s Monthly, September 1899, isn’t much better. I might also mention Charles G. Mutzenberg’s Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies (New York: Fenno Company, 1901), J.A. Burns’s Mountain Crucible (privately printed, 1928), and Darrell Richardson’s Mountain Rising (Oneida, Ky.: Oneida Mountaineer Press, 1986). Mutzenberg at least tries to stick to facts and does not ridicule the mountain people. Richardson’s book, an account of the founding of the Oneida Institute, offers a better description of Clay County and its people than any other work I found.
Also to be included in any list of literature on the feuds are: Hambleton Tapp and James C. Klotter, Decades of Discord, 1865-1900 (Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1981); Ross A. Webb, Kentucky in the Reconstruction Era (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1979); Lloyd G. Lee, A Brief History of Kentucky (Berea: Kentucky Imprints, 1989); and Caleb Powers’s My Own Story (Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1905). Powers’s account of his trial strengthens the impression that he and Jim Howard were railroaded for the murder of William Goebel.
James Klotter’s “The Tolliver-Martin Feud, 1884-87” (Filson Club History Quarterly, January 1968), and his “Feuds in Appalachia: An Overview” (Filson Club History Quarterly, July 1982), are helpful. Klotter is very even-handed, and tries to stick to facts.
Generally speaking, however, I found interviews preferable to the books and articles available.
Index
Abner, John
Adams, Greene
Adkins, Joe
Aikman, Big John; as villain; and Marcum-Hargis War in Breathitt County; in Wright-Jones feud (Letcher County); out of penitentiary; killing of Captain William Strong
Allen, E.B.
Allen, Ethan
Allen, Hudge
Allen, Job
Allen, Squire
Allen, Whick
Amburgey, Ambrose
American Hotel and Saloon (Morehead)
Amis, John
Amis, Wiley
Amis family
Amis-Strong feud (Breathitt County)
Anderson, Dr.
Arlington Hotel (Jackson)
Asher, Dillion
Asher, Pauline
Ashley, Jim
Ashley, Mich
Auxier, A.J.
Bach, J.J.C.
Back, James
Bailey, Alexander
Bailey, G. Pearl
Bailey, John K.
Bailey, Pearl
Baileys: beating of Wilson Howard
Baker, Abner, Jr.
Baker, Abner, Sr.
Baker, Adoniram
Baker, Allen
Baker, Anse
Baker, Baldy George; shooting of, by James Howard; elected Clay County attorney; and agreement with James Howard; fifteen sons; burial services; murder trial
Baker, Ben
Baker, Beverly
Baker, Bobby
Baker, Bowling
Baker, Dee
Baker, Dewey
Baker, Emily Lyttle (Mrs. Thomas)
Baker, Emma
Baker, Frank
Baker, Gardner
Baker, Garrard
Baker, Horace
Baker, Ibby
Baker, James; as villain; surrendering for trial; indicted for murder of Howards; letter to governor; trial, June
Baker, J
ohn; as witness to killing of father; fight with Beverly White; arson charges dismissed; trial in Winchester; killing of; with Frank Clark
Baker, Judah Robert (Juder Bob)
Baker, Little Tom
Baker, Lizzie Goforth (Mrs. Beverly)
Baker, Lloyd
Baker, Lushaba Howard (Mrs. Wiley)
Baker, Mary. See Bates, Mary Baker
Baker, Matilda (Mrs. William)
Baker, Robert (Boston Bob)
Baker, Rose McCollum (Mrs. James)
Baker, Sarah (Mrs. Robert)
Baker, Sid
Baker, Susan White (Mrs. Abner Baker, Jr.)
Baker, Thena (Mrs. Gardner)
Baker, Wiley
Baker, William
Baker family
Baker-Howard feud Clay County
Ballou, C.A., A Cumberland Vendetta
Banks, Mr. (Owsley County)
Baptist Church
Barger, Mr. (killed by Ku Kluxers)
Barr, John
Barrett, George
Barrett, Jesse
Barrett, Rachel
Bates, Daniel
Bates, Mary Baker (Mrs. Daniel)
Bath County
Baugh family: and salt wells
Baumgartner, Stewart
Beaumont Hotel (Hazard)
Beckham, J.C.W
Bell, Josh
Bell County
Benge, William (Booger)
Benge family
Bennett, Robert
Bentley, Mack
Big Creek (Perry County)
Big Sandy River, Tug Fork
Big Sandy Valley
Black, James
Blackberry Creek (Pike County)
Black Diamond Railroad
Blair, John G.
Blair, Juanita: Days of Anger, Days of Tears
Blanton, J.T.
Blanton, William, Jr.
Blevins, William
“Bloody Breathitt,”
“Bloody Harlan,”
Bluegrass region
Boone, Daniel
Boston Gap, Ky
Boston Gap cemetery (Clay County)
Bowling, Alvin
Bowling, Jeff
Bowling, John
Bowling, Little Steve
Bowling family
Boyd, Robert
Boyle County
Bradley, Joseph P.
Bradley, Solomon
Bradley, Gov. W.O.; pardoning of killers; and Breathitt County; and Clay County
Brawner, Elizabeth Garrard. See White, Elizabeth Garrard Brawner
Brawner, Nancy. See Garrard, Nancy Brawner
Brawner family
Breathitt County
Breckinridge, W.C.P.
Brittain, Carlo
Brittain, Elizabeth. See Turner, Elizabeth Brittain
Brittain family
Brockman, Frank
Brown, Fred; Days of Anger, Days of Tears
Brown, George
Brown, John Y., Sr.
Brown, William
“Brownies” Party
Bryan, Captain
Buckner, Gov. Simon: letter in 1889 from Robards; and Harlan County; and Pike County; and Perry County; and Rowan County
Bundy, Jim
Burchell, Jim
Burchell, J.R.
Burchell, Mary Howard (Mrs. Toulmin)
Burchell, Toulmin
Burnett, John Wesley
Burnett-Little feud (Breathitt County)
Burns, James Anderson (“Burns of the Mountains”)
Bush, George Alex
Butler, D.K.
Callahan, Alice
Callahan, Ed: land as factor in feuds; as villain; grandson of Wilson Callahan; logging dispute with James Deaton; and lynching of Hen Kilburn; election as sheriff in Breathitt County; accusing James B. Marcum of murder; witness to Jim Cockrell’s shooting; witness to shooting of James Marcum; acquittal for murder of Marcum; sued by James Marcum’s widow; shooting of
Callahan, Wilson
Callahan family: and Cattle Wars
Callahan-Strong feud (Breathitt County)
Campbell, Colin
Campbell, Frank
Campbell, Holland
Campbell, John
Campbell family
Campton, Ky.
Cantrill, James
Capital Hotel (Frankfort)
Cardwell, Jerry
Card well, T.P.
Carey, James
Carey Hotel (Morehead)
Carmack, James
Carpenter, Charles
Carrollton Democrat
Carr’s Fork (Knott County)
Carter County
Caruth, Asher
Castleman, Adjutant General
Cattle Wars
Caudill, Harry
Caudill, Louise
Caudill family
Cave Run Lake
Cawood, Berry
Cawood, Hiram
Cawood, John
Cawood, Joseph
Cawood, Mr. (allied with Turners)
Cawood, Stephen
Cawood, W.P.
Cawood family
Centers, Tom
Centre College of Danville
Chambers, Tom
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chestnut (killed by John Ed White)
Christian, Moses
Christian Church
Christy Creek (Rowan County)
Cincinnati Enquirer
Civil War: as factor in feuds; and Breathitt County feuds; postwar policies; and T.T. Garrard; aftermath in Kentucky
Clark, A.N.
Clark, Frank
Clark, Thomas D.
Clark County
Clay, Elizabeth (Mrs. James Turner)
Clay, Green
Clay, John
Clay County
Clay County Republican
Clay’s Ferry
Clem, Hezekiah
Clem, John
Cline, Perry
Clover Fork (Harlan County)
Coates, Harold Wilson
Cockrell, Jim
Cockrell, Logan
Cockrell, Tom
Cockrell family
Cockrell-Hargis feud in Breathitt County
Cockrill. See Cockrell
Coldiron, John D.
Coldiron store (Collins Fork)
Collins (black shot on Town Branch)
Collins, Cotton
Collins, C.W.
Collins, Dan
Collins, James
Collins Fork (Clay County)
Combs, Bert T.
Combs, Bill
Combs, Breckinridge
Combs, Jack
Combs, Jessie
Combs, Josiah
Combs, Leslie, III
Combs, Nick
Combs, Old Danger
Combs, Shade
Combs, Susan. See Eversole, Susan Combs
Combs family
Cook, King
Cooper, Hiram
Cope, Thomas L.
Cornet, Buck Combs
Cornett, Bob
Cottage Hotel (Morehead)
Cox, D.B.
Craig, Bob
Craig, Bud
Crane Creek (Clay County)
Crisp, Asbury
Cumberland Mountains
Cumberland River
Cumberland Vendetta, A (Ball
ou)
Cundiff, Theo
Cutshin Creek (Leslie County)
Daniel Boone National Forest
Daniels, Bill
Daniels, Mary McCoy (Mrs. Bill)
Danville
Davidson, Felix
Davidson, Henry
Davidson, Ira
Davidson, Mr. (with Howard raft trip)
Davis, Anse Baker
Day, Boone
Day, John
Day, Mr. (allied with Howards)
Day, Tom Allen
Day family
Days of Anger, Days of Tears (Blair and Brown)
Deaton, Bob
Deaton, James
Deaton family: and Callahan-Strong feud
Democratic Party; as factor in feuds; in Breathitt County; in Pike County; in Rowan County; in Clay County
Dempsey, Bill
DeZarn, John
DeZarn, Morgan
DeZarn, Stanley
Dickey, John Jay; at hanging of Bad Tom Smith; and diaries; preaching in Clay County; preaching in Breathitt County; on shooting of Baldy George Baker; on burial services for Baldy George; on burial services for Will White; on burial services for Frank Parker; on Manchester as dangerous and licentious place
Dishman, John
Drake, George
Duff, John
Duff family
Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum
East Tennessee College, Knoxville
Egerton, John: Generations
Elliott County
Ellis, Doc
Emancipation Proclamation
Eversole, Abner (Perry County)
Eversole, Bud (Clay County)
Eversole, Harry (Perry County)