*Author's Note*
Thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews.
Woeful Feud Widow Article
New York Globe- Thursday, June 21st, 1883
Feud Widow Missus Tolbert McCoy's Woeful Life Story
By: T.C. Crawford
When I was called out to Kentucky, once more by my friend Lawyer Brock Brooksdale, for a feud story on the McCoy family, I had no idea that I would be interviewing Jessa, the common-law widow of Tolbert McCoy. I was told by my friend, Brock, that Jessa McCoy had talked to her cousins-by-marriage Lawyer Perry Cline and Law Assistant Brenton Landon about telling her story for all to know. That she, much like the rest of her McCoy kin, is very adamant on the Hatfields paying for both their sins and their crimes. That she wanted justice as much, if not more so, then her family did and believed that telling the world her story would help play a hand in that. Her uncensored story, that is.
So, after agreeing to the terms I was given for this interview, which being that her location in Kentucky is undisclosed for safety reasons (Of which, my faithful readers, you can discover at the very end of this article), I found myself sitting face to face with a woman that looked like she'd been through hell and back.
"Good morning, Miss McCoy; it's nice to meet you. How are you fairing, may I ask." I greeted her once I took my seat at the table across from her. My photographer's eyes widened at seeing the ugly, blue and deep purple finger marks littering her neck. I knew my German companion was concerned for her, as was I, but would let me do the talking since I was my interview.
"Please, call me Jessa, T.C." She insisted before answering my question about her wellbeing with a flat and dry, "I'm fairing as well as I can be considering I miscarried a few days back and was almost strangled to death by that blackheart Shaw Eldridge shortly."
My photographer and I shared a look of both shock and sympathy with eachother upon hearing Jessa's words. My oh my, for that to happen and to turn around and grant me an interview…well…this woman before me surely is strong. "May I ask why that happened?"
"Yes, but that answer won't be til the end of this interview since I'm told I'm supposed to be giving you my uncensored life story. That happens towards the end of it, T.C."
"Alright, then I'll ask how does your story start."
"Sit back and make yourself comfortable, cause this is going to be a long story. Even the beginning is long and complicated." The dark-haired woman with determination and grit in her indigo eyes told me while gesturing to the cup of coffee set before me. I nodded, indicating that I'd enjoy my coffee while she told her tale. Only after I took my cup into my right hand did she begin with, "When I first came to the Tug River Valley I was traveling with my parents in a wagon train headed west to Tulsa, Oklahoma. My poppy was a law professor and had decided to take a teaching position in some newly built school in Indian Territory, so he packed up us and signed us on for a trip that would take a couple of months."
I nodded and sipped my coffee while writing down her words with my free hand. "And what happened to the wagon train? I surmise it didn't make it to Oklahoma since you are sitting before me now; telling your life story for our readers to gain an insight on the harsh life and heartache you've endured at the hands of the Hatfield clan."
"I was about to get to that, but the wagon train perished in a terrible summer thunderstorm in June of '78." She answered, only to supply as an afterthought. "Cap Hatfield's ex-wife, Allie Freeland, was also in the accident. We were best friends, and her family was traveling West too." Jessa bit the inside of her cheek before sighing, "She was a better swimmer then me, so as we bobbed around in the water after the crash, she found eachother and held hands in order to swim to shore. She, being my best friend, was trying to save my life, but our hands slipped." Her eyes took on a slight sadness as she revealed, "She made it to shore while I went down river with a current."
"I take it she stumbled upon the Hatfields while you survived to meet the McCoys?" I inquired.
"Yes, you're right on the money about that, T.C." She chuckled. "Allie ended up wandering down the road and running into Sully, the Hatfield teacher cousin who's Shaw's poppy, while I found a log to keep myself afloat on before scrambling to shore and wandering the woods before coming to the clearing of McCoy land and fainting at Tolbert's feet."
"Oh, you fainted at his feet? Just like in a love story?"
"Yes, but our story's more of a tragedy than a love story. One that I'm sure Shakespeare himself would be envious of, since that man did love to write his angst."
"And how is it a tragedy?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Well, if you keep writing I'll tell you." Jessa smirked. Reaching for her own coffee cup, she continued her tale with, "After Tolbert brought me home for his mama, Sally, to tend to me, I met Ol' Randall and he offered me a place to stay alongside his family on the condition that I pulled my weight and did my share of farm chores. He also told Tolbert to show me around the farm and help me out with chores, since he was the one that found me." Sipping on her coffee, she said, "So, I found myself working alongside Tolbert in the tobacco fields and helping him make shine. After a couple weeks, we struck up a friendship of sorts and he decided to bring me to a barn dance to meet his cousins, so that I could make some friends." Running her finger around the rim of her porcelain cup, she shook her head and revealed, "We ended up face to face with Allie and Cap Hatfield on the dance floor that night, except that he still had two working eyeballs at the time, and they tried to talk me into leaving the barn dance with them."
"It didn't work." I supplied as I hastily wrote down her words.
"No, it didn't." She confirmed. Taking another sip of her coffee, she told me, "We knew lines in the sand that day when it came to where our loyalties lied. I picked Tolbert, who I had taken a liking to, while she picked Cap and his family since he was her knew beau." Setting her cup down, she told me how during the summer her friendship with Tolbert grew and how they even had a run in with Cap and Allie during the 4th of July festival where the later had broken Tolbert's nose by throwing a ball from a carnival game at his face.
"And, may I ask, when did one Shaw Elderidge enter the picture?"
"Of course, you'd ask that, T.C." Jessa cheekily remarked. "Well, he came into the picture during Election Day of '78."
"Seems like Election Day Festivals always bring about some sort of unwanted attention in your family." I told the woman across the table from me as I wrote down everything, she just told me.
"Yes, well, Election Days aren't very good to us McCoys." She dryly chuckled. "And if Tolbert would've just acted on his feelings a couple of months prior, when he got some land and started building his cabin, instead of pushing me away in fear that I only liked him because he found me, then Shaw wouldn't have been allowed over for dinners; wouldn't have been allowed to court me by Randall." Shaking her head, she left out a shaky sigh of, "I also wouldn't have used Shaw in a vain attempt to make Tolbert jealous."
"So, you admit that you got stuck in a courtship with Shaw Elderidge and tried to use it in your advantage to make Tolbert McCoy jealous so that he'd court you?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I said isn't it?"
"But Shaw's Hatfield kin; why did Ol' Randall McCoy, the leader of the McCoy clan, let him into his house and court you."
Jessa's indigo eyes sparkled as she leaned her elbows on the table and chuckled. "And here's where things take their first messy turn."
"How messy?" I asked curiously, feeling that what she had to say would be bigger than any secret I've ever heard before.
"Shaw Eldridge is the secret bastard love child of Sully Sullivan, cousin of Devil Anse Hatfield, and the late Peggy Eldridge- who ran a local diner and Mate Creek and was the wife, well widow when I met her, of a butcher named Peter Eldridge."
"Oh…I see…"
"The butcher was a friend of Randall's, before he died, so he didn't have a reason to mistrust Shaw."
"Understandable." I nodded while writing in my notepad. "And may I ask how your courting of Shaw turn into a marriage proposal from Tolbert?"
"Oh, now that's a very scandalous answer, but as long as you keep it uncensored you'll get it."
"I promise, ma'am, I'm write down your words as they are spoked from you. Word for word."
"Good." Jessa nodded, only to answer my previous question with a shocking answer of, "I split my Thanksgiving holiday between Tolbert and Shaw. I ate dinner with the McCoys and ate pie with the Eldridges, but pie wasn't the only thing Shaw gave me. He wiggled into the bed his mother set me up in, since it raining too bad to bring me home to the McCoy farm, and knocked me up."
"Oh…" I blinked, not excepting to hear that from this widow.
"Yes, well, I'm shocked I even got knocked up since, well, the do wasn't very romantic and didn't last that long. One minute he kissed me and the next he was on top of me telling me that he wanted to get married; putting his bastard on me." I just nodded, while scribbling down her words.
Oh, dear readers, I'm sorry if this offends any of you, but this happened to this poor woman, and I did promise to write this article as an uncensored interview.
"And then come the beginning of December, on Shaw's birthday in fact, his mother dropped dead in her kitchen. At the funeral, the deep dark secret that Shaw was Sully's bastard came out of the woodwork whenever he had his mother buried next to Sully's parents instead of buried next to her husband, Peter Elderidge." Reaching for her coffee once more, she told me, "I was given an ultimatum by ol' Randall to either break things off with Shaw and go home with the McCoys or stay with him and lose the McCoy family."
"And you chose to go home with the McCoys."
"Yes, I did." She nodded, sipping her coffee. "But then a few weeks later I discovered that I was knocked up and ran to Tolbert for help."
"And how could he help you?"
"Tolbert was a frequent customer of the whores at the Pikeville Saloon, so I was hoping that he could get me in touch with a girl that could tell me how to get an abortion, since I couldn't have a Vance-blooded bastard while living under Randall McCoy's roof, but he refused to help in that way. Instead, he told me that he'd marry me and raise the baby as his own; that he also loved me and didn't want me dying or becoming infertile due to a botched abortion."
(Continued on pg 2)
(Continuation of pg 1- Feud Widow)
After hearing that Jessa sought out Tolbert's help in getting an abortion, only to receive a counteroffer of marriage from him, I needed a smoke break. Jessa's story proved to be more than I thought it'd be, and I needed a breath of fresh air before moving deeper into her story. This was only the beginning, and it was a bit dramatic; I couldn't imagine how the rest of her life unfolds.
After my smoke break, I returned to the kitchen, only to find my photographer snapping a portrait of Jessa as she sat at the table. She was peering out the window, keeping an eye on her children. It was a very touching sight. Clearing my throat; making her turn her attention away from the window and to me, I strode over to the table and simply announced, "I'm done with my smoke."
"Are you sure you're ready to move forward with this interview, T.C.? It only gets worse." She asked as I took my seat across from her at the table.
Was I ready to move forward with this interview? Whether I was or wasn't didn't matter; what mattered was I gave my word to write her uncensored story. "Yes, Jessa, I'm ready." I told her while picking my discarded pen from the table and turning to a fresh page in my notepad.
"Well, I accepted Tolbert's proposal on the condition that we didn't have a church wedding but became common-law instead since I didn't want to be getting married because I was pregnant." Jessa told me, picking up right where she left off before I took my smoke break. "He agreed and got his grandparents rings from his poppy for us. A couple of days later, we walked into Christmas Eve service at the Tug Fork Church Of Christ as common-law husband and wife; which caused Shaw to lose his mind and attack Tolbert."
"Did he do that often? Attack Tolbert when he saw you together."
"Yes." Jessa nodded. "It's also the reason why I got stuck with him."
"Please, tell me about that. I'm sure our readers would love to know what your remark truly means." I prompted.
"Oh, I'll tell you all about it." The dark-haired woman chuckled while reaching for her cup. Bringing it up to her lips, she told me, "But first, you need to know what kind of man Shaw is. That, during the Summer of '79, he acquired a mail-order bride, with the help of Sully, that he decided to use as his bed warming housekeeper cause he was hoping to sweet talk me away from my husband." She took a quick sip of her coffee, only to add in, "And then after the traumatic birth of my son, he showed up asking me to run off with him even tho he had a pregnant woman at home."
"Well, he sure sounds like a cad."
"He's worse then a cad, T.C. Shaw's a soulless blackheart that will say and do anything to get what he wants once he becomes obsessed with it. Sadly, I became his obsession the moment he laid eyes on me, meaning that he did everything he could in his power to wreck not just my life with Tolbert, but Olga's life amongst the Hatfields as well."
"And what do you know of this woman, who had given Shaw a child while living as both his mail-order bride and housekeeper."
"Not much, just what he's told me and what I've heard from the Hatfield matirach, Levicy, but I have my suspicions, after spending some time trapped with these people, that everything they told me were lies."
"The Hatfield family are good for telling lies, aren't they, ma'am?" I asked while quickly writing down everything I'd just heard in my notepad.
"Oh, they aren't just good at it, they're masters at it." Jessa shook her head, only to chuckle, "I think they could outlie Loki, the Norse God of mischief and lies. That's how good of liars they are."
Turning the page of my notepad, I asked, "So, their lies are very believable then?"
Leaning forward on her elbows, Jessa looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "You read that article Asa M. Merriweather wrote on Devil Anse for your competition, that San Franscico paper Senator Hurst bought for his lay about son, didn't you? You tell me, did the devil's denial of locking up his ex-daughter-in-law in a barn come off as convincing? As truthful?"
"Well, yes, I hate to admit it, but the article did come off as believable. Why?"
"Cause that, T.C. Crawford, is the answer to your question." Jessa smirked.
"So, Hatfields are pathological liars then? And your friend, Allie, was locked in Devil Anse's barn."
"Yes, Allie was locked in Devil Anse's barn, and it was because she'd made an alliance with Tolbert to try and help us escape the Tug and go west since I was pregnant, but we're jumping a bit ahead of things in this story."
"How far ahead are we jumping, if I may ask?"
"Couple years maybe?" The widow shrugged. "Before Allie sided with Tolbert on the subject of getting me out of the Tug, a few other dramatic life events happened."
"Such as?" I prompted.
"Shaw was picking fights with Tolbert anytime he saw him. Got them thrown into jail once too."
"They went to jail for a fight?"
"It was a New Years Eve fight, if a remember correctly, at the Pikeville Saloon. Shaw picked a fight with Tolbert; then one of Tolbert's brothers- I think it might've been Pharmer- got into a fight with Cap at the same time."
"Well, that sounds like one hell of a way to ring in the New Year." I chuckled while writing down the details I was just given.
"Yes, well, most events where both the Hatfields and McCoys were ussually ended up in a fight between Tolbert and Shaw. It was always over me and my son."
"So, I take it you tried to put a stop to the fighting by taking to the men?"
"Eh…" Jessa sighed. "When I talked to Tolbert about the fighting he just waved me off. Said something about how he wasn't gonna back down from a fight and would defend the family's honor." Shaking her head, she sadly recounted that, "Tolbert was hot-headed. His temper would go from 0-to-100 in the matter of seconds."
"You confronted Shaw about going after Tolbert, didn't you?"
"I did." Jessa nodded. "But that meeting resulted in him blackmailing me. He held visitations with Silas, my firstborn son, over my head."
"So, you had to let him see the child you were raising with Tolbert in order for Shaw to leave him alone?"
"Yep." Jessa popped out.
"So, I presume that after a while the visits weren't enough and you were blackmailed into becoming his…uh…wife?"
"More or less." She shrugged. "But, at the time I got stuck with Shaw, Olga managed to run off with their baby."
"I take it things didn't end well for her if Shaw's truly as blackhearted as you say he is."
"Oh, things didn't end well for her at all. A Pinkerton from Louisville was hired to track her down, cause Shaw wanted his daughter back."
"And he got what he wanted? His daughter back?" I asked, assuming that the Pinkerton was able to deliver.
"Yes, he got Lydia back." Jessa nodded, only for a smirk to spread across her face. "And I adopted her as my own, so she's with me now."
"Well, that sure is a turn of events." I chuckled while flipping to a blank page.
"It is." Jessa agreed. "Do you want to hear what happened after Lydia was returned by the Pinkerton?"
"Yes, I'm sure the readers would enjoy knowing."
"Shaw's true colors started to show and he began to drink heavily. On top of that, he had a livery business that was booming, and I discovered that I was pregnant. Again."
"And how long had it been since you'd been forced to leave Tolbert?"
"Honestly? Maybe a month."
"So, the child was most likely Tolbert's."
Jessa closed her eyes and let out a painful breath, only to answer me with a small, "Yes." Composing herself and reaching for her coffee, she bitterly spat, "And I lost the baby due to Shaw being a bloodthirst, hateful idiot."
"What did he do to cause such a loss?" I asked, even though I had a feeling her answer was going to be shocking.
"He was pissed off that his livery was vandalized; blamed Tolbert for it, and attempted murder by burning down his cabin in the middle of the night while he was asleep." Was the blunt answer Jessa gave me.
"Oh, I see." I simply said while writing down her answer. "And may I ask how Shaw escaped the hangman's noose for such an act?"
"I got stuck fetching Devil Anse's lawyer buddy, who you might know better as Governor Buckner's Assistant Secretary John B. Floyd, to be Shaw's defense attorney."
"And you did this because?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Because the Hatfields, mainly Crazy Mean Ol' Uncle Jim Vance, wanted Tolbert dead. Tolbert was the main witness; the one pressing arson and attempted murder charges against Shaw." Jessa told me in a tone that was both hard, but honest. "And after meeting the woman that was responsible for the Vance part of the Hatfield bloodline, Granny Delize Vance, I knew that those people had such a hatred running deep in their blood that they wouldn't think twice about murdering somebody for their benefit."
"As I understand that's exactly what the Hatfields have been doing to the McCoys. Raging a campaign of murder for their own gain."
"Yes, but it didn't become a bloody, murderous campaign til Election Day '82 and, in the story I'm telling, that doesn't happen til after Allie got locked in a barn and I was forced by Devil Anse into an unwanted sham of a marriage."
"Oh, wow…So we still have a ways to go yet." I pointed out while reaching for my own coffee.
"Yes, we do." Jessa agreed, only to carry on with, "Shaw' trial was taxing, but he was found innocent. I ended up miscarrying at the end of the trial."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"So am I, but what I'm really sorry for is the fact that Tolbert assumed the child was Shaw's."
"So, you spoke to him around the time you miscarried then?"
"Yes." Jessa nodded. She let out a sigh before explaining, "He was torn up that I purged myself on the stand by lying about Shaw being with me all night instead of out playing with Molotov cocktails. He confronted me shortly before my miscarriage, but I couldn't tell him why I lied. I was trying to keep him alive, and I had a son I needed to protect." Leaning back in her chair, she also revealed, "Also, my sister-in-law, Roseanna McCoy, had taken up with Johnse. She met him on Election Day during November of '80, and stayed the night with his family after being stranded at the festival. Rosie, as Sally used to call her, got kicked out by Randall for staying under a Hatfield roof and telling her poppy that Johnse wanted to marry her, after just meeting her." A fond look passed over her feature as she admitted, "Roseanna wasn't just my sister-in-law, but she was my friend. After getting stuck with Shaw, well, I had to play ball for the Hatfields because sweet, innocent, naïve Roseanna was thrown right in with them. I wanted to help her; protect her from heartbreak because, even though her Loverboy Johnse, claimed he'd get his Pa to agree to let them marry I didn't believe it."
"So, you just weren't trying to keep your common-law husband alive and your son protected, but were also trying to keep your sister-in-law from experiencing heartbreak? Something you knew all too well about?"
"Look, T.C., if you'd ever met Roseanna then you'd know that she's just the sweetest person with the biggest heart. She'd believe anything if spun right." Jessa firmly told me with a hard look in her indigo eyes. "Also, Johnse's a guilable idot with a big heart. So, you see why I was protective of her, or maybe both of them, being a family as hateful as the Hatfields?"
"Yes, I suppose I do." I nodded while once again turning the page in my notebook.
"You know, while Shaw was in jail awaiting trial I ran the livery. Also, before he got locked up, he acted as witness to Johnse and Roseanna's wedding."
"So, you ran a livery? And witnessed a wedding between two feuding families?"
"Yes." Jessa nodded. "And all of that leads us up to the shitshow that was the Spring of '81, when I got myself knocked up by Tolbert when Shaw was locked up in Jim Vance's house."
"What?!" I exclaimed, not able to believe my ears.
"Oh, I told you that my story's not for the faint of heart. Still think that the readers can handle my uncensored interview?"
(Continued on pg 3)
(Continuation of pg 2- Feud Widow)
I assured Jessa that you, my dear readers, could handle her uncensored interview before excusing myself for another smoke on the front porch. Frankly, I was perhaps halfway through the interview, and was a bit taken aback on Jessa's life so far. The real meat and potatoes, the bloodshed, of the feud hasn't truly been touched upon yet and her story's already reading as a Greek tragedy.
After my smoke break, I once again returned to the kitchen to continue my interview with Miss Jessa McCoy.
"Shaw always had a drinking problem, but he hid it well." Sipping on her coffee, she went into further details with, "But a few weeks after the trial and my miscarriage, I confronted Shaw about his alcoholism. He was very angry that I was accusing him of being a drunk, so he got disrespectful, and I kicked him out of the house." I nodded, motioning for Jessa to carry on, as I turned to a blank page in my notepad. "After our breakup, I still let Shaw come to Lydia's first birthday party. Shaw was dinking and had an attitude with everyone, including his own father, Sully. Jim Vance had confronted me at the party about letting Shaw come back cause the children needed him. I told him that I didn't want Shaw's drunk ass back, but he assured me that he'd get him sober, so I'd have to take him back."
Looking up from my writing, I conferred, "But that still doesn't explain how Jim Vance locked Shaw up in his house."
"Shaw was staying with Jim Vance and Sully after our breakup, so it's my understanding that Jim smacked him over the head unconscious and locked him in his room to dry out. I head that he had Cap help barricade the room while boards too."
"Well, that certainly paints a different picture of the Hatfields then the one Devil Anse paints to Asa M. Merriweather, now, doesn't it?" I chuckled, finding that the writer for the Hearst paper wasn't as keen with his interviews and research as I was.
"Oh, yes it does." Jessa let out in a small chuckle of her own. Schooling her features, she returned to the subject of our interview with a simple, "Allie was happy that I ended things with Shaw and, since Tolbert was staying with her brother and sister-in-law, my Cousin Nancy and Abel, she went to meet with him to tell him about my status." With a small smile on her face, she went on to say, "Tolbert starting coming by to see me and the children. He was good with kids, even would bring them candy." Leaning back in her chair, she revealed, "We ended up having an honest talk about everything that happened between us, but that was because Allie had told him beforehand that I was being blackmail by Shaw about his safety."
"So, you confided in Allie about your issues with Shaw?"
"Somewhat, yes, since she was my best friend." Jessa nodded.
"So, I take it that your honest talk with Tolbert rekindled a flame."
"The flame never burnt out, but yes, we rekindled. We made love during Easter time and conceived our son, Endor John."
"That's a very strong, biblical name." I complimented, knowing that if Tolbert was alive, he'd be proud of his son's name since the McCoys are a very religious; God fearing family.
"John was Tolbert's middle name." Jessa revealed in a reminiscent tone. "He hated it, but I liked it and decided to pass it on to our son."
"That's very endearing." I complimented her. "If you don't mind, may I ask how you were forced to marry Shaw if he was locked up in Jim Vance's house while you ended things with him?"
"I don't mind, T.C." Jessa simply assured me, only to delve back into her tale with, "After a month or so, Jim Vance felt that Shaw was sober enough to set free. So, Shaw started coming around, claiming that he was sober, wanted to see the kids, and wanted to get back together. I turned him down while, at the same time, Allie was meeting with Tolbert and helping him figure out a way to go West with me and the kids to get us out of the feud."
"But that did not happen."
"No." She sadly shook her head. "I didn't."
"May I ask, what did happen?"
Jessa nodded, only to recount what had happened with a long sigh of, "Tolbert and his brothers got into a scuffle with Shaw and Johnse, resulting in Devil Anse, Cap, Jim Vance, and a bunch of other Hatfields threating the McCoy boys and burning down a cabin that belonged to their Uncle Harmon McCoy."A scowl took over her features as she harshly bit out, "Afterwards, I was ordered by Devil Anse Hatfield himself to marry Shaw, to show unity and protection in the face of the so called attack from the McCoys. Devil Anse also wanted my baby to be legally claimed as Shaw's, a Hatfield kin, since Shaw told everyone I was pregnant- something that came up during the spat with both families."
"And during this time, your best friend who is also the sister of your cousin-in-law, Abel Freeland, one Miss Allie Freeland-Hatfield, was inprisoned in Devil Anse's barn."
"Yes. It happened right after my marriage."
"And is it true that the devil's son, Cap Hatfield, let his wife rot in a barn for months before sneaking her out and bringing her back to their home?"
"Yes, that's true." Jessa nodded. "He was supposed to divorce her; even had Sully, who spent some time in the Carolinas, dig up any traces of kin that Allie could be sent to after the divorce as well."
"But, for some reason he decided to stay married and bust her out of an impromptu barn prison instead." I concluded, since that is essentially what happened.
"Yes, well, I guess he had a change of heart or maybe he got tired of hearing his babies crying for their mama. Who knows, but I do know that he did divorce he a short while back. So, he listened to his devil daddy in the end."
"The way you say that makes me feel like nothing gets done unless approved of by Devil Anse Hatfield. Is that right?"
"Yes, but you're only half right about that."
"How so?" I wondered.
Sipping on her coffee, she revealed, "Levicy holds more power as the matriarch in the Hatfield family then she, or anyone really, lets on. Anse doesn't make any and I mean any decisions without her input. She's his tactician in a way."
"And you've witnessed this firsthand?"
"Yes." Jessa nodded. Putting down her cup, she explained, "She approved of Shaw's horrible treatment of Olga, his mail order bride. As I understand, she told the woman to go back to her own and leave her baby with Shaw; that she wasn't fit for the Hatfield family." Shaking her head, she added in, "She also approved of Cap divorcing Allie, shipping off to only God knows who in God knows where, and keeping the children as an alternative to her being locked up in the barn."
"And you heard this how?"
"In talks that happened in the kitchen and around the supper table after I was forced to join the Hatfield family. Levicy, if she trusts you and if she thinks you have the potential to be as craft as her, will tell all sorts of womanly secrets of the family."
"So, after being forced into the Hatfield family by being married to Shaw, and I presume his cousin Judge Wall Hatfield performed the ceremony, you were privy to all kinda of Hatfield secrets and lies?"
"Yes, I was." Jessa confirmed with a nod.
"And was your sister-in-law Roseanna welcomed into the family with open arms at this time or was she an outcast like your friend, Allie?"
"Roseanna was pregnant with Johnse's firstborn, and he just happens to be Levicy's pet, so the Hatfield family were eating crow and let her into the fold. Plus, she was the reason that Allie got locked in the barn in the first place, she told overheard Tolbert talking at an event and told Johnse; then they told Devil Anse that Allie was in cahoots with Tolbert on how to get me and my kids the hell out of the Tug Valley."
"I see." I nodded while turning the page in the notebook. "And did it take long for Allie to be accepted back into the fold after Cap Hatfield broke her out of his father's barn?"
"Cap was actually disowned by Devil Anse for a while because of that and Shaw was elevated to Cap's former position of guard at the sawmill; right hand too."
"Oh, I wasn't aware that Cap was disowned by Devil Anse."
"It's not something that gets talked about, but if you ask anybody on either side of the Tug they'll tell you that Cap was disowned for, I'd say nearly half a year, and had to turn to gambling at the Pikeville Saloon to make ends meet." Oh wow…I wasn't expecting to hear that, dear readers. Before I could ask how Cap got back into the family, Jessa supplied me that very answer by saying, "Eventually, Levicy's soft spot for her starving grandchildren kicked in and she begged Anse to let Cap and his family back into the Hatfield family fold. So, one day Shaw came home complaining that Cap was back on his pedestal, and he was tossed back down to the status of Vance bastard amongst the family."
"And during this time, you were pregnant with Tolbert's secret love child?"
"Yes, I was, but it wasn't much of a secret. He told everyone on both sides of the Tug he was the baby's daddy. It's just the Hatfield were in denial; wouldn't believe it."
"And did any other issues happen between the two families before you gave birth?"
"Not much, just Todd, Shaw's little brother, getting into fights with Tolbert's little brother Billy. Also, Tolbert stopped by a few times, in secret, to check up on me. He even gave me a blanket his Aunt Betty made for Endor."
"And what happened after Endor's birth, if you can recall?"
"Well, the lord blessed me by having Endor John be born on December, 23rd, which is actually me and Tolbert's anniversary. We would've been together for 3 years in '81 if things had worked out differently."
"That's very touching. So, his birthday has a special meaning to you then?"
"Yes, it does." Jessa smiled foundly. "But I'm sure you want to hear about how the feud got messier; how my beloved soulmate, Tolbert, done got himself murdered too?"
"Yes, ma'am, our devoted readers would truly care to hear those things despite as heartbreaking as they are for you to share."
"Well, all the teens in the Tug Valley went to a bon fire party for New Years Eve, to ring in the New Year of '82, and since Mary was 11, her brother Todd and her stepcousin Robert E. Hatfield, who were both 13 at the time, took her with them to the bonfire party. There she ended up meeting and befriending my common-law brother-in-law, Billy McCoy."
As I turned the page of my notepad, I asked, "Oh, no, is my guess that Mary and Billy's friendship is a large stoke in the fire that's the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys correct?"
Jessa confirmed my suspicion with a nod and the remark of, "You're guess would be correct, T.C." Leaning back in her chair, a small, but thin smile crossed her lips. "Not long after New Years, Tolbert stopped by to see the baby. Of course, Mary let him in since she was friends with Billy. She even made him a cup of coffee."
"I'm sure Tolbert was happy to see his son. Proud too."
"Yes, he was very happy to see Endor; to be able to hold him, but he wasn't proud that our son was his spitting image. In fact, he was fearful for our safety cause of it."
"And he had a right to feel so, did he not?" I prodded while writing down her words in my notepad.
"Considering that once Shaw found out about his visit he killed Tolbert, yes he had every right to fear for our safety."
"So, Tolbert was murdered shortly after his visit?"
"Yes." The widow sadly nodded. "He was hunted down by Shaw that very night."
"I know it must be painful to think of, but could you explain what happened so our readers have a better understanding of this?"
Jessa only nodded before going into a lengthy explanation of, "While Tolbert was over visiting, my son Silas woke up from his nap wanting something to eat. He knew Tolbert from what he used to come around, before I got pregnant with Endor, so he happily talked to him. The only problem was when Shaw got home that night, Silas, being nearly 3 years old, told him about Tolbert's visit. Shaw was angry and started to yell at both me and Mary about letting Tolbert into the house, which cause Mry to reveal that she was friends with Billy McCoy and that she knew that truth about her nephew. Shaw asked me if Tolbert was Endor's father and I told him the truth, that he was, but that just made our fight worse and before I knew what was happening, I admitted to Shaw that he was just the backup plan I got stuck with and he stormed out."
"Shaw found Tolbert and killed him that night." I stated since that's my understanding of the event.
"Yes." She nodded in agreement. "He shot him in the neck up at his still, the very same way that his Uncle Jim Vane shot and killed Tolbert's Uncle Harmon 18-years-earlier."
(Continued on pg 4)
(Continuation of pg 3- Feud Widow)
Knowing that the interview was a very long and emotional endeavor for Miss Jessa McCoy, I suggested that we take a quick break to compose ourselves and collect our thoughts. She agreed, but not before claiming that I needed the break more than she did. So, we took our leave of the kitchen and sat on the back porch of the house we were using for this interview. As we breathed in the fresh mountain air, we watched her children play. Her children, some being natural born to her and others adopted, seemed happy without a care in the word as they played tag. I noticed that one child, well, a boy-like man, was directing the game of tag between the children, and I wondered where he fit into all of this. Into Jessa's tale.
As if she knew what I was thinking, Miss Jessa turned to me and pointed out the boy-like man, only to say, "That's Ellison 'Cottontop' Mounts, the orphaned son of Ellison Hatfield. I guess he's 18-or-so now, but he's slow minded; is just a big kid."
"How to he come to live with you, if you don't mind me asking, since my understanding is that his father was close to his uncle, Devil Anse. That Ellison being so close to Devil Anse is what got the Belcher and McCoy boys wrongly executed over a fight wrong bad."
"Ellison asked me to take care of his son, as one of my own, while he was on his deathbed." Jessa revealed, only to add in the assumption of, "I think he knew what kind of people his brother and family were, in general. I think he knew that Devil Anse, Jim Vance, and hell even Cap Hatfield would groom his innocent child-like minded son to be a killer in a feud that he didn't understand, and that's why he asked me to take care of Cotton."
"Ellison Hatfield wasn't like the rest of the Hatfield clan, was he?"
"No, he wasn't." Jessa shook her head. "He was a pacifist; tried to broker peace wherever he went. Sadly, he just couldn't leave well enough alone and it got him killed."
"So, the fight he was killed in, uh, you believe he should've never gotten involved?"
"It wasn't his fight to begin with, so he didn't need to barge in and try to put water on the flames. It wasn't his forrest fire to put out and from what I learned during my time living amongst both the McCoy and Hatfield families is that innocent people that just want to put out the flares get hurt. If it ain't your forrest fire just move on; let it alone."
"I know from what I've been told that your sister-in-law Mary would be around 13-or-so and I have to say that I haven't met a girl around that age here with you and the children. Did she stay behind with her brothers, despite claiming to be a friend to the McCoy family?"
"Mary was shipped off to Granny Delize Vance's by Shaw last year cause she kept seeing Billy McCoy behind his back." Jessa bitterly spat. "Shaw's hate for Billy, the other redhead in the McCoy family, is so strong that he's taught it to Todd. I'm sure that one day Todd's going to be hunting down Billy, in some sick attempt to ensure that his sister never reunites with him."
"And you believe that Mary Eldridge has a chance at reuniting with Billy McCoy one day?"
Jessa countered my question with one of her own. "I reunited with Tolbert and had my son, Endor, didn't I?"
Well, she had a point there. Now, dear readers, I knew I needed to learn the rest of her story, so I told her that I'd like to know what happened after Ellison's death; after Mary was sent away. That's when, my devoted readers, she told me, "McCoys hired bounty hunters and posted rewards for the Hatfield men involved in the Paw-Paw tree incident; they also hired Mister Frank Phillips, a former Pinkerton out of Louisville with a grudge against the Hatfields, to be the lead lawman in the quest to capture the Hatfields."
"And during this time, the Hatfields were still raging a murderous against the McCoys? Correct?"
"Yes, that's correct." Jessa nodded. "Parris McCoy, whose brother Jefferson works as a clerk for Mr. Adam's General Store, was killed by Cap Hatfield; as I understand he was put in the woodchipper to hide the evidence."
"Oh…" I trailed off in a shocked state as I flipped to a new page in my notepad.
"The Hatfields started armed patrols during, that they still do, and they kill anyone that sets foot in West Virginia who they can't verify the identity of." Jessa told me, no doubt, to explain the murderous ways of the Hatfield clan. "And during all of this, my cousin, Nancy Freeland, reached out to me to make sure that me and the kids were safe. She also expressed her worry about Allie, especially once you newspaper men started getting involved."
"So, you and your cousin, Nancy, are close despite everything?" I asked, since that's the impression I got from her words.
"Yes, we're the closest friends, but we have to be since Roseanna and Allie are no longer in the Tug. It's just us, and if as women we don't got eachother then who do we got?"
"Roseanna McCoy-Hatfield and Allie Freeland-Hatfield both got out of the Tug?" I asked, since I couldn't believe that I heard correctly that they were no longer apart of these feuding families.
"That's what I said." Jessa quipped, reminding me a lot of her cousin-in-law Miss Nancy Freeland.
"And how did that come about, may I ask?"
"I'm not exactly sure about the details, but Johnse and Roseanna, along with their daughter Sarah Elizabeth, packed up and headed West one morning after another one of your articles was published. But Allie, well, turns out her uncle, Sill Payne, served for the Union under Sherman during the war and had quite a reputation that when he came to Mate Creek, demanding to know what the hell was going on after reading the article you did with Nancy and Abel, Devil Anse forced Cap to divorce Allie and send her off to Western PA with her uncle."
Well, I must admit that I do take a sense of pride in being the reason two McCoy woman, one blood and one by marriage, were able to escape the clutches of the evil, bloodthirsty Hatfield clan. "I take it, Nancy must be happy about that?"
"Yes, but her joy these days is overshadowed by grief."
"How so?" I asked, knowing that the only thing that could grief a McCoy could be a loss. A family loss.
"A few days ago, her brother, Jefferson McCoy, was chased down and murdered by Jim Vance, Cap Hatfield, and Shaw Eldridge despite my efforts to warn Abel and thwart their plan."
"You knew they were planning to kill Jefferson and tried to help save his life, despite the ire it could bring you by the Hatfield clan as being outted a traitor?"
"You can't betray a family you never truly held any loyalty to, T.C. Deep down in my heart and soul, I've always been loyal to the McCoys. From the moment Tolbert brought me home, I'd been apart of the McCoy family and would do anything to help them."
"Including lie and cheat to keep them safe?" I asked as my photographer began to set up his equipment nearby.
"Yes, if it keeps them alive." Jessa firmly answered. "The McCoys have been through so much loss and heartbreak at the hands of the Hatfields; so have I."
"I take it that the bruises on your neck came from the hands of Shaw Eldridge." I concluded, since I was understanding the depth of her words and the true meaning of them. Noone, including her, were truly safe from anyone in the Hatfield clan as long as they were a McCoy, name or not didn't matter.
"A couple of days after murdering Jefferson, he came home drunk at an ungodly hour. We bickered and he went into a killer rage at learning that I'm still in love withb Tolbert; that despite the ginger-haired man not being here that he still holds my heart."
"So, he strangled you." I concluded, my tone dry and full of disgust, as I pointed my pen at her discolored and marred neck.
"He did." Jessa confirmed with a nod. Her indigo eyes went hard as she declared, "He did it because he's obsessed with me, views me as an object he owns and can't handle the fact that even though I'm viewed as his wife in West Virginia he'll never, ever have my heart."
And that, my dear devoted readers, is the woeful tale of a feud widow. A feud widow who is a survivor, who will do whatever she has to for her family. A feud widow who will sacrifice her own happiness for the lives of her family, for the McCoys. Her only crime was loving a man too much. Was wanting to keep him safe and alive from a madman that wanted him dead only because his name was McCoy. Miss Jessa McCoy made so many hard decisions in her life, all because she wanted to keep her beloved husband Tolbert McCoy alive and breathing.
At least Miss Jessa McCoy was able to escape the clutches of the Hatfield clan and make her way back to the warm bosom of her true family, the McCoys. Sadly, the reunion was on the cusp of the funeral of her cousin, Jefferson McCoy. A man who should've never been killed. Who never did nobody any harm, other than slur their ear off when drunk.
After spending some time with Jessa, discussing her life, I know without a doubt that my reports are helping the right side in this feud. The McCoys are the innocent victims in the feud; the Hatfields truly are the demon murderers.
AN:
And that's all folks! Hope everyone likes Jessa's damning newspaper article against the Hatfield family. Yes, her article does gloss over some events and ignore others, but that's because she's telling things to bring down the Hatfields. Next up will be various reactions to her article, including Tolbert's reaction. Also, Cap may or may not come up with a newspaper shenanigan of his own.