Feuds

"It is a poor, weak-spirited county in eastern Kentucky now that has not its feud and its band of thugs protected by the courts. … The savages who inhabit this region are not manly enough to fight fairly, face to face. They lie in wait and shoot their enemies in the back. … One can hardly believe that any part of the United States is cursed with people so lawless and degraded." New York Times, July 26, 1885

"My research reveals that there was indeed an outbreak of unusual violence in Appalachia in the mid-1880s. However, it was not caused by a Civil War legacy, ancient hatreds, or family vengeance but, rather, by the advent of economic and political modernization, whether fostered by local elites or by outsiders." Feuding in Appalachia, Evolution of a Cultural Stereotype by Altina L. Waller

For an academic look at the feuding phenomenon: Click Here.

To read about the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud in Blue Ridge County: Click Here.

To read about in in Time Magazine: Click Here.

For a more comprehensive look: Click Here.

Tomorrow: Some feuds you may never have heard of.