About the author: Randy Marcum has lived most of his life in West Virginia and his family has lived in the Tug River Valley since the early 1800’s. A direct descendant of Alexander Messer and a cousin to the Hatfield family, Randy has heard stories about the feud all of his life. He is presently a historian at the West Virginia Archives in Charleston, West Virginia.
The beginnings of a stereotypical view of the West Virginia “hillbilly” and the perceived godlessness and lawlessness can be discerned in the book An American Vendetta by Theron Clark Crawford. After returning from Victorian England in August of 1888, Crawford undertook a journey to southern West Virginia in September and October of 1888. His book was completed in November and published in 1889.
Chapter One begins with a frank, if somewhat loaded, statement about the area: “I have been away in Murderland for nearly ten days…” Later in the book, Crawford says of Levicy Hatfield, wife of Devil Anse Hatfield, that she didn’t have the morals of a mastiff dog!
Depicting Logan County and the bordering counties as godless and lawless is a statement not borne out by Logan County Circuit Court records. The records do not show an unusually large amount of violent crime for the time period. Records that are available do, however, indicate a robust religious presence in the area.
Describing the absence of churches, Crawford writes:
“There is not in the county of Logan a single church built by popular effort. In fact, there is only one church throughout this great county. ..[T]he building in its incomplete state is now used by ignorant itinerant preachers…”
Coming to Logan County, West Virginia after traveling throughout Europe may have been a letdown; the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and the people were quite different when compared to London, England, and other European cities during the same time period. Of course there were no churches to rival Europe’s grand places of worship: Saint Peter’s Basilica, in Rome, or Saint James Cathedral in London, England.
What is the evidence, then, from primary sources of the existence of various Christian churches in Logan and surrounding counties?
1. Church of Christ; Christian Church; Disciples of Christ – Alexander M. Lunsford, a disciple of Alexander Campell, came to the area around 1867. Another preacher that came to the area was William Powell. Later, in the mid-1870s, Lunsford converted William Dyke “Uncle Dyke” Garrett to the faith.
Garrett began his ministry near Crooked Creek in Logan County on December 14, 1878. By September 24, 1879, he was authorized by the Logan County Court to perform weddings. A few years later William Powell wrote regarding church activities:
“Through Brother W. D. Garrett I learned that there have been 90 additions to the churches in Logan and Boone County since the last annual meeting…Brother Lunsford preaches occasionally at Logan Court House. ” (Christian Standard, May 1, 1881)
From 1867 to 1889, growth was steady. New congregations were formed; cooperation between congregations throughout the area increased and membership grew.
2. Episcopal Church – George W. Peterkin, the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia, visited Logan County in October 1882 preaching to local Episcopalians and performing missionary work. During this trip he was accompanied by Reverend Dr. Lacy. The trip they made, on horseback, started at Hinton and continued through Princeton, McDowell Courthouse, Wyoming Courthouse, Logan Courthouse, Boone Courthouse and Raleigh. They preached at each location and held services.
3. Methodist Church – Ulysses Hinchman petitioned the Virginia legislature that the marriages he had officiated be recognized. Hinchman
“…respectfully represents that at the March term of the County Court of Logan County, 1845, he was appointed by said court to solemnize the rights of matrimony in said county…as an itinerant preacher in the Methodist Convention, riding a circuit under an appointment from the presiding Elder of the district, and was understood and believed that he would remain in that connection.” (Virginia Legislative Petitions, Court [of Logan County, Virginia] to Hinchman, 1845.)
Hinchman performed many weddings and ministered to many of the Methodist faith throughout the Tug and Guyandotte valleys for many years.
4. Regular, United and Missionary Baptist – The history of the Regular, or Hardshell, branch in the Tug Valley is typified by the Mates Creek Association.
“It was constituted at Mates Creek meeting house in Virginia, in 1849, at which time most of its churches were in that State. It extended its operations into Kentucky, and subsequently dismissed most of its original churches to form a new association. At present, most or all of its churches are in Pike County, Kentucky… It had considerable growth for a time, and, in 1878 numbered 16 churches with 726 members… In 1880, it numbered 14 churches with 503 members.” (A History of Kentucky Baptists, From 1769 to 1885, J. H. Spencer, 1886.)
[For more details, see the 1905 minutes of the Mates Creek Association annual meeting.]
This was the home association of Anderson “Preacher Anse” and Basil Hatfield, cousins of “Devil Anse” and Ellison Hatfield, the brother of “Devil Anse” that was killed by the three McCoy brothers in 1882.
Was the Logan County area devoid of religion? The records clearly show this to be untrue. Were there fine stone and wood places of worship in the Logan County area? Of course not. The population of the area and the faiths could not support the cost of those displays of faith. Apparently Crawford’s view of religion was materially measured rather than typified by the verse from the Bible that says,
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20, KJV.
