The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1892-11-16
FEUD AND VENDETTA.
FAMILY WARS THAT HAVE CON-
TINUEo FOR GENERATIONS.

Records Of Some Families.
Relics Of antiquity are always highl,
priced, and it Is doubtless for that rea
son that we cherish an interest in The
few family feuds that lingcr on in civi.
lization's track ms reminders Of the bar
barism Of our distant forefathers. They
! are unique now and worthy Of the
newspaper readers especial attention
because Of their rarity. though there
was time when they were so common
that except where the station Of the par.
Elephants was high, ~ in the case II the
Marmion-D Douglas row. or where there
was some frill of romance attached. NJ
in the Montague-C apulet quarrel. the
gossiping chroniclers Of the day made
no more mention Of them than news
papers nowadays does Of plain mur,
der. That time was in the good days OF
old when knights were bold. and baron
differed from bandit only In the ex.
tent of his stealings from the people. Sc
far as they have existed in the United
States they have been most prevalent in
the mountains of Kentucky.
The lurid glory Of the Kentucky feud
has departed. The last echoes of the
old quarrels are dying away in the
haunts Of the survivors, and new order
Of things has come in eastern Kentucky,
80 long scourged by these bloody and
brutal vendettas. The crack Of the
Winchester is still heard, and fights con.
tinue more numerous than prayer meet
ings. There may be occasional out
breaks for years to come. but the day Of
the full grown feud has vanished.
The unsympathetic law and the I'M,
congenial touch of civilization, with its
railroads, and its land syndicates, and its
town builders have dispelled the old
conditions that nurtured the feud The
old leaders are dead. or in prison. or
living in peace. Craig Tolliver is dead.
Boone Logan and the YOungs are prlc
ticing law. Andy johnson is capital
list. The Yellow Checkers have become
land spectators or gone west. wills
Jennings and the Hatfields are in the
penitentiary. Joe Eversole has been
killed. A saw log dispatched Jerry Lit
tie. General Sowders is quiet citi.
zen, and his old enemy. Avis Turner. is
slain.
Ten years ago Governor Knott treated
the feudsmen Of Rowan county as bel
hgerent nations, and invited the leaders
down TO Louisville to make treaty Of
peace under his benign auspices. To.
day the most powerful leader in any
mountain quarrel is held TO answer be-
fore the Clark county circuit court for
his crimes, like any other ordinary law
breaker. The contrast represents the
changed attitude of the people toward
the feud.
There have been almost innumerabl
feuds in Kentucky, but those which las
ed longest, involved the greatest nun
Der Of people and claimed most victim
becoming remarkable as anomalous on
breaks Of crime for this period Of civ
lization, were eight in number. The
were the Turner-SiZemore feud, in Kno
county; the Strong and the Little feuds
In Breathitt county; the Martin TolliveI
war, in Rowan county: the Turner-Sow
Howard quarrel, in Hardin county; the
Hatfeld-McCoy feud, on the West Vir-
ginia border, in Pike county. and the
French-Eversole war, in Perry county.
There was no fOOlishness about any of
these affairs. They were not the simple
primitive forays Of Bitter Creek terrors
They were regular wars involving alto
gether many hundreds of men, and with
death roll counting well up into the
hundreds. They terrOriZed entire coun-
ties, put stop TO all business but that
of killing, drove scores Of people per
manently from their homes, held the
civil power at bay and required frequent
calls upon the military strength Of the
state in order that courts might be held
Mt all. They have cost the state several
hundred thousands Of dollars, and have
put an almost ineffaceable blot upon its
reputation.
When the lawless spirit in the Ken.
lucky mouL ,Lius had its beginning and
how would be difficult to say Thou.
sands Of square miles of mountain IT..
gion; with no settlements larger than
mere hamlets; with the nearest railroad
sometimes more than-a hundred miles
away; with almost no communication
with the outside world, aud with pop.
ulution shut in by rugged mountains u
its own devices. offered favorable soil
for the termination of petty quarrels,
which soon rev into ugly tends. Large
family conn, CtiOms are the rule in the
mountains, there the boys and girls
marry in their teens. and when feuds
man called his clan to battle they started
up, like the men Of Rhoderick DIM. from
every bush and stump There were nC
cares Of business 10 distract attention
from the quarrels. Most Of the people
are farmers, who need to work but little
on their billy patches to raise the it'll,
that they require, leaving them abun
dant leisure for the serious business OF
fighting.
Feuds probably existed before the war
but we have heard little Of them il they
did. The familiarity with scenes oil
blOodshed which many thousand noun
taineers acquired while serving against
the rebellion--for the section was over
whelmingly Union in sentiment-doubt
less had much TO do with the subsequent
fuller development Of the feud int,
something unique in its line. They made
good soldiers, but they didn't know wheI
TO quit fighting. From sire TO son tn,
passion for tumult and bloodshed hal
been transmitted, and some Of the mos
dangerous outlaws in the mountain
have been boys under twenty, while
most Of the leaders in the greatest of TN
feuds have been under thirty years o
age.-St. Louis Globe. Democrat.