Allen "River Allen" Hatfield Sr 1970s radio interview
Published 2014-05-06
My grandfather Allen being interviewed pre-1978 by a radio station. He lived most all his life in the same area of KY and WV along the Tug River where the famous Feud took place. He is related to the character known as "Devil Anse" several ways. One is that his wife's mother was sister to Levicy Chafin Hatfield. She was Devil Anse's wife. However, being Allen was a generation removed (he was born in 1892) from most the events his is not eyewitness account. His father, as he mentions, did go as directed by his father and gather up the bodies of the 3 dead McCoy boys and took them back to Randal McCoy's home. This he did to try and keep peace among him and his neighbor for they all lived in the same general area. This insight into the real atmosphere surrounding the "Feud" folks and area is best told in Thomas Dotson's recent book, "The Hatfield McCoy Feud After Kevin Costner". Thomas was born and raised in the same area where many of the relatives of the Feud lived. He delivered papers as a child to their children and knows much of the true history and culture of the area. So, the real value of this audio to me is mostly Allen's recalling his version of events and listening to his dialect and expressions as he tells not only of the Feud but days living along the Tug. He spent most his life there near the infamous mining town of Matewan, WV where he was a deputy sheriff during WWII. Along with the few grains of Feud story (his version of events) is the real value, that being Allen's recall of his memorable friends and neighbors in the area. Locations and persons he would talk to me about as a child. I only now wished I had written down every word he said back then. This is all of have of his verbal record. Such is life and the foolishness of childhood. In places its difficult to understand him. That's because he also talked while smoking his pipe. There are only a few pictures of him without his pipe in fact that I know of.
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