I am all for historical markers for every historically important event, place or person in Pike and Logan Counties, and Frank and Nancy McCoy Hatfield Phillips were certainly significant figures in our history. A marker for them is long overdue.
I have no problem with Nancy, because the worst thing in the record about her is that she was, at times, a bootlegger. To that I simply say that she did what she needed to do to support her children. I respect Nancy for her guts. Her gumption and willingness to fight for her family remind me of my McCoy mother and a couple of her sisters.
The case of Frank Phillips is far different, because there we risk lionizing the very behavior that has been unfairly ascribed to ALL our ancestors.
Frank Phillips was a criminal. He was a criminal from the age of 16 when he shot at a man until the gunfight that took his life.
This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.” https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy