Tom E. Dotson is a direct descendent of Uriah McCoy, first cousin to Randolph and brother to his wife, Sarah (Sally). He is also directly descended from Preacher Anderson Hatfield, the justice in the hog trial and a major witness in the trials of the Hatfields. Dotson grew up on Blackberry Creek, Pike County, Kentucky, one mile from where the Election Day killing took place in 1882 and four miles from where the three McCoys were executed two days later. A self-proclaimed history nut, Dotson has an MS in Labor History from Cornell.
Author’s note: My four grandparents were named Hatfield, McCoy, Dotson and Smith. Neither of my Hatfield or McCoy ancestors was ever involved in any violence involving Devil Anse Hatfield or Ran’l McCoy, but several of my Dotson ancestors and my great grandfather Smith were.
The Book
“The Hatfield & McCoy Feud after Kevin Costner: Rescuing History,” by Tom E. Dotson
The book is now available on Amazon, Click Here -> The Hatfield & McCoy Feud after Kevin Costner: Rescuing History
The first motivation for writing this book was to remove the albatross of the supersized feud story from the necks of Appalachians—especially the young who will have to overcome those stereotypes as they go into the larger world. The supersized feud story has done great harm to half a dozen generations of Southern Appalachians, and it is NOT a true story.
The second motivation is to make sure that the next writer of a feud book will not be able to justify using previous story-tellers as fact sources. I hope this book will make it obvious that any such future book is the result of dishonesty and not ignorance.
The target audience for this book is those who are interested in historical truth. I hope to give serious students of Appalachian history and those thousands of people all across the fruited plain who descend from Tug Valley people and are tired of fighting the stereotype created by the “Big feud” story the ammunition needed to shoot down the legends and lies.
Those who have a psychological attachment to the big feud story which is not amenable to documentary facts are herewith forewarned: This book is not your cup of tea.