This Hatfield family photo, (above) taken at a family member's home in Pax, W.Va. in the early 1900s, includes three generations of Joe Browning's ancestors. The adults pictured (from left) are William Anderson ‘Devil Anse' Hatfield, the family leader during the feud; his son Willis Hatfield; Devil Anse's wife Louvisa; John Reed Caldwell; Caldwell's wife and Devil Anse's daughter, Elizabeth Hatfield Caldwell; and Devil Anse's son, Joseph D. Hatfield. Shown in the front are the Caldwells' children, Osa Caldwell (later Osa Browning, Joe Browning's mother) and Joe Caldwell.

Hatfields and McCoys?

At least two local residents each have a family connection to a time in the Appalachian region when "family feud" meant something more ominous than a television game show.

The Hatfield-McCoy feud was not the only violent inter-clan dispute in the late 19th century. It may not have even been the worst. But somehow it became the most notorious.

The feud ran off and on for around 30 years, and at least 20 people were killed. The strife provided abundant material for folklore, from court disputes and governors in two states taking sides to accusations of pig-stealing and even inter-tribe romance reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet.'

The McCoys and Hatfields made the national news once again last month. Although for all practical purposes the feud ended around 1890, no formal truce agreement was ever signed — until June 14 of this year, when members of the Hatfield and McCoy families gathered in Pikeville, Ky. and did exactly that.

Joe Browning of Glade Valley was there. A direct descendant of feud-era patriarch William Anderson ‘Devil Anse' Hatfield, Browning was one of about 60 who signed the document proclaiming peace and unity between the two families.

Mary Sparks of Sparta, a McCoy descendant, did not attend that event. She said, however, that she is interested in learning about and possibly attending future Hatfield-McCoy reunion gatherings.

Browning and Sparks met recently in Sparta and enjoyed sharing family stories and perusing memorabilia.

Alleghany Roots

Browning grew up in Logan County, W.Va., where Devil Anse Hatfield lived in his later years. "I left home to make my fortune, which I'm still looking for," Browning quipped.

He was drafted and served two years in the Army. Just as he and others were preparing to go to Korea, the armistice was signed which ended the war there. (The 50th anniversary of that armistice signing was observed earlier this month).

An aunt and uncle invited him to stay with them in Cleveland, where work was plentiful. He spent 35 years in Ohio, working and raising a family. Most of that time he worked for the Scott Fetzer Company, including as a risk manager.

Browning met his wife Jetta on a blind date arranged by relatives. The couple had lived 15 miles apart while growing up but had not met until they were adults. "Here we are 45 years later," he said.

The Brownings have three grown children, all still in Cleveland, and six grandchildren.

They discovered Alleghany County during a trip to Florida in 1968. At that time, U.S. 21 was the most direct route from Cleveland to Florida. When they came through Sparta, they decided to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway. "We went as far as Doughton Park. We were impressed by how clean and rustic everything was," Joe Browning remarked.

They returned and camped here on an annual basis. "We decided we liked it so well, when our kids were gone, we'd come here to live," he added. That happened in the fall of 1992.

Once here, Browning did some research regarding his ancestors and found that a great-grandfather and two of his brothers — John M. Caldwell, Morris Caldwell and William Caldwell — were from Alleghany and enlisted in the Confederate Army from here on Sept. 15, 1861. His great-great-grandfather was Andrew Jackson Caldwell, also from this county. "I had roots in Alleghany, and I didn't even know it," Browning said.

Hatfield Roots

It was, of course, another part of his lineage which gained national attention in the late 19th century and again recently. Devil Anse Hatfield was Browning's great-grandfather. "He (Browning) was probably the closest relative there at the reunion on the Hatfield side," Jetta Browning stated.

Joe Browning said the connection seemed even closer than that, as Elizabeth Hatfield Caldwell, the middle-born of Devil Anse's 13 children, lived with the Brownings and was a caregiver to Browning and his siblings while their mother worked during the Great Depression. Browning's parents, Osa Caldwell Browning and John Bogle Browning, had 11 children.

In the photo above left, Mary Sparks pauses for a photo with her grandfather J.D. McCoy at his home in High Hat, Ky., along with two of her children, Katrina and Gregory. The picture was taken around 1963 during her only meeting with McCoy, who represents her family connection to the legendary feud.

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