Tale of the Devil: The Biography of Devil Anse Hatfield of West Virginia

The Tale of the Devil is the story of the legendary Devil Anse Hatfield, beginning with his childhood in frontier Appalachia, describing his Civil War days as a noted Confederate soldier, giving a richly detailed background into just who this man was and from where he came. Then this handsome edition gives readers a captivating and enlightening bird’s-eye view of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, the killings, and the post-feud years when the shooting subsided.

“Now the story, the real account, of my great-grandfather, Devil Anse Hatfield, can be told, without exaggeration or fable,” Dr. Coleman C. Hatfield said recently from his home in Stollings, West Virginia. “My father, Coleman A. Hatfield, the son of Cap Hatfield, spent the majority of his adult life researching Hatfield and McCoy feud history. Besides being a Logan attorney, he was a gifted writer and researcher in his own right. He kept meticulous journals and audiotapes throughout his life about his historical findings, before passing away in 1970. In addition to his research, Dad remembered and recounted many of the stories and tall tales that he personally heard Devil Anse and his wife, Levicy, tell the grandchildren through the years.

“Unfortunately, my father never got to see his dream, that of publishing his own scholarly account of Hatfield and McCoy history, fulfilled. But now, after all these years, this volume, The Tale Of The Devil, reflects my father’s findings, my own lifelong research of Hatfield facts, and the exhaustive work of journalist and historian Robert Y. Spence. It was quite an undertaking and the 320 pages represent many years of investigation and hard work.

“I am especially pleased to be able to finally fulfill Dad’s dream and a personal goal of my own, as well. As far as I am concerned, this biography is important for a number of reasons, most significantly, it’s important for my Hatfield family, the people of the great State of West Virginia, and for all readers of American history to have a balanced and factual record of the life of our family patriarch, Devil Anse. The true story of ‘The Boogerman’ is an exciting and stirring story.”

Because this manuscript gleans much of its information from grandson Coleman A. Hatfield’s exhaustive manuscripts, journals, and audiotapes, which were compiled and collected over a lifetime, the story is fresh and entertaining to read and offers additional “insider” information, which has never before been published. Finally, the book features an index, bibliography, end notes, and thirty pages of photographs – many rare, including one particular photo of Devil Anse never before published, taken when he was about 35-years-old.

About the author:

Dr. Coleman C. was the great-grandson of Devil Anse and an accomplished historian; however, much of the information in the book was gleaned from his father, a Logan County attorney, Coleman A. Hatfield, who was considered the chief family historian for many years. Coleman A., a gifted researcher and scholar, kept exhaustive manuscripts, journals, and audiotapes on the subject throughout his lifetime, passing away in 1970. Robert Spence is a noted journalist and historian in Logan County.