Dick Hatfield
William Richard Claburn “Dick” Hatfield (1861-1924) was a Scott County man killed by Newton Blevins.
Biography
Born Feb. 14, 1861, Dick Hatfield was the son of William Riley Hatfield (1824-1892) and Elizabeth Burke (1831-1910). He descended from two of the Big South Fork region’s earliest families, the Hatfields and the Burkes. He was a second-great-grandson of Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Hatfield.
William Riley Hatfield had himself been killed in 1892, during a dispute with another man along the Big South Fork River. As related by historian H. Clay Smith: “Mr. Hatfield was a strong Christian man. He came from West Virginia, – Where they had all the trouble years ago-. He didn’t believe in all the killin and moved his family here. He had a bad temper, and did not believe in violence. He got into an argument down by the river one day with somebody he was mad at. He swung his horse around to knock the man down and trample him. The man stumbled, and shot Hatfield with his 45-70 rifle into his stomach, and the bullet destroyed part of his face, killing him soon afterwards”.
It should be noted that William Riley Hatfield actually grew up in Wayne County, Ky., and was not closely related to the Hatfields who were involved in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.
Dick Hatfield first married Elvira “Vicey” Thompson (1862-1913) in 1881. They had seven children: Colman Hatfield (1883-1964), Batey Hatfield (1884-1941), Nevada Hatfield Forbus (1886-1972), Dellia Elizabeth Hatfield Nations (born 1892), Ollie Belle Hatfield Cavender (1893-1950), Enman Asbury Hatfield (1900-1962), and James Fowler Hatfield (1903-1958).
Hatfield moved to Oklahoma with his mother, Elizabeth Burke Hatfield, following his father’s death in 1892. She moved to join several other members of the Burke family who had left the Big South Fork region for Oklahoma earlier.
Following Vicey’s death in 1913, Hatfield returned to Scott County and remarried to Poppie Litton Blevins (1888-1971) in 1923. She was the daughter of John Littleton Litton and Elvia “Vi” Dawes, the owners of the John Litton Farm in what is now the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. Her first husband, Harvey Blevins, died in 1919.
Death
Hatfield died on Aug. 27, 1924, after being shot by Newton Blevins amid an argument over stolen apples.
Hatfield had earlier complained to Ike King, a constable in the Station Camp community, about apples that had been stolen from his orchard by Blevins’ children.
On Aug. 27, 1924, Hatfield and Blevins encountered in the High Point community south of Oneida, and Blevins invited Hatfield to his home for dinner. After they had eaten, the two again began to argue over the apples. During the argument, Blevins shot Hatfield with a rifle, mortally wounding him.
Blevins claimed self-defense, saying that Hatfield had come at him with a knife. Prosecutors disagreed, saying that Blevins “hunted down” Hatfield. They charged him with first degree murder. A jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, sentencing him to one year in prison.
Blevins was later shot and killed himself in 1928.
Hatfield was buried at Coffey Cemetery in Oneida.
Poppie Litton Blevins died in 1971 and was buried at Possum Rock Cemetery in the Black Oak community west of Oneida.
See Also: Murder or Self-Defense? (Murders in the Heartland)