William Riley Hatfield

William Riley Hatfield (1824-1892) was an early settler of the Big South Fork region, and the son-in-law of Big South Fork settler Jonathan Burke.

See Also: Noteworthy Settlers of the Big South Fork Region

Biography

William Riley Hatfield was born July 25, 1824, the son of James Hatfield and Margaret Jones.

The Hatfield family was originally from Virginia, and made the move to Tennessee with W.R. Hatfield’s great-grandfather, Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Hatfield, settling in present-day Scott County. Records indicate that Joseph Hatfield may have lived in Wayne County, Ky., until at least 1823, moving to present-day Scott County at some point between 1823 and 1830.

William Riley Hatfield’s grandfather was Ale Hatfield. It has been said that Ale’s brother was Ephraim Hatfield, the great-grandfather of William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, of Hatfield-McCoy Feud fame. That would mean that Devil Anse Hatfield was William Riley Hatfield’s second cousin, once removed. However, that lineage is heavily disputed, and Ephraim Hatfield is not believed to have been a son of Joseph Hatfield or brother to Ale Hatfield.

Either Ale Hatfield or one of his children, Ale C. Hatfield, was an early owner of present-day Charit Creek Lodge in what is now the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, which is where W.R. Hatfield would eventually settle down. There is some uncertainty over which Hatfield owned the property. It has been assumed that the owner was Ale C. Hatfield. However, a National Park Service cultural resource document lists Ale Hatfield Sr. as purchasing the property in 1832. Hatfield eventually moved to Indiana later in the 1830s after divorcing his wife and remarrying.

William R. Hatfield married Elizabeth Burke, the daughter of Big South Fork settler Jonathan Burke, in 1849. They were married in Wayne County, Ky. It was between 1850 and 1860 that the Burke and Hatfield families moved to the Big South Fork region. Birth records place that move sometime between 1853 and 1857.

W.R. and Elizabeth Hatfield had nine children. The oldest, Nancy Ellen, was born in 1849. She was followed by Telitha Leann in 1851, Mary Ann in 1853, John Granville in 1857, William “Dick” Clayburn in 1861, Harmon Lafayette in 1863, Lewis in 1868, Jonathan “Jack” in 1869 and a twin to Jonathan who died at birth.

Life & Times

Joe Simpson, the man who owned Charit Creek Lodge when the federal government purchased it for inclusion in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in the 1970s, conducted an interview with a relative of Hatfield’s and was quoted as saying: “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.”

However, the Hatfield family actually moved to Tennessee well before the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, which started just after the conclusion of the Civil War. W.R. Hatfield grew up in Wayne County, Ky., and by the conclusion of the war in 1865 had already moved to Station Camp Creek in the Big South Fork, settling down at Charit Creek Lodge.

Old government records indicate that Hatfield was appointed post master at Good Water in Scott County, Tenn. on Jan. 14, 1859. The post office was only open for a few months. (More: Post Offices of Scott County, Tennessee.)

It isn’t clear whether W.R. Hatfield and his family immediately moved to the farm at Charit Creek. Ownership records are scarce. If his grandfather, Ale Hatfield, purchased the farm in 1832, he moved to Indiana prior to 1840. However, if the purchase was made by Ale C. Hatfield, W.R. Hatfield’s uncle, he continued to live in Scott County until sometime after 1870, when he moved to Greene County, Ind., where most of the rest of his generation of the Hatfield family had moved.

Meanwhile, some ownership records indicate that William Tackett purchased the Charit Creek property in 1848, and Anderson Smith purchased it in 1853. Remember that W.R. Hatfield’s move to the Big South Fork region was between 1853 and 1857.

Death

W.R. Hatfield was killed on Jan. 22, 1892. According to Simpson: “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.”

Hatfield was buried next to his father-in-law at the Hatfield-Burke Cemetery on the property at Charit Creek.

Following her husband’s death, Elizabeth Hatfield moved to Oklahoma to join the rest of her family who had moved there several years earlier. Making the trip with her were several of her children, including Mary Ann, John Granville, Harmon Lafayette, William Claburn and Jack.

The only child of W.R. Hatfield who remained in Scott County was Nancy Ellen. She married Kirby Sherman King and had 12 children. One of them, Isaac Marion King, was a well-known schoolteacher, justice of the peace and postmaster in the Station Camp settlement during the early 20th century. William Claburn “Dick” Hatfield returned to the Big South Fork following the death of his first wife, Elvira “Vicey” Thompson. He remarried Poppie Litton, and was shot and killed by her brother, Newt Blevins, in 1924.