Anderson preacher anse hatfield biography

American patriarch of the Hatfield clan (1839–1921)

William Anderson "Devil Anse" or “Uncle Anse” Hatfield (; September 9, 1839 – January 6, 1921) was the patriarch of the West Virginian Hatfield family who led the family during the Hatfield–McCoy feud.

Biography

Hatfield was born September 9, 1839, in western Virginia (now Logan, West Virginia), the son of Ephraim and Nancy (Vance) Hatfield.^[1] His nickname "Devil Anse" has a variety of supposed origins.

Among these are that it was given to him by his mother; that he was named it by Randolph McCoy; that he earned the nickname from his bravery during battle in the American Civil War; or because it contrasted to his good-tempered cousin, Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield.^[2]

A supporter of the Confederacy, Hatfield enlisted in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

He was commissioned a First Lieutenant of Cavalry in the Virginia State Line in 1862, a gr