Volume 14 , Issue 23

Hatfield, Survivor of Feud, Willing To Take His Medicine

The Pensacola Journal, dated 6 November 1909, reported that J. W. Hatfield, survivor of feud, was willing to take his medicine. As the Los Angeles, Cal., and Associated Press reported, November 5, 1909 -- "With an eloquent plea that he had committed a crime and willing to take his medicine, but imploring the court to release him from prison before he became a gray-haired old man, J. W. Hatfield, one of the last survivors of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud in Kentucky and a Rough Rider who fought at San Juan, told Judge Davis yesterday in the superior court that he had run away with 14-year--old Pearl Eastman, of Ventura county, because he wanted to marry her. He was sentenced to five years in San Quentin, the minimum under the law.

"Hatfield's brief and simple recital of the story of his life brought tears tot he eyes of his listeners. Hatfield said, 'If I have done wrong, I want to be sentenced, judge, and to serve a prison term; but I don't want to come out from prison a white-haired man. I want a chance to be a good citizen and to help my old mother when I come out. I want to marry this girl. She was willing, but her grand parents would not let us. I was a hired man on their place at Ventura. When her grandfather opposed our marriage, we ran away. Back in Kentucky that was no crime."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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