Story of Hatfield-McCoy feud, coming to TV Monday, can be found in online digital newspaper archives

The Hatfield family

The story of the feuding Hatfields and McCoys will play again in a History Channel three-part miniseries beginning Memorial Day at 9 p.m. EDT. This volatile time in Kentucky and West Virginia's history will likely draw new interest into the families' lives and battles. The non-Hollywood version of the legendary feud exists in newspaper coverage written at the time. Those pages can be accessed and researched digitally through the National Digital Newspaper Program through work being done at University of Kentucky Libraries. Read more about the program.

Here's where the Hatfield-McCoy fracas comes in. According to a university spokesperson: "From brief mentions of possible state government responses and court battles to a longer report on the imprisonment of members of both families, newspapers made the feud front page news around the world. A look at the Feb. 20, 1888, edition of The Evening Bulletin gives readers interesting insight into the characters on both sides of the conflict, including descriptions of key family members incarcerated in Louisville awaiting trial. Surprisingly perhaps, the Maysville newspapaper disputes that the men were desperadoes; it describes them as dressing well, coming off as inoffensive, and using good language.