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Hatfield and McCoy Feud
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25 Jun 2023
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An angry Cap Hatfield lunged for his rifle, as Doc Baisden pulled his sidearm and shot Hatfield in the stomach.
Benjamin Woodard - Appalachian History
April 24, 2020
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“It is a singular fact that none of the Hatfields has ever gone hunting Baysden [sic] and the explanation probably is that they are afraid to do so.” - The Sun, October 21st, 1888
Dr. Harrison Baisden is easily one of the most colorful characters I've run across in my research.
He was born around 1844 to Solomon and Mary (Chafin) Baisden in what was Logan (now Mingo) County, West Virginia. He stood 6 feet and one-half-inch tall and had blue eyes and, by 1887, gray hair. "Doc" Baisden, as he is often called, may have learned medicine by working with University of Virginia doctors during the Civil War; it is known for a fact that he fought on the Confederate side in the conflict. After the war, he worked as a country doctor with a cabin and small farm on Pigeon Creek in Logan (now Mingo) County.
Doc loved three things: parties, women, and alcohol. He could be found at any card game or barn dance in the region. Sometimes, however, his drunken antics landed him in serious trouble; such was the case at one party in the early 1880s. Doc Baisden and "Cap" Hatfield, the most infamous son of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, were both in attendance. The Sun, a New York City newspaper, reports the following:
"He [Cap Hatfield] was at a frolic...with a fair young mountain woman not his wife. A young fellow named Jake Spaulding stole her away from Cap by fair means, which was something remarkable, considering the heroic standing which men like Cap have in the eyes of mountain maidens. However, Cap ran for his rifle, and Spaulding had to run to save his life."
A fight broke out; it ended when Doc Baisden drew his revolver and shot Cap through the stomach. Doc, still drunk, made his way back to his cabin. Later that night, a band of men knocked on his door.
"Doc, you'd better fix up Cap," they implored, "or Devil Anse will kill you."
Doc, sufficiently motivated, packed his medical bag and returned to the scene of the shooting. Doc treated the man he had just shot and, it is believed, saved his life. Cap was eventually sent to a small hospital in Williamson, where he recovered.
Doc, however, was still in danger. Though warned of Hatfield retribution, he proclaimed that "no hell-fired Hatfield was going to chase him out of [Logan] County." He sent his family away and built a hideout inside his cabin's stone chimney, where he stayed with his rifle for several days until the threat subsided. Though the report from The Sun certainly exaggerates his reputation, it is true that none of the Hatfields ever went hunting him.
Doc Baisden continued to live an eventful life, even serving time in the West Virginia State Penitentiary in 1887. He died in 1916, at age 72, and was buried in his family cemetery. His cause of death, fittingly, was alcohol.
This story is just one of many mythical, likely, and factual tales surrounding the colorful character who was Doc Baisden. As usual, multiple variants of the story exist - if you have any information on this story, on Doc Baisden, or on any other feuding Baisdens, please let me know!
This photo shows Doc in front of his cabin, with his son Julius and grandson Ernest on the porch behind him, and was taken around 1910-1916.
More information about Doc and other Tug Valley feudists will be shared in future posts - please like and follow, thanks!
(Harrison Baisden photo courtesy of Terri Collier. Most of the information in this story came from oral history interviews with Doc Baisden's descendants and from an article in the October 21st, 1888, issue of The Sun.)
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Harrison Baisden in the West Virginia, U.S., Marriages Index, 1785-1971
West Virginia, U.S., Marriages Index, 1785-1971
text only
Name Harrison Baisden
Gender Male
Birth abt 1846 Logan Co, West Virginia
Age 34
Spouse Pricey Deskins
Gender Female
her Age 24
her Birth Logan County, West Virginia
Marriage 20 Jun 1880 Logan, West Virginia
Status Divorced
Race White
Ethnicity Canadian
Father S Baisden
Mother M A Chafin
Spouse Father N Deskins
Spouse Mother L Phillips
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