Pvt. Asa Harmon McCoy - Peter Creek, Pike County, KY

My grandfather, Lee Howard Smith, was born April 1888 in Peter Creek right after the massacre at Randolph McCoy's house. His father was George Smith ((worked on the Dotson farm) & his mother was Sarah. He was raised by his grandmother, Jennie McCoy, Randolph McCoy's sister. After earning his coal mining certification as a teenager & working in the mines, he moved west, first to Colorado, and then to Washington state during WWII. He sought a more peaceful existence. He used to tell our family about Asa Harmon McCoy's death & I thought he said that he was found hiding in the cave & murdered for fighting for the union. I was young when I would listen to him tell my dad, his son, that piece of oral family history. Asa was not viewed as a traitor by his family on my grandfather's side. That's for sure. They believed in the union cause. He said Asa was murdered by the Hatfield faction because they perceived him to be a traitor. However, my grandfather did say Asa's murder was the start of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. There was a lot of family pain over his death. The pig incident later triggered that pain.

Debbie, what are your sources of information?

Sincerely,
Delores Smith Leber