Days of Darkness

by Pearce, John Ed

• ISBN13: 9780813126579
• ISBN10: 0813126576
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" Among the darkest corners of Kentucky's past are the grisly feuds that tore apart the hills of Eastern Kentucky from the late nineteenth century until well into the twentieth. Now, from the tangled threads of conflicting testimony, John Ed Pearce, Kentucky's best known journalist, weaves engrossing accounts of six of the most notorior accounts to uncover what really happened and why. His story of those days of darkness brings to light new evidence, questions commonly held beliefs about the feuds, and us and long-running feuds -- those in Breathitt, Clay Harlan, Perry, Pike, and Rowan counties. What caused the feuds that left Kentucky with its lingering reputation for violence? Who were the feudists, and what forces -- social, political, financial -- hurled them at each other? Did Big Jim Howard really kill Governor William Goebel? Did Joe Eversole die trying to protect small mountain landowners from ruthless Eastern mineral exploiters? Did the Hatfield-McCoy fight start over a hog? For years, Pearce has interviewed descendants of feuding families and examined skimpy court records and often fictional newspapeputs to rest some of the more popular legends.

Author Biography

John Ed Pearce worked on the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal for forty years and was a widely published columnist. He was corecipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1967 and is the author of Divide and Dissent: Kentucky Politics, 1930-1963.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. vii
What This Is All About	p. 1
Harlan County: The Turners Meet the Howards
Choose Your Outlaw	p. 11
The Turners Meet the Howards	p. 15
The Trap that Didn't Spring	p. 25
Breathitt County: A Talent for Violence
Almost a Romantic Journey	p. 31
Captain Strong's Last Ride	p. 41
The Last and Bloodiest Feud	p. 45
Pike, Perry, and Rowan Counties: Mayhem Everywhere
No Romeo, No Juliet, No Heroes	p. 57
The Woman in the Case	p. 75
A Nice Little College Town	p. 95
Clay County: The Hundred-Year War
The Incident at the Courthouse	p. 115
Drawing the Lines	p. 129
A Legacy of Violence	p. 139
The Fatal Clash on Crane Creek	p. 151
Trouble on the Burying Ground	p. 163
The Best Men in the County	p. 172
The Turtle Calls for Bad Tom	p. 180
Bloody Time in Frankfor	p. 187
The Feuds Wind Down	p. 196
Surcease	p. 209
Sources	p. 211
Index	p. 215
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