Sarah Ann, West Virginia: Burial Ground of the Hatfields

The rivals of the McCoys rest atop a steep hill in Sarah Ann, some in surprising splendor.

There's a historical marker outside the cemetery. The road to the graves is open to foot traffic.

The Hatfield clan cemetery is in the little coal camp town of Sarah Ann, about 14 miles from Logan, WV, south on rte 44. It includes a statue of Captain Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, the patriarch of the clan during the period of the Hatfield-McCoy feuds.

Last fall my husband and I drove the winding, motion-sickness-inducing backroads of West Virginia to see the grave of William "Devil Anse" Hatfield, patriarch of the Hatfield clan that feuded with the McCoys. Contrary to popular belief neither family was poor, and the Hatfields were actually rather well off. Anse spent $3500 to have a life-sized Italian marble statue of himself made for his grave, which was quite a lot of money around 1920 when he would have commissioned it. It's located off highway 44 near Sarah Ann, West Virginia, a place that many maps fail to acknowledge. Once you find the official historical marker you then must disobey "Private Property - Keep Out" signs and climb about an eighth of a mile up a steep, rocky path while dogs at a nearby house announce your transgression. When you get to the graveyard it looks about like any other family plot, except the main attraction has a statue of Anse Hatfield on it. Then you have to risk life and limb getting back down that path, which was wet with rain and red clay mud the day we went.