graves of frank and nancy mccoy phillips

New Historical Marker Marks Graves of 2 in Hatfield-McCoy Feud

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The Kentucky Historical Society will unveil a new historical marker today at a cemetery with ties to the Hatfield-McCoy feud. The marker tells about Nancy McCoy Phillips and her husband, Frank Phillips. The 4 p.m. unveiling will be in Phillips Cemetery, 899 Phillips Branch Road, Phelps.

Historical Marker collage

One side of the marker notes that Frank Phillips was instrumental in the capture of the Hatfield family and others involved in the 1882 shooting death of three McCoy brothers. In 1888, Gov. Simon Bolivar Buckner sent Phillips as a special envoy to West Virginia to arrest them.

Information on Nancy McCoy Phillips is on the opposite side. She was the youngest daughter of Asa Harmon McCoy, the first man killed in the Hatfield-McCoy feud. When she was 15, Nancy married Johnson “Johnse” Hatfield, son of Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield. She later married Phillips.

The Pike County Tourism, Convention and Visitors Bureau sponsors the marker.

More than 2,200 historical markers statewide tell Kentucky’s history. More information about the marker application process, a database of markers and their text and the Explore Kentucky History app, a virtual tour of markers by theme, is at history.ky.gov/markers. KHS administers the Kentucky Historical Marker Program in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

More articles on the Hatfields & McCoys:

America’s very own Montagues and Capulets(Opens in a new browser tab)

Dean King’s “Feud” – fresh eyes on America’s most famous quarrel(Opens in a new browser tab)

A Hatfield shoots a non-McCoy(Opens in a new browser tab)

Matewan Shootout sends the Hatfields west(Opens in a new browser tab)

Matewan Shootout sends the Hatfields west(Opens in a new browser tab)

Hatfields escape WV jail, head west(Opens in a new browser tab)

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