Dramatis Personae - The Hatfields

Joseph B. Hatfield and his brother Valentine come to what became known as Blackberry Creek at some point around 1814/1815. They settled, as near as we can tell, on the banks of the Tug River near present-day Matewan. While there may have been some moving back and forth across the river in the early years, eventually both brothers end up on the Kentucky side of the river. Both brothers are married to daughters of Ferrell Evans, who lives on Blackberry Creek with them. By 1830, Valentine and Ferrell Evans move their growing families across the river to Gilbert, West Virginia.

Joseph remains on Blackberry Creek, living, I think, on the river at what is now Buskirk. Joseph's children, however, move inward, up the creek. By 1830, Joseph's younger half-brother George moves to Blackberry Creek as well, settling near the mouth of Bluesrping Hollow. Later their younger brother Jeremiah also comes, as well as their father Ephraim (Eaf), who died in 1847 and is buried in the Anderson Hatfield Cemetery at the mouth of Dials Branch.

In the 1880 census, Upper Blackberry Creek is primarily home to the Hatfields - Joseph's children tend to cluster in Buskirk (Valentine, McGinnis, Joseph II) and above Left Fork (Ferrell Marion, Richard Thomas, Ephraim). George and his children tend to live from Bluespring down to the foot of Hardy/Blackberry Mountain.