The Hatfields and the McCoys Read Online Free Page B

their duty to the commonwealth.” They singled out Circuit Court Judge A. E. Cole for censure, for his leanings toward the Tolliver side in the feud, but they admitted that “any Judge in the Commonwealth could not have enforced the law in that county.” A proposal for the abolition of Rowan County and attaching parts of it to adjacent counties, however, failed to muster the necessary legislative support. 8
    The legislative investigation confirmed assessments of other observers. Referring to the “epidemic of murder” that had engulfed the county, Attorney General Parker Watkins Hardin in 1885 placed much of the blame upon the grand jury, which was “organized, I know, to shield the strong and guilty and to punish the weak and defenseless” and was itself made up of “criminals, their close kin and steadfast friends and admirers.” Reflecting upon the charge by the attorney general, the Louisville Courier-Journal observed that it really constituted an admission that “lawlessness has pushed justice aside and taken possession of the machinery of law to protect crime.” 9
    In drawing attention to the problems of Judge Cole, the legislative committee investigating affairs in Rowan County touched a critical factor in the maintenance of law and order. Judge William L. Jackson of the Louisville circuit, who agreed to hold court in Breathitt County, demonstrated the importance of a fearless, impartial jurist. Jackson, a member of a prominent West Virginia family noted for its audacity, opened court with a large part of the people of the county on hand, many of them out of curiosity. When witnesses were called in the first case, which involved a murder, all answered except one. Jackson looked the sheriff squarely in the eye and commanded him to produce the missing witness. The sheriff, accustomed to more lax procedures, explained that he could not find the witness. “That’s no excuse, sir,” replied Jackson. “Have him here without fail in four hours.” He then recessed the court. With that, Jackson left the bench “with dignified ease, calmly put on his hat, and walked from the courtroom alone, to the great astonishment of the natives, whose regular Judge would have remained until perfectly satisfied that no enemy was near.”
    When the court reconvened at two o’clock, the appointed hour, Jackson asked the sheriff if he had the missing witness. The sheriff stated that when he reached the house of the witness he found it barricaded and full of armed mountaineers, who swore that they would kill any man who attempted to enter. Jackson reprimanded the sheriff, declaring, “Mr. Sheriff, such an excuse is not to be thought of and will not be entertained. I want the witness here at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning if you have to bring him in on a litter. Mark you, sir, a failure to comply on your part will compel the court to fine and imprison you to the full extent of the law. Do your duty, sir.”
    At ten o’clock the following morning, when the court reconvened, the sheriff produced the witness, carried by half a dozen stalwart men. According to the Louisville correspondent of the New York Times, “One arm hung limp at his side, a leg refused to do its duty, blood trickled from all over his head, and an immense bandage concealed one eye.” Jackson bade the man to stand up and demanded why he had failed to appear. The witness explained that he had been hiding from federal marshals who planned to take him to Louisville to answer a moonshining charge. Jackson demanded that the marshals be brought before the court and declared to the eight of them who appeared that he would jail them if they attempted any further interference with the court. From then on cases were heard in an orderly manner, with more convictions than in the previous history of the county. Unlike some judges in the “bloody belt” of Kentucky, who refused to hold court