On July 16, 2015, author and historian Brandon Kirk will present “Blood in West Virginia, Brumfield v. McCoy,” at the Thursday evening lecture in the Archives and History Library in the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Kirk will present his latest work which is the first comprehensive examination of the Lincoln County Feud, one of the most sensational events that occurred in the southern Appalachian Mountains prior to 1900 and a quarrel so virulent it rivaled that of the infamous Hatfields and McCoys. The conflict began over personal grievances between Paris Brumfield, a local distiller and timber man, and Cain Adkins, a preacher, teacher, doctor, and justice of the peace. The dispute quickly overtook the small Appalachian community of Harts, West Virginia, igniting a decade-long vendetta that left at least four persons dead. A descendant of the feudists, Kirk has a unique insight into the blood battle that transpired in his own hometown.
Brandon Kirk is an Assistant Professor of American History at Southern West Virginia Community & Technical College. The author of more than fifty Appalachian-themed articles, Kirk archived the papers of West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler, inventoried the collection of West Virginia Hillbilly editor Jim Comstock, collaborated with the late John Hartford to write the Ed Haley biography, appeared in Smithsonian magazine, archived the collection of CBS executive Bob Tamplin, and acted as a consultant to the History Channel’s miniseries Hatfields and McCoys. Kirk resides in his ancestral hometown, now called Harts.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
