Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky

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University Press of Kentucky, Nov 15, 1994 - History - 227 pages
Among the darkest corners of Kentucky’s past are the grisly feuds that tore apart the hills of eastern Kentucky from the late nineteenth century until well into the twentieth. Now, from the tangled threads of conflicting testimony, John Ed Pearce weaves engrossing accounts of six of the most notorious feuds—those in Breathitt, Clay, Harlan, Perry, Pike, and Rowan counties. What caused the feuds that left Kentucky with its lingering reputation for violence? Who were the feudists, and what forces—social, political, financial—caused the conflicts? For years, Pearce has interviewed descendants of feuding families and examined skimpy court records and often fictional newspaper accounts to uncover what really happened and why. His story brings to light new evidence, questions commonly held beliefs about the feuds, and puts to rest some of the more popular legends.
 

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Contents

What This Is All About
1
Choose Your Outlaw
11
The Turners Meet the Howards
15
The Trap that Didnt Spring
25
Almost a Romantic Journey
31
Captain Strongs Last Ride
41
The Last and Bloodiest Feud
45
No Romeo No Juliet No Heroes
57
A Legacy of Violence
139
The Fatal Clash on Crane Creek
151
Trouble on the Burying Ground
163
The Best Men in the County
172
The Turtle Calls for Bad Tom
180
Bloody Time in Frankfort
187
The Feuds Wind Down
196
Surcease
209

The Woman in the Case
75
A Nice Little College Town
95
The Incident at the Courthouse
115
Drawing the Lines
129
Sources
211
Index
215
Copyright

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About the author (1994)

John Ed Pearce worked on the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal for forty years and was a widely published columnist. He was co-recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1967.

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