WILLIAM PERRY FRANCIS FAMILY
When my mother’s parents, Perry Francis and Hattie Sluss Stepp, got married it was a second marriage for both of them. Perry was previously married to T.C. and they both were born in Pike, Kentucky and they took to live with them, when she was an infant, a little girl named Belvia. His profession was a barber. They were divorce before Perry was forty-one. Hattie Sluss was previously married to M.S. and they both were born in Martin, Kentucky. Her husband was a preacher by profession, and Great-Grandma Hattie said that he would go to church on Sunday, preach all day then come home from church and beat her up, She left Moses and went to live with her brother Ben. Great-Grandma Hattie divorced him before she was nineteen.
Perry's mother and father, William (Bill) Francis and Sophia Maynard, moved to Dehue where Bill worked in the coal mines. After Perry's divorce, he went to live in Dehue, too, as he had other family that live in Slagle on Rum Creek Hollow. Hattie had siblings that also moved to Slagle, that is how Perry and Hattie met in the year 1918, he was forty-one and she was nineteen.
When my mother’s parents, Perry Francis and Hattie Sluss Stepp, got married it was a second marriage for both of them. Perry was previously married to T.C. and they both were born in Pike, Kentucky and they took to live with them, when she was an infant, a little girl named Belvia. His profession was a barber. They were divorce before Perry was forty-one. Hattie Sluss was previously married to M.S. and they both were born in Martin, Kentucky. Her husband was a preacher by profession, and Great-Grandma Hattie said that he would go to church on Sunday, preach all day then come home from church and beat her up, She left Moses and went to live with her brother Ben. Great-Grandma Hattie divorced him before she was nineteen.
Perry's mother and father, William (Bill) Francis and Sophia Maynard, moved to Dehue where Bill worked in the coal mines. After Perry's divorce, he went to live in Dehue, too, as he had other family that live in Slagle on Rum Creek Hollow. Hattie had siblings that also moved to Slagle, that is how Perry and Hattie met in the year 1918, he was forty-one and she was nineteen.
They got married in Slagle and moved to back Martin, Kentucky. They had four children; three girls and a son all born in Kentucky. They were Alice, Marie, Vondon and Tince. Sometime, between 1924 and 1926, Perry and Hattie moved back to Rum Creek, West Virginia. Perry went to work for the coal mines in Argyle and they had one more child, a daughter, whom they named Belvia. I don’t know if my Great Grandma Hattie named Belvia after my Great Grandpa’s daughter from his first marriage because she likes her or was jealous of her. I have heard both stories. I never saw a mine at Argyle but Aunt Belvia said that there was one when she was a little girl, and her father worked in the sand-house.
Hattie Sluss' father was born in Virginia and her mother, Mary Polly, was born in Magoffin, Kentucky. Polly was Indian, and at the time, Magoffin, was the only part of Kentucky which allowed the Indians and Colored to live peaceful. Hattie's father moved to Kentucky with a couple of his brothers where he met Polly. When his brothers moved back to Virginia he stayed and married her.
Perry's grandfather, William, (three times remove) was born in Virginia and later his family moved to South Carolina. He met and married an Indian woman and since his dad was in the Revolution War and hated Indians, he took his wife and moved to Kentucky. They had five children; four boys and one girl. He bought 300 hundred acres of land. The oldest boy was named after his father, William Jr., and he also brought three hundred acres land in the same hollow as his parents but trouble began when Devil Anse had his eye on the same land for the trees or lumber. So this is the story as it was past down in the family and it goes like this:
William Francis Jr. was a farmer, he owned 300 acres of land in 1850. He was elected (or appointed) Justice of the Peace from 1855 to 1861 in Pike, Co. Kentucky. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 at the age of 41, as a private. He was promoted to full Lieutenant on May 15, 1862 and to full captain on November 10, 1863. He was a "General" in the Union Army and a Captain John Buchanan of the Confederate Army was reportedly charged with taking him "dead or alive". According to a Logan Banner newspaper article dated 12-01-1938; military records show William Francis death as a captain attached to the 167th Va. Militia in Pike, Co. Ky. in 1863 but do not report cause of death. It is believed that just before the war ended, Ole Devil Anse Hatfield (of the Hatfield & McCoy Feud
Line) shot and killed William "Bill" and claimed it as a war shooting. Family tales can often have some truth to them.
Line) shot and killed William "Bill" and claimed it as a war shooting. Family tales can often have some truth to them.
Upon Bill's death, he died Intestate, he was the legal owner of a large and valuable tract of land in Pike County on Peter Creek, the legal title to which was descended to his heirs and his widow, Margarette. However, a claim was made in the Pike Circuit Court sometime in 1865, naming James M. Francis and John Charles as administrators of the Francis Estate and they stated that part or all of the lands should be sold as necessary for the payment of descendant debts. The personal estate was insufficient. We know Bill was much in debt to a Richard Daniels and George Hatfield.
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| Grandma Hattie, a granddaughter, Sue, and her brother Ben Sluss |
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| Evan Sluss |
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| Mary Polly Hale Sluss |
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| Ida Marie, Hattie Sluss, Golden Alice, Vincey Jane Francis |
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| William Francis |
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| Uncle Vondon Francis |
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| Aunt Belvia Francis |
Where on Peter Creek Ky did William own land? I am a decendant of Asa Harmon McCoy. I heard that Asa and General William Bill were close friends. Devil Anse also had Asa Harmon killed in 1865 on Peter Creek. Asa married Perry Clines sister Martha. Asa and Martha helped raise Perry as an orphaned child. One story states that Devil Anse Hatfield and also John Dils Jr. from Pikeville Ky were also Perrys caretakers. Ole Devil Anse wanted all the Clines, McCoys and Francis timber lands and would stop at nothing less than slaughtering humans to get what he wanted. His mother gave him a good name when she named him after Satan. After over a hundred years the truth is finally coming out of why the feud began and who actually started it.
ReplyDeleteAny info about William Bill's connection with Asa Harmon McCoy or other feud related incidents involving General William "Bill" Jr. would be greatly appreciated.
Do you know any stories of an Asbury Hurley that was posibly friends with Asa Harmon McCoy and William "Bill" Jr. There is an article that states that Devil Anse also killed him during the same time frame.
ReplyDeleteI would say that if the Francis had a side in the feud it would be the Hatfields side, William Bill Jr. had two sons that he called home to keep them out of the feud, and his daughter and son was married in the Mounts family the daughter got a divorce before the end of the feud and remarried moved to Logan, WV. Elijah Mounts, He was a long time supporter of the Hatfields and certainly was involved in other incidents.
ReplyDeleteElijah Mounts went on trial in Pikeville, Ky, and was hanged in 1889.
out of 20 men indicted 8 got life in prison, and
Elijah Mounts was the only one to get the death sentence.
Why would you say that when Civil war records state that William was a Union Southern General, the above listed family story assumes that Devil Anse stole Williams land an another document states that Devil Anse Harfield and Ole Randolf McCoy a BROTHER to Asa Harmon McCoy together killed William Francis at Peter Creek Ky/Union territory.The document also states that when William was shot that his blood splattered onto the face of his wife.
DeleteYou stated above that an Elijah Mounts was hung in Pikeville. I have studied 9 feud books and countless documents and never heard of a Elijah Mounts involved in the feud. The
Mounts that was hung was Ellison "Cotton Top" Mounts, the one that gave a very very professional confession that was documented although the Confederate books state that Cotton Top was a Dim Wit.
Hey AJ,
DeleteDo you know which 2 son's of William Bill Jr. that he call home from the Feud or did you mean Civil War? That is new new's to me.
Hey AJ,
ReplyDeleteI love the story and title you have listed above about Rum Creek. Where is Rum Creek located? If I state something that you feel is incorrect please notify me. I am trying to learn more about my great great grandfather and his life,friends, allies and enemies during the beginning of the Civil War and The Feud. I am originally from Peter Creek/Phelps Ky. No decendants or direct relatives of Asa Harmon McCoy has ever written a book and is without a doubt the reason he has been improperly portrayed. It is amazing me on thye amount of documents I am finding about his life. Most books state that he done the McCoy family wrong by fighting for the North. His own brother Ole Randolf help kill his close friend Bill Francis. The majority of Devil Anse Hatfield's famiy fot for the North as well including preacher Anderson Hatfield.The only Hatfields that fought for the south Confedercy was Devil Anses immediate family which moved from Blackberry Creek KY to Beech Creek WV. So it looks very positive that Devil Anse deserted his family by not choosing to fight for the North/Union because he chose to fight against them by becoming a Confederate. People DO NOT hear these type of stories simply due to the fact that a book has not been writen by a "Real McCoy" and what I mean is none of Asa's family or close friends such as William General "Bill" Francis was, has never written a book. Truda Williams McCoy wrote a great book but her forefathers were Hatfield Feudist. Although her husband a first cousin was a direct decendant of Ole Randolf McCoy does not make her or her husband what I call a "Real McCoy". Ole Randolf McCoy was a confederate such as Devil Anse was.
Two of the pictures above are labeled incorrectly. Wrong set of great grandparents. The man listed as "Evan Sluss" is actually Harvey Vanover, and his wife below that is Zilpha (Phipps) Vanover, not Mary Polly (Hale) Sluss. I have not seen a picture of Evan, but we Sluss' have square faces. They were the parents of three children that married three of Evan and Mary's other children: Solomon Vanover married Maggie Sluss, Nelson Sluss married Emma Vanover, and Ben Sluss (pictured above) married Rosa Vanover. These Vanover's should actually be Mullins, though. Harvey took his mother Betty Vanover's name, his father was Isom (Potter) "Wildcat" Mullins, for whom the town of Isom, VA on US 23 is named. Further, Betty married an Andrew Phipps and had several children. Also, three of Evan's brothers married three Mullins sisters. This comment is from Kevin Sluss, a grandson of Nelson and Emma.
ReplyDeletePlease email me. I am curious regarding the relatives of Vondon Francis. tmaltizer@centurylink.net
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather, John C. Francis lived there in Pike Co. He was killed by one of the Hatfield clan. His father was a William H. Francis. Is this any relation to the Francis family you are speaking of ? Do you have any info to share. I would really appreciate it. Louise Francis (Trapp) mafiamoll2009@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteYou have incorrectly labeled photos on here of my great great grand parents Evan C. Sloas/Sluss and Polly Sluss. The picture you have label as Evan is actually Harvey Mullins Vanover. The one you have labeled Polly is actually Zilpha Ann Phipps. Please correct this ASAP. If you have any questions or would like the correct photos I can be reached at lynette-allen@outlook.com. Thank you.
ReplyDelete