"Johnse" Hatfield, the 18-year-old son of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, and Roseanna McCoy, the daughter of Randolph McCoy, met on Kentucky election grounds in 1880.
According to accounts, Johnse and Roseanna hit it off, disappearing together for hours. Supposedly fearing retaliation from her family for mingling with the Hatfields, Roseanna stayed at the Hatfield residence for a period of time, drawing the ire of the McCoys.
Although they certainly shared a romance, it rapidly became clear that Johnse, was not about to settle down with Roseanna. Several months later he abandoned the pregnant Roseanna and quickly moved on. In May 1881 he married Nancy McCoy, Roseanna’s 15 year-old cousin.
Now pregnant with Johnse's child. Roseanna moved in with her Aunt Betty McCoy, in Stringtown, a small settlement not far from her father's home, because her father was so upset, and refused to look at or even speak to her.
Johnse continued to visit with Roseanna at her aunt's home, which upset her brothers. When Roseanna overheard retaliation plans to take Johnse captive, and deliver him to the county seat for outstanding warrants, she feared for Johnse's life and warned Devil Anse, who immediately organized a rescue party and took Johnse back to West Virginia before he could be transported to the county seat.
Roseanna ended up giving birth to Johnse's child, Sarah Elizabeth, but the baby became sick 10 months into her life and died from measles.
Roseanna also died at the young age of twenty-eight, some say of a broken heart. She is buried in the Dils Cemetery in Pikeville, KY.
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