Perry Anderson Cline was born January 5, 1849 in what is now Mingo Co, WV to Jacob “Rich Jake” Cline and Nancy Fuller.
After his parents passed away, he was raised by three slaves left to him by his father’s will. One of the slaves, Mary Jane, was cared for by the Cline family until she died. Another slave, Moses, was killed by Devil Anse Hatfield.
Perry Cline |
In 1858 Perry inherited a large 5000 acre tract of land and cash along with his older brother Jacob Jr. known in Rich Jakes will as the “Old Home Place.”
Perry was a lawyer, deputy sheriff and deputy jailer in Pike County, Kentucky during the Hatfield McCoy Feud.
Cline married Martha A. McCoy on September 19, 1868 in Pike County, Kentucky.
Perry's sister, Martha Cline, married Asa Harmon McCoy, who was killed by the Logan Wildcats, a Confederate guerilla unit led by William Anderson "Devil Ance" Hatfield while on furlough from the Union army during the Civil War.
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In the early 1870's, he was accused of stealing timber from the property of Devil Ance Hatfield
The court decision of 1877 awarded Hatfield all of Perry's land in Logan County as damages and was the beginning of Perry's hatred for the Hatfields in general and Devil Ance in particular.
Perry then relocated to Pikeville, Kentucky, and established himself with the influential powers and developed a close relationship with "Ranel" McCoy and the clan that he controlled.
In 1882, Roseanna McCoy moved into Cline's home to care for one of his children suffering from Typhoid Fever. His wife, Martha talked Roseanna into staying on as her nanny to help care for the eight Cline children.
In 1886 Perry’s niece Mary McCoy Daniels and her daughter were severely beaten with a cow's tale by Cap Hatfield and Tom Wallace. Perry’s nephew Jeff McCoy, brother of Nancy was shot dead by Cap Hatfield and Tom Wallace when Jeff retaliates for the beating of his sister Mary.
In 1887, Perry cut a deal with candidate Buckner for a promise to bring the Hatfields to justice he will deliver the McCoy vote and others wanting justice in Pike County and secures rewards for the arrest of the Hatfield gang.
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