Randolph "Randall" or "Ole Ran'l" McCoy (October 30, 1825 - March 28, 1914) was the patriarch of the McCoy clan involved in the infamous American Hatfield-McCoy feud. He was the fourth of thirteen children born to Daniel McCoy and Margaret Taylor McCoy and lived mostly on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork, a tributary of the Big Sandy River.

During the almost thirty-year feud with the Hatfield clan under their patriarch Devil Anse Hatfield, Randolph would lose five of his children to the violence.

He was a farmer and ferry operator who mostly lived on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork, a tributary of the Big Sandy River.

During the American Civil War, he served from 1862 to 1865 as a Private in the 45th Virginia Battalion Infantry, Confederate States Army. [3] Between 1863 and 1865, he was a Prisoner of War (POW). [4] His Confederate Service Record (CSR) states that he was captured in Pike County, Kentucky, on 8 July 1863 and sent to Camp Chase, a Union prison camp in Columbus, Ohio. He arrived there on 20 July 1863 and a month later, he was transferred to the large military prison at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois where he remained a POW for the duration of the Civil War.

Randolph McCoy was the patriarch of the McCoy clan involved in the infamous American Hatfield-McCoy feud. He lost five of his children to the violence during the almost 30 year feud with the Hatfield clan under their patriarch William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield.

Kentucky was a border state, but both McCoy and Hatfield families were loyal confederates, with the exception of his younger brother, Asa, who enlisted in Company E, [5] of the Union Army. [6] Asa was killed on 7 Jan 1865 [7] by a band called the Logan Wildcats, lead by Jim Vance, in a Hatfield and McCoy family feud. It was widely accepted that this band was led by the Hatfields. Thus began a chain of altercations that would make the names Hatfield and McCoy synonymous with feud.

The next dispute was a legal one in the late 1870s in which Anderson Hatfield and Randolph McCoy's cousin, Perry Cline, both held title to a 5,000+ acre tract of land. Hatfield eventually brought a civil suit against Cline. Hatfield won in what was seen by the McCoys as a Hatfield friendly court.

An even bigger event occurred in the fall of 1878 when Randolph "Randall" McCoy brought charges against Floyd Hatfield (abt.1847-abt.1926) for stealing one of his hogs. [8] This allegation was a very serious offense at the time. The case was decided in favor of the Hatfields, further inflaming the feud. The primary witness in the affair, related to both sides, was believed killed by the McCoys, although the official verdict was self-defense.

Randall's daughter, Roseanna, became romantically involved with Johnse Hatfield, becoming pregnant with his child. Upon learning of the affair, Randolph disowned her and Johnse married her cousin, Nancy McCoy. Roseanna's baby; Sarah Elizabeth McCoy died before her first birthday, and heart broken, Roseanna died at the age of 28.

The peak of the feud was on election day in 1882 in a blood bath where three of Randolph's sons killed Ellison Hatfield. He was the brother of Devil Anse who retaliated by executing Randall's sons Tolbert, Pharmer and Randolf Jr.

One of the most horrible events of the feud happened on 01 January 1888. Randolph's house was burning to the ground and his family was attacked as they tried to escape. His son, Calvin, was killed in the shootout. His daughter, Alifair, was shot to death as she tried to flee the burning house. When Sally attempted to comfort Alifair, she was badly injured, suffering several broken ribs and skull fractures. Though Randall and the rest of his family were able to retreat into the woods, they were unprepared for the freezing weather and suffered frostbite.

In response to this massacre, Kentucky deputy, Franklin Phillips and a posse of McCoys, chased down Jim Vance and Cap Hatfield, killing Vance. Nine Hatfield family members and supporters were hauled off to jail.

By the end of the feud, Randall had lost his brother, seven of his children, and his wife. He moved his family to Pikeville, Pike County, Kentucky, United States where he operated a ferry, spending the rest of his life in bitter grief.