The French–Eversole feud occurred primarily from 1887 to 1894. The events occurred in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky and were mainly situated in Hazard, Perry County. The two instigators of this feud were Joseph C. Eversole and Benjamin Fulton French, who were both merchants and lawyers and at one time were friendly. The war or feud was a media sensation and was covered by many US papers at the time. The first report was in the Louisville Courier-Journal on June 30, 1886, on Page 1. A listing of the various media reports is included at the end of this article. Ultimately, those media reports became the basis for various books written about the French-Eversole War. Based on a report by General Sam Hill to Governor Simon Bolivar Buckner, the feud killed more than 20 men. Other historians exaggerated the numbers killed to about 74 deaths attributed to the feud.
Before the feud
Jacob Eversole was one of the first settlers of the area moving from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Originally spelled, 'Ebersohl', six brothers migrated from Europe to Pennsylvania: Abraham, Johannes, Peter, Yost, Carl and Jacob. One of Yost Ebersohl's son's Jacob, moved from Pennsylvania to Eastern Kentucky ca 1790–1800. When Perry County was created on November 2, 1820 by 'General' Elijah H. Combs he named the small group of streets Hazard as its seat. Both the County and the Town are named after General Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the War of 1812. The small town had only one road, scattered buildings, and only a few boards to walk on over the muddy streets. It became the trading center of the county with a population of around 100 during the feud.
Jacob Eversole's son 'Woolery' G. Eversole married the daughter of Jesse Cornett, another founding family of Perry County, Kentucky. Woolery and Lucy (Cornett) Eversole had several children, one of which was Maj. John C. Eversole, USA who lead portions of the 14th Kentucky Cavalry and was assassinated during the Civil War. His son, Joseph C. Eversole was the leader of the Eversole Clan in the French Eversole Feud.
Eversole and French were very similar men. They were both lawyers, merchants, and very well off. Joseph Eversole married a woman from another prominent Perry County family, Susan Combs. French, however, was not a Kentuckian. He hailed from Tennessee but married a Kentuckian, Susan Lewis and thereby was related to influential families in Breathitt, Leslie and other Counties. Both Joseph C. Eversole and Benjamin Fulton French had competing mercantile stores in Hazard.
Cause of the feud
There are two supposed causes of the feud. One is romanticized and probably not true though it is the popular and much more interesting cause. The other is a definite and more reasonable cause for the start of the feud.
Cause 1 ('On Account of a Woman') The popular story for the cause of the feud is a disagreement over a woman. As the story goes a clerk that worked in French's mercantile store was madly in love. One day the clerk saw the woman with Fulton French and he became jealous. He went to Joseph Eversole and told him that he had heard French say he sought to take his life. When Eversole questioned the clerk about the allegations he sat silent. Eversole warned him that he was taking his silence as fact that the allegations were true. Initially, Joe Eversole did not believe the clerk. He asked him to sign a sworn affidavit attesting to the plan to murder him. This is what caused Eversole to believe that he needed protection and the reason for him to begin to gather an armed clan. French followed suit closely after and a war was unavoidable. It is believed that this was the clerk's revenge on Fulton French.
Cause 2 ('Coal rights') The more likely story (or a combination of the two) is that the two were businessmen and they came at odds with each other. After the civil war, companies began buying huge amounts of land for the coal underneath the mountains. French worked for one of these companies that was buying coal rights from illiterate farmers while Eversole was a local merchant and had loyalty to long-time citizens (most of whom he was related to). French was worried about getting the land at bottom dollar for the large companies he represented. Eversole saw this practice as cheating illiterate farmers. He began to travel the county and tell farmers that Fulton French was going to try and cheat them with low prices for 'coal rights'. French (as a non-native) has no such considerations regarding the mountain people of Eastern Kentucky. The resentment grew until they eventually raised their armies, which French reportedly paid $2 – $2.50 a day for his hired guns.