The next writer to pick up the hog story was Charles Mutzenberg, writing from Frankfort KY.  Mutzenberg wrote his first version of the book in 1899. Mutzenberg did not come down to the area nor did he claim to have done so. Mutzenberg had worked in the administration of Governor Buckner, and one of Mutzenberg’s main aims when writing HIS book – Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies – which deals with several other late 19th century Kentucky feuds – was to exonerate the Buckner administration from any claims of wrongdoing in these various feuds, and to paint the people of eastern Kentucky as simply ungovernable impediments to social, political, and economic progress.  Again, Mutzenberg did not do any reporting. He did not come into the area. He made no claims in his book of talking to anyone or discovering any new information. He simply, as far as I can tell, summarizes all of the things that had already been written, from the works of Spears and Crawford to the slew of newspaper articles that had appeared at the time. For the most part, Mutzenberg relies on the book by John Spears just mentioned.

Mutzenberg says they feud was caused by “a few sharp-nosed, razor-backed, long-legged hogs” that were important to every mountain family. According to Muzenberg:

Randall McCoy demanded the delivery of his property, but Floyd refused to give them up. A quarrel ensued, the old rifles were brought into requisition, but no one was injured.

McCoy now brought an action before the authorities, and the trial came off at Raccoon Hollow, a little village twenty miles down the valley.

“Deacon" Hatfield, a distant relative of Floyd Hatfield, was the Justice of the Peace. Both sides were numerous on the ground, and armed for any emergency.

Notice that Mutzenberg who, again, did not come into the area or talk to anyone locally, has made a few significant changes to the story told by John Spears. (NOTE: the ONLY early writer who referred to Preacher Anse as “Deacon” Anse was John Spears. When someone later talks about the involvement of Deacon Anse, it’s clear that they are basing their story on the writings of John Spesars.)  Now we have guns drawn from the initial contact between Floyd and Ran’l. We have “Deacon” Anse instead of Matt Hatfield as officiating.  And we have both sides bringing numerous armed members of their group to the trial. One thing to note is that, if you read Mutzenberg’s book, his main rhetorical tactic is to amplify the violence of the locals, so again and again he adds armed bands to every encounter. For Mutzenberg, this isn’t just a dispute over some hogs that lead to tensions that later flared up, as it was for John Spears.  

The “Hog Trial” was a 1878 legal dispute between Floyd Hatfield and Randolph “Old Ranel” McCoy over a stolen hog, presided over by Reverend Anderson “Preacher Anse” Hatfield, and is considered one of the early sparks of the Hatfield–McCoy feud.

In the fall of 1878, Floyd Hatfield — cousin of William “Devil Anse” Hatfield — had driven his hogs into pens for fattening on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork River. These hogs had roamed the hills around the Tug and Blackberry Forks all season, but each bore its owner’s mark for identification. Randolph “Old Ranel” McCoy, a local farmer, claimed one of Floyd’s hogs bore his mark and accused him of theft 

The case was brought before Reverend Anderson “Preacher Anse” Hatfield, who served as both a Baptist minister and Justice of the Peace. Determined to remain impartial, he convened a jury of six Hatfields and six McCoys. Witnesses were called, but the decisive testimony came from William Stanton, a McCoy relative with two Hatfields as brothers-in-law. Stanton claimed he had seen Floyd’s mark on the hog’s ear, which led to Floyd Hatfield’s acquittal 

While the hog dispute itself was not a violent clash, it was a public, community-wide legal confrontation that underscored the deep-seated tensions between the two families. The trial took place at the Hog Trial Cabin on Blackberry Creek, the homeplace of Preacher Anse Hatfield, and became a symbolic event in the feud’s early history

The Hog Trial is often cited as one of the first major incidents in the Hatfield–McCoy feud, which escalated over decades into a series of retaliatory killings and violent confrontations. It also foreshadowed the 1882 Election Day Fight, another pivotal moment in the feud’s escalation 

Today, the Hog Trial Cabin is a historic landmark in Pike County, Kentucky, and the site is commemorated by the Kentucky Historical Society. It stands as a reminder of how a seemingly small dispute over livestock could ignite a conflict that would become one of the most famous feuds in American history