Sid Hatfield

I was waiting on a woman at work the other day who was visiting from out West; she mentioned being a relative of Sid Hatfield. Images of his role in Matewan and fading pictures of his toothy grin rose to the forefront of my mind. Sid Hatfield was a pretty cool guy!

Born May 15 (we’re birthday buddies!), 1893 in Pike County, Kentucky, and assassinated August 1, 1921, in Welch, West Virginia, Sid Hatfield died quite young. He had only 28 years under his belt, but he still managed to leave a legacy behind.

He was born William Sidney Hatfield, but he was better known as Sid, Smilin’ Sid, and Two-Gun Sid. Hatfield grew up like most Mountain Men of his time: a miner. Throughout his teen years he mined coal, but later he changed professions and become a blacksmith. However, when union activity began to infiltrate Matewan, he had yet another career change when the mayor of Matewan, Mayor Testerman, appointed him police chief to help protect the town from the thugs from the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency.

This was an interesting decision, placing Smilin’ Sid who was only 5’ 4” (we’re also both tiny! I’m only 4’ 11”!) and probably only weighed 125lbs…soaking wet. Nevertheless he was respected by the people and did a bang up job sending the thugs running for the hills (well flat land) with their tails between their legs; they didn’t call him Two-Gun Sid for nothin’.

Although he protected Matewan and made it possible for the union to eventually organize freely, in the end he couldn’t protect himself. He was gunned down on the courthouse steps in Welch the day he was meant to testify against the mining company and the Baldwin Felts. The bastards knew they would lose, so they shut him up, like downright cowards, shooting him while his back was turned. Lord knows they wouldn’t dare challenge him in a man’s fight.

Despite his premature, rather violent death, the memories of Sid Hatfield are happy ones. Few people remember a time where he wasn’t flashing that infamous, gold-capped smile, except when he was hunting thugs that is. I feel as though I can relate to Hatfield quite well; small, generally happy and kind, but don’t get on our bad side, because we can be somethin’ fearsome.

-C