[30], At Claud Allen's trial for the murder of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, Judge David W. Bolen was again the prosecution's star witness. [37] Allen's death sentence was deeply unpopular with Allen supporters in the county, but many other residents were unsympathetic, surprised by the deaths of so many people over Floyd Allen's refusal to serve a year in prison. A few weeks ago, that trove of documents related to the shootout and subsequent trials made its way back to Carroll County, where the whole mess started. [18], Seven others were wounded, including Deputy Clerk Goad and Floyd Allen. He was the patriarch of the county's most prominent family, which, in addition to owning large tracts of farmland and a prosperous general store, were also active in local politics as proud Southern Democrats. 12 talking about this. Accounts differ as to whether this was for a lack of evidence, or because Marion became a state's witness and admitted his role in aiding the Allens. One bullet entered the back and ranged upward, lodging directly under the collarbone. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. Sadler also knew that, minutes after Foster laid down his pencil, he was dead. [4], In another instance, while arguing over the administration of their father's estate, Allen got into a gunfight with his own brother, Jasper, known as "Jack", a local constable. Interesting story. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. J. E. Kearn, a traveling salesman from Roanoke, testified he sold Sidna Allen a lot of ammunition at the March term of the Hillsville court, specifically 500 each of .32 and .38 caliber pistol cartridges and 500 12-gauge shotgun shells. [29] Marshall also testified he had been standing near Sheriff Webb, but did not see any pistol in the Sheriff's hand. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? The grand posse, as Sidna Allen would mockingly call them in his memoirs, rode horses, carried shotguns and rifles and posed for pictures even though they spent a lot of time flailing through the woods in search of the Allens. Sadler, a real estate broker in Blacksburg who lives on a family farm in Pulaski County, had taken an interest in the shootout story after looking at old scrapbooks kept by his grandmother, Howard Gilmers daughter. Even the accused, Floyd Allen, carried a pistol. Nearly impassable muddy roads and a raw wind that carried snow flurries did not stop nearly 100 people from jamming the 1873 courthouse to see the spectacle of Floyd Allen possibly being led away in handcuffs. The 1912 documents referred to in this story were scanned and digitally archived by Delilah Brady, a volunteer and director for the Carroll County Historical Society and Museum. "The Courthouse Massacre? Take care, my friend! Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. Convicted on capital murder, both Claude and Floyd were sentenced to death. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. I find myself more and more drawn to history. [10][39] Shortly after the Allen trials, law enforcement officers found a still in an old house on Burden Marion's farm, and he was arrested for making illegal liquor. He died there in 1953. I like how youre reading books about where you live. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. [citation needed], Floyd Allen was tried for the first-degree murder of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. But a year later the Hillsvile courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna and his wife had only lived there a year. Allen was noted for his generosity, but also his quick temper and easily injured pride. Marshall. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. He wrote a memoir, made beautiful furniture from delicately inlaid wooden pieces and spent the rest of his life telling people that the Allens did not shoot first. [23], Another prosecution witness was Floyd Allen's other attorney, Walter S. Tipton. About; Contact; Links; Search for: Tags. View over 100 different photos - art pieces about the 1912 courthouse tragedy and Allen family from Cana, VA in this. [4], Judge Robert C. Jackson, an attorney in Roanoke and Judge Thornton Massie's predecessor in the Carroll County courtroom, stated that, "Floyd Allen was perhaps the worst man of the clan overbearing, vindictive, high tempered, brutal, with no respect for law and little or no regard for human life. Neither died, but Jack had a silver plate in his head until he died. He worked for the Edison Lighting Company. Friel Allen sat in the back of the room, and the Edwards boys stood on benches next to the north wall. - As a result of the deaths that occurred in the courtroom in 1912, the entire estates of Floyd and J. Sidna Allen were seized in settlement of wrongful death suits by the families of Massie, Foster and Webb. Follow Us. [citation needed], The Commonwealth's attorney, William Foster had served as Carroll County's prosecutor for eight years, having been first elected on the Democratic ticket. Sadlers research took him to the Wythe County Courthouse, where he befriended Hayden H. Horney, the longtime circuit court clerk. [2] The federal court in Greensboro found him not guilty, while Sidna's alleged accomplice, Preston Dickens, was found guilty and sentenced to serve five years in federal prison. To be honest, nothing in the more than 180 pages of court papers adds any new information to the well-researched story of the shootout and its equally tragic aftermath. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. [24], Yet another lawyer who witnessed the shooting, W. A. Daugherty of Pikeville, stated that several young men were standing on court benches at the back of the room firing their pistols "like Custer's cavalrymen at the Little Big Horn". [2] His pistol empty, Allen proceeded to beat Jack with the butt of his empty revolver. In one case, after having ridden their horses to death, two of them took a mans mules from his plow in the middle of the field. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. Wesley, the story goes, shucked a red ear of corn and proceeded to kiss the girlfriend of a Thomas boy who he did not like. The sensational coverage and gripping photos of the characters and events surrounding the courtroom shooting captured America's imagination in 1912 and until the sinking of the Titanic a month later, the "Hillsville Massacre" took up a good deal of front page copy in newspapers . - Old timers said that when Wesley kissed the McCraw girl at the cornshucking, it wasnt out of affection for her, it was to irritate her boyfriend, John William Thomas. [5] Floyd's body bore the scars of thirteen bullet wounds, five of them inflicted in quarrels with his own family. - Commonwealths Attorney, William McDonald Foster, was a brother-in-law to one of Floyd Allens defense attorneys; Walter Scott Tipton. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56171 Ft: Aussens@iter (tobias_weber), Gerd Kohlmeier, Audio Podcast WordPress Theme By VWThemes, Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers Killed August 1, 1921, World War I Anti-Conscription Movement 1917, https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/49746687/download.mp3, The Hatfields and the McCoys: After the Feud, http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/41284. Line the bottoms of pan or pans with piece of waxed paper trimmed to fit. Attorney Howard C. Gilmer, of Pulaski, Virginia, was at Hillsville Courthouse in a room adjoining Judge Massie's courtroom when the shooting broke out. The town's name was changed to Hillsville in the late 1820s to honor a local family. "Claude Allen Convicted: He Is Found Guilty of Murdering Commonwealth's Attorney Foster", Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Allen Clan Hillsville Courthouse Shootout", The Wheeling Intelligencer March 15, 1912 p.15, Transcriptions of contemporary newspaper articles, "Mug Shot Monday Special Edition: Floyd and Claude Allen", The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia at the Library of Virginia, The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia, "Hillsville Massacre - The UncommonWealth", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Floyd_Allen&oldid=1137936144, People executed by Virginia by electric chair, 20th-century executions of American people, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Articles needing additional references from October 2020, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2020, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from December 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lewis Franklin Webb, Carroll County sheriff, William McDonald Foster, Commonwealth's Attorney, Augustus Cezar Fowler, juror (died of wounds), This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 04:22. The sheriff in Hillsville had the boys arrested there and handed over to his deputies at the state line. Hall himself had asked Horney, who died in 2020, about the whereabouts of the trial exhibits while doing his own research. Gerald Goad, Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court, engineered the transfer of the documents from Wytheville to Hillsville. Was Clerk of Carroll County Circuit Court During the Famous Allen Trial. "[16] The judge immediately sentenced Floyd Allen to one year's imprisonment.[16]. Published in the SW VA Enterprise, Wytheville, Virginia Tuesday, July 4, 1939. Despite taking his nephews to jail himself, Floyd was accused that he did feloniously and forcably [sic] rescue his nephews, according to a grand jury indictment. Another younger brother, Sidna, was a successful businessman who had prospected for gold in Alaska, operated a store, owned a considerable amount of land and built a lovely Queen Anne-style home in Fancy Gap, and yet he was accused of being a counterfeiter who barely avoided jail time even though one of his associates was sent up the river. He borrowed a .38 automatic from another cousin, Church Alderman. When the men were buried, it was beneath one final statement of defiance. A witness later testified that Floyd Allen had remarked that he "would not let any man talk to me that way."[14]. [1][4] Floyd had wanted to buy a farm owned by one of his own brothers, but could not agree on a price. SIDNA ALLEN'S TERM FIXED AT 35 YEARS; Head of Hillsville Clan Sentenced for Killing of Three Court Officials. . The sentence would have had Floyd do time. Neither was prosecuted. October 2, 2022. Now, thanks to Gerald Goads interest in this, the return of these documents can be part of a healing process. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jury's imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. Two bullet holes Floyd Allens final shots in the massacre are still visible in the wooden steps. In the 1960s, a boisterous flea market and liquor store owner in Cana named Rufus Gardner took up the Allens cause and found two men who claimed one of Goads assistants admitted to firing first at Floyd Allen. The agency, infamous for busting coal miner unions, breaking strikes and shooting people in West Virginia, were led by Thomas Felts from just down the road in Galax. It lays the foundation of the events of that tragic story from March 1912.. The judge hopes that since the normal court opening time is 9 a.m. the Allen case can be dispensed with rapidly and the normal caseload handled in due time. [26] Gilmer said he heard Floyd Allen say two or three times, "I am shot, but I got the damn scoundrel. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. The men were gunned down during one of the most notorious events in Southwest Virginia history. With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. Who fired their pistol first? In a presentation he called The Last Witness, he recounted his grandfathers story and reminded people that, with the return of the trial documents to Carroll County, they were all watching history unfold. 1912 SIDNA ALLEN CRIMINAL HOUSE FANCY GAP HILLSVILLE VA COURT SHOOTING ~ A1 (#185771767538) s***s (604) - Feedback left by buyer s***s (604). Jack Allen denied all responsibility for the allegations of intimidation, which he stated were untrue and insisted neither he nor his brother was guilty of wrongdoing. [29], Another witness, Walter Petty, also testified that the first shots were fired from the courtroom's northeast corner, where Claud Allen was standing. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sheriff and Commonwealth's Attorney dead, court serious. In the second, a husband, Spread the loveOne hundred five years ago this month opposition against the draft was coming to a boil, including in Appalachia. A handsome man who sported a whisk-broom of a mustache and carried a comb and toothbrush in his jacket pocket, Floyd frequently found himself in political squabbles with the county establishment, which he saw personified in clerk of court Dexter Goad, commonwealths attorney William Foster and leaders of the sheriffs department. A second shot entered the back about four inches lower, while a third shot cut the sheriff across the chin. - William Sidna Edwards, the nephew of Floyd Allen, was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a result of the Courthouse Tragedy, although he never fired a shot. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. Spread the loveOne of the first writers to bring the real Appalachia to the world was John Fox Jr., who had come to the coal boom town of Big Stone, Spread the loveWe have a two-fer for you this week! I bet there are lots of tales about Rochester, NY and the surrounding area that would make good reads as well. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeart Radio or on your favorite podcast app. After close to a year of delays, Floyd was finally brought to trial on March 13, 1912. Floyd Allen was going to trial. Past month; Great transaction. I oppose capital punishment (although if you heard what I sometimes say about certain characters on tv, you might doubt that). Fearful of the Allens' reaction, and having received death threats, many officials of the court armed themselves. One local historian interviewed by Williamson for The Roanoker magazine in 1982 stated unequivocally that Claude Allen, Floyds son, fired first. 1982-2023 The Carroll County Historical Society, INC. - The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum website, The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum, Welcome To The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum Website, Family Search.org | Carroll County, Virginia Genealogy, Family Search.org | Grayson County, Virginia Genealogy, Mount Airy, NC Museum of Regional History. "Accuses Dexter Goad of Shooting Betty Ayers". And then, he apparently moved on with life. I like that youre reading up on your new home. Others were captured. actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. B. Earle, 1866-1867. Late in the day March 13, the jury had not reached a verdict, so Judge Massie sent them to the nearby Thornton Hotel for the night. Floyd Allen's son, Victor, bought his father's house so his mother would not have to move. The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912. Charges eventually were dropped against Sidna and Barnett before the trial.). - After his release from prison in 1922, Friel Allen came back to Hillsville and had Attorney John Alderman arrange a meeting with Dexter Goad. Judge Thornton L. Massie called Constable Jack Allen (and Floyd Allen, who had been deputized by Massie about six months earlier) to the bar and proceeded to question them about the alleged intimidation. It also hired Baldwin-Felt hired detectives (a group like the Pinkertons). On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. Sadler knew the family lore that Judge Massie had died in his grandfathers arms, and that Gilmer had helped transport the judges remains back to Pulaski, and he even helped a mortician examine the corpse. Other members of the family received long sentences. After the shooting, because of the number of Allens in Carroll County, they housed the prisoners in Roanoke. [32], Sidna Edwards testified that he was not armed on the day of the shooting and that he did not like to carry guns. The bullet came up under the skin of her right breast. Floyd Allen was the first to be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, and Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. The defense attempted to show that Deputy Clerk Goad shot Elizabeth Ayers in his exchange of fire with the Allens, a charge Goad denied. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. The ex On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. A ghoulish spectacle occurred when the bodies of the two men were placed in public view at a Richmond funeral home, where as many as 5,000 people lined up to gawk at the mountain outlaws they had read about. These mostly came from recent labor disputes in coal country and their mannerism didnt endure them to anyone, it seems. Two of the participants were executed and the others received lengthy prison sentences. This is an interesting story of a time long past. Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. William Hodges Mann from Hillsvilles one outside line brought the famed Baldwin-Felts detectives to town the next day. COOPERSTOWN NEW YORK POSTCARD~Orphanage Building/House~Cart 1911 (#185750574261) l***n (1544) - Feedback left by buyer l***n (1544). As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Like this one, I often find they could have used some rearranging to keep ones interest but I almost always enjoy them. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. Floyd even paid their bail. Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. His brother, Sidna? Interest in the story never wanes, even though, as the historian Hall said, weve about beaten the thing to death.. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, a .32 caliber bullet was discovered. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. A stolen kiss. Most of the documents from the subsequent murder trials that followed the shootout had been lost or were thought to have been lost or stolen. "Saw Claude Allen Fire First At Judge Massie". Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Mr. Allen stood and declared, Gentlemen, I aint a goin. Gunfire, chaos, death ensued all in a moment. Maybe the county leaders didnt want to find errant bullets from their own guns in the bodies of the dead, some county residents whispered. Discover short videos related to Hillsville 1912 A Shooting in the Court on TikTok. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. Allen and Goad had butted heads before. Such an interesting, but tragic, history, Jeff! Ninety seconds later, 57 bullets had been fired. This is the actual foundation of all of the story, said Goad, whose own great-great-uncle, Dexter Goad, was a Carroll clerk of court who traded bullets with the Allens on that tragic day. The significance of this event to Carroll County is profound, Sadler said. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. 23 school districts remove challenged books from library shelves; more . The documents found their way to Wytheville because that was the site of the ensuing trials that followed the shootout, the venue having been moved from Hillsville where anger against the defendants boiled. View Map and Driving Directions Phone: (276) 728-2594 The Holstein Dilemma Trailer; The Holstein Dilemma Preview; The Holstein Dilemma Director's Cut DVD; Screening Dates and Locations; Electronic Press Kit; agriCulture Podcast; About Us. [6] Governor Mann refused a request to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment, and Floyd Allen was electrocuted on March 28, 1913, at 1:20PM. Brothers Wesley and Sidna Edwards (not to be confused with their uncle, Sidna Allen, Floyds brother), attended a corn-shucking party, a country frolic where folks played music, drank liquor on the side and, yes, shucked corn. Check your inbox now to confirm your subscription. Thousands of people wrote letters to Gov. Site of the Bloody Massacre Photo by Author, Thelma Raker Coffone. [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. Sadler looked at Fosters cursive handwriting of Floyd Allens conviction and understood the documents gravity. 2023 TheTVDB.com, A Whip Media Company. Many accounts claim that Allen initiated the confrontation by pulling a gun in court. Burden "Byrd" Marion, a cousin and neighbor, had all charges against him dropped. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. 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