WYTHEVILLE, Va., Nov. 22. Floyd Allens case had been continued a couple of times before he finally appeared in court for a two-day trial that started on March 12, 1912. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. The deputy clerk of Carroll County, Dexter Goad, obtained a new warrant for the brothers' arrest, notifying the sheriff in Surry County, North Carolina, who soon arrested both men. Just a Presbyterian Church and a store. During the initial manhunt, several posses of detectives and local deputies searched the surrounding countryside. One day in the fall of 2016, when Sadler was in Wytheville doing more research on a Friday afternoon, Horney called him into his office. "Accuses Dexter Goad of Shooting Betty Ayers". Massie refused, saying he was there to prosecute, not persecute.. Mr. Alderman said he was not privy to what they discussed. [23], Another prosecution witness was Floyd Allen's other attorney, Walter S. Tipton. There it was, the script of a doomed man, written in the final minutes of his life. The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912. 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. For a while, Hillsville was at the top of the nations newspaper. October 2, 2022. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Barely one year after the courthouse shootout, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed minutes apart at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. On the cold spring morning of March 14, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny, rural, mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. You can also see some of Sidna Allens furniture craftsmanship and Claude Allens banjo on exhibit in the museum. The ex On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. They were proud men, perhaps none more so than Floyd, who it could be said carried a log-sized chip on his shoulder. Airy, North Carolina where he encountered Will McGraw, a moonshine hauler. [26], On the other hand, Floyd Allen and his relatives claimed Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad had fired first, prompted by a long-standing vendetta he and Foster held against the Allen family. The author is honest and at many times in the book admits we wont know for sure what happened. Gerald Goad, Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court, engineered the transfer of the documents from Wytheville to Hillsville. He was not in the courthouse during the shootings, but immediately ran to his dying friend and mentor. 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. When Floyd and Claude Allens bodies were brought back to the familys house in Cana, Frances Allen Floyds wife, Claudes mother entered the room dressed in black and fell across her sons coffin, embracing his body like a child. [26] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered. Officers often had a violent past. We depend entirely on donations. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. Otherwise, he would not have been armed. A jury foremans handwritten verdict in blotchy ink condemns Claude Allen to death. He was shot dead in the courtroom.. He wept freely as the verdict was read. Floyd Allen was going to trial. 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. [29] He testified that one of the girls pointed out some of the Allens leaving the courthouse, when Sidna Allen came toward him, pointed his pistol at him, and fired. March 14, 1912 - Hillsville Massacre Hillsville's history has a bit of a dark spot within it; the dark spot is known as the 1912 Courthouse Tragedy which was rivaled in the news only by the devastation known as the Titanic. [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. There are still questions to be answered, but they probably never will be answered. Sidna Allen maintained until the end of his life that this informant was Maude Iroller, Wesley's fiancee, who provided information on the fugitives' location in exchange for $500 from the detective agency. This sort of isolation probably meant that Floyd and his siblings grew up independent, resourceful and perhaps overly prideful and defiant. (When Floyd fell, wounded, he landed on top of his lawyer David Bolen, who had ducked to the ground as soon as the shooting started, and who is reported to have said, "Floyd, they are going to kill me shooting at you! As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. There are even questions as to what happened here. Later, Foster changed to the Republican party, and by 1912 was a prominent leader in the GOP in Carroll County, being elected the last time on the Republican ticket. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. They, too, were captured by Felts and his men, as Sidna Allen came to believe that Wesleys girlfriend back home had betrayed them. We must have similar tendencies as I like to pick up a few books about the history of any area I spend some time in. You do have some interesting local history. These mostly came from recent labor disputes in coal country and their mannerism didnt endure them to anyone, it seems. SHREDDED WHEAT RECIPIES - CIRCA 1933 Booklet~Advertising | Collectibles, Advertising, Food & Beverage | eBay! [20] Sidna Edwards had scalded his foot some years before and was partially lame, and limped out of the courthouse, riding his mother's horse back to his home. Floyd, 56, a once proud man now destroyed, was strapped to the electric chair, a leather mask placed over his face and four, 1-minute bursts of 2,000-volt electrical shocks were sent coursing through his body until he was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. Claude, just 24, was electrocuted in the same chair 12 minutes later. Not only the sheriff and deputies, but Goad and Foster. He never carried a gun as a matter of course, but on his way to court, the first day of Floyd Allens trial, his cousin, Allan Webb, advised him to borrow a pistol. The following two tabs change content below. About; Contact; Links; Search for: Tags. Sidna Allen was never tried for his part in the altercation, while Barnett Allen was acquitted at trial. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. 272 pages including sources and a few b&w photos. Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, some jurors and others shot on the conviction of Floyd Allen for a felony. I recently learned that our town had a number of hiding spots on the Underground Railroad. No one secured the courthouse as a crime scene. Discover short videos related to Hillsville 1912 A Shooting in the Court on TikTok. He was with his brother when the shooting occurred and was in jail with him when a vigilante mob took his brother into the jail yard and killed him. [36], For their roles in the shooting, Floyd and Claud were sentenced to death by electrocution. Contents 1 Early life and activities 2 Arrest of the Edwards brothers 3 Indictment 4 Trial and shooting 5 Manhunt Bake . [4][2] Sidna promptly appealed and won a new trial on the perjury charge. S. E. Gardner, a Hillsville undertaker who prepared the body of Sheriff Webb for burial, testified that the Sheriff was shot no less than five times. [34] Sidna Allen claimed that when he left the courthouse, Goad followed behind him, shooting him through the left arm, the bullet lodging in his left side. This is the sort of history that gets lost a lot the sensational, headlining tale thats at the front of everyones mind until something even more sensational comes along. He died there in 1953. Ron Hall, a local historian who has written a book about the shootout and is considered one of the best sources for factual information about the story, told Sadler that he was probably the first person to see those documents in 100 years. After the Edwards were charged with assault, they fled across the North Carolina border to Mt. Please call to schedule an appointment. The author also hints there were issues between the Democratic Allens and the Republicans who made up much of the courthouse crowd. If thats the case, those against the Allens saw a way to get back at them. In several instances he escaped indictment, I am satisfied, because the witnesses were afraid to testify to the facts before the grand jury. When the jury returned a guilty verdict against with a sentence of one year in the penitentiary, Floyd Allen is reported to have said to Judge Massie: "If you sentence me on that verdict, I will kill you. If done right, this sounds as though it could make for a captivating film. Director Rick Bowman Writers Rick Bowman Bill Perrine Stars (Interesting Southwest Virginia side note: Initially, Floyds nephew Barnett Allen, the grandfather of legendary Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer, was charged along with his uncles Floyd and Sidna for taking the Edwards boys from the deputies. [34] Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards then left Virginia, eventually reaching Des Moines, Iowa. Again, no thorough investigation of the courtroom happened, and the scene was almost immediately compromised by people who dug bullets out of the walls with pocketknives to keep as souvenirs. He never wrote a damn word about the most significant event in his life, Sadler said. [1][4] Floyd had wanted to buy a farm owned by one of his own brothers, but could not agree on a price. As if entitled, they took what they wanted or needed. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. A recent documentary film "Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court" won an independent film award last year and will be shown this week in Hillsville. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. Blacksburg-based autonomous vehicle firm Torc to acquire Canadian company; more . 11217 Sidna Edwards, No. )[12], Foster called upon a grand jury to investigate the escape/pistol-whipping incident. The home is owned by Bert and Marlene Widener, who offer tours by appointment. Foster was a political enemy of the Allens, who had supported Jack Allen's son, Walter, as Democratic candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney against Foster in the last election. On March 14, 1912, Floyd stood in the Hillsville, Va. courthouse, convicted of interfering with police business and assaulting a deputy sheriff. Sadler also knew that, minutes after Foster laid down his pencil, he was dead. I should do better and learn more about the area I call home. Movies. On March 28, 1913, barely a year after the bloodshed in Hillsville, Floyd and Claude Allen were executed in the same electric chair. [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. [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. The animosity derived from a feud between Thomas father, George W. Thomas, and Floyd Allen. 10994 Hillsville Masscre Sidna Allen, No. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court, is a documentary feature concerning the Carroll County Courthouse shootings that occurred in Hillsville, Virginia. [4] In September 1889, after pleading no contest to the assault, Garland and Sidna were fined $5 each plus court costs, and the prosecutor dropped the weapons charges. Bolen had been standing next to Floyd Allen, and was facing Judge Massie when the first shots struck the judge's robes. Autopsies were not conducted on the dead nor was any meaningful forensic investigation of the crime scene undertaken even though the science such studies existed in 1912 which only generated more questions, arguments, fights and conspiracy theories over the decades. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. Wesley and Sidna were charged with disorderly conduct, assault with a deadly weapon, disturbing a public worship service, and other violations. 23 school districts remove challenged books from library shelves; more . Floyd Allen agreed to testify and admitted 'roughing up' Samuels, but denied intending to release the prisoners: "That there Samuel[s] was abusing the boys. In March 1912, there was a shooting at the Carroll County, Courthouse in Hillsville, Virginia. Floyd shot Jack in the head and then began to beat him in the head with a rock while he was out cold. He pointed toward what appeared to Sadler to be a metal file. There were, however, nearly 20 Allen men among the spectators in the courtroom. Located in the Fancy Gap community near I-77 Exit 14. A fight ensued and Floyd beat Samuels with his own pistol. Sadlers research took him to the Wythe County Courthouse, where he befriended Hayden H. Horney, the longtime circuit court clerk. Those involved on the Allen side ran away. However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. There were also five others wounded, including Floyd Allen. [20], Within a month, all suspected shooters were in custody, except Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. Photo by Ralph Berrier Jr. www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html, The politics of March pressing assault chargesagainst Williams. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. The Historical Society has gathered significant materials, published over the years, that attempt to interpret this event in our local history. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Maybe so, but people just keep coming back to this story. Howard Gilmer had traveled to Hillsville with Massie because he had a case pending in court. Because of his vision to preserve and protect these exhibits, theyll never be lost again.. Floyd had been seriously wounded. "[26], County Treasurer J. Join in supporting in-depth journalism for Southwest and Southside Virginia. But the governor refused. Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. He worked for the Edison Lighting Company. Spray bottom of pans with Pam baking spray apply the waxed paper and spray the pan, waxed paper and sides with Pam. 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. Burden "Byrd" Marion, a cousin and neighbor, had all charges against him dropped. Horney told Sadler he decided to take one more look in the basement for the lost documents, moving more than 700 boxes. Carroll County Historical Society and Museum. Floyd Allen was the first to be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, and Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. Charges eventually were dropped against Sidna and Barnett before the trial.). That verdict, those words uttered by a jury foreman and re-written by Foster, were what prompted the freshly convicted the defiant Allen to stand up and pronounce, Gentlemen, I just aint a-goin, or words to that effect, right before the courtroom filled with smoke and lead. Perhaps to get even, Goad charged Allen with falsifying expense reports when he worked as a county deputy. Allen, who was before the bar for sentencing after being convicted of taking a prisoner from a deputy sheriff, allegedly triggered the shooting at the Carroll County Courthouse in Hillsville on March 14, 1912. The presentation will be held Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the Historic Carroll County Courthouse and will be led by Blacksburg . SIDNA ALLEN'S TERM FIXED AT 35 YEARS; Head of Hillsville Clan Sentenced for Killing of Three Court Officials. Steep Canyon Rangers, Amythyst Kiah, Sam Bush highlight Blue Ridge Music Center season; more Former Fieldale High School in Henry County is being turned into housing. Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. That day was March 14, 1912, the day five people were killed in a shootout between members of the Allen family and court officials on the floor of a small-town courtroom, an event forever known as The Courthouse Massacre.. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. Some of the detectives bragged about how many miners theyd killed. People who have researched the shootout long knew that Judge Massie had instructed Foster to re-write the jury verdict in proper legal language just minutes after it had been handed down, but no one knew precisely what Foster had actually written until the discovery of the Allen documents. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. Governor Mann, who had received death threats in the same handwriting as the threats previously delivered to the trial judge, had to cut short a trip to Pennsylvania after learning his Lieutenant Governor, James Taylor Ellyson (18471919), had attempted to commute the Allens' sentences in his absence, instigating a brief constitutional power struggle between the two men. She was shot on Thursday morning and lived until early the next morning. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. He began his sentence in August 1913, and died of pneumonia in prison on November 25, 1913.[A]. [25], Deputy Sheriff George W. Edwards, who became the sheriff of Carroll County after Sheriff Webb's death, testified that, as a deputy sheriff at the time, he had spoken with Floyd Allen just after Allen learned of his indictment. M arch 14, 1912, arrives just as badly as the day before. The Commonwealth of Virginia posted rewards ($1000 for Sidna Allen, $1000 for Sidna Edwards, $800 for Claud Allen, $500 for Friel Allen, and $500 for Wesley Edwards) - dead or alive. Such an interesting, but tragic, history, Jeff! The execution of father and soon occurred in 1913. . [3] He had a history of violent altercations, including shooting a black man in North Carolina, beating a police officer in Mount Airy and later shooting his own cousin. After those five shots, he dropped to his knees and reloaded his revolver. Line the bottoms of pan or pans with piece of waxed paper trimmed to fit. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. It lays the foundation of the events of that tragic story from March 1912.. At one time, there was another store and a tannery and a number of dairies and some local micro-distilleries (before they became popular or legal). The oldest, continuously operating . And the storys controversies, conspiracies, debates over justice and moral lessons have long outlived the verdicts and punishments that sought to settle matters more than a century ago. After the shooting, because of the number of Allens in Carroll County, they housed the prisoners in Roanoke. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court; Videos; The Holstein Dilemma. In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. "There were five people murdered. But the storys roots go further back and involve politics, rivalries, clannishness, thuggery, vengeance and even a little geography. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jury's imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. He apparently also hopes that the early hour will serve to dampen the spirits of the Allens. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. No autopsies were performed. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. Roanoke, Va., March 16, --The prisoners from Hillsville are not expected here before 3 o'clock Sunday morning. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. Yep, I think we do have similar tendencies. Friel Allen gave himself up to detectives in the company of his father, Jack Allen, who worried his son might be killed while being apprehended. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. Terribly tragic. The Allens could be a rough bunch, who fought with and shot at enemies which they had no shortage of, apparently and even each other. - Floyd Allen was tried in 1903 for shooting his first cousin, Noah Combs, and was sentenced to spend 1 hour in jail and pay a fine. - After his release from prison in 1922, Friel Allen came back to Hillsville and had Attorney John Alderman arrange a meeting with Dexter Goad. Being from below the mountain, as Carroll Countians described the community, the Allens and neighbors were cut off from the county seat in Hillsville, which in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a two-day horse ride over the peak through Fancy Gap. 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. He found trial transcripts. The discovered papers do little to shed new light in the darkended corners of the tragedy. [2] Floyd Allen later stated that he never intended to have the boys set completely free, he just wanted them to be released from their manacles. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court 7,494 views Jan 8, 2011 42 Dislike Share Save Bill Perrine 320 subscribers A brief trailer for the upcoming documentary about the 1912 Hillsville. Supposedly Floyd said, as the Sheriff and the Clerk of the Court approached to take him into custody, Im not going. The shooting then started. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. Follow Us. 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. [26] He also testified that he saw the crowd come out of the court house, and recognized Floyd and Sidna Allen as the last to leave, both of them following and firing as they backed out, apparently in response to fire coming from within the courthouse. He died at his daughters home in Hillsville in 1941. [4] Sidna was retried and found guilty of perjury in his trial testimony, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. On a different occasion, he heard Floyd Allen make the same threat of putting the biggest hole in the courthouse that any man ever had seen. [1], Governor Mann immediately called on the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to find those responsible for the shootings and arrest them. [2] Wesley Edwards tried to grapple with Easter, but Easter got away and fired a shot at Floyd as he did so, wounding Floyd in the finger. Convicted on capital murder, both Claude and Floyd were sentenced to death. Did Floyd force their release or were they released into his custody? The documents were found in the basement of the Wythe County Courthouse and have now been returned to Carroll County. Hall has done an outstanding job researching this subjectt. [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. As gunmen spilled from the courthouse taking their battle through the downtown streets, the judge, sheriff, and the Commonwealth Attorney lay dead in the smoke-filled courtroom. Now, the manner by which he freed them depended on who was telling the story. In response, the judge told the two men that if the law could not be faithfully enforced in Carroll County by the county's deputized officers he would bring in state troops if necessary to maintain order. - Thomas Franklin Pink Samuel, the deputy from whom Floyd Allen released his nephews, moved to Amelia County and never testified at the trial. Katherine survived until 1960. His brother, Sidna? As the late Roanoke writer and broadcaster Seth Williamson wrote in The Roanoker magazine in 1982, the Allen men were not a race of mild country squires.. [29] Marshall also testified he had been standing near Sheriff Webb, but did not see any pistol in the Sheriff's hand. Even the accused, Floyd Allen, carried a pistol. They didnt find Andrew because the cell was dark and he had climbed up between the chimney and wall near the ceiling. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court is a 70 minute film that will be presented to The History Channel and PBS, and entered in film festivals across the US. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court - Actors and actresses. V. Ray Bowman is known for Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (2011). His grandfather, Howard Gilmer, was a young attorney who had been in Hillsville that day, and he was one of the last people to comfort the mortally wounded judge, Thornton Massie, Gilmers neighbor and mentor back home in Pulaski. 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. Others state that Miss Iroller's father, who had never approved of his daughter's romance with Wesley Edwards, tipped off the detectives that Maude was going to Des Moines to marry him. Friel Allen was tried in August 1912 and after confessing to shooting prosecutor Foster, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. Perhaps the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is the frequently heard claim that the subject is dead. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . After all, he agreed hed have the boys in court? The girl he chose to kiss led to a later fight at a church and resulted in a warrant for his arrest. 1 minute, 47 seconds Read. 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. [32] Claud testified that he saw Sidna Allen firing just about the time he saw Deputy Clerk Goad fire. The spotlight returned to the story of the shootout when the centennial of the tragedy was marked in 2012. [26] Gilmer said he heard Floyd Allen say two or three times, "I am shot, but I got the damn scoundrel. Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court Gerald Goad sits behind the drawer that holds long-lost documents from the murder trials that followed the infamous "Courthouse Massacre" in 1912. If the Blacksburg-Roanoke-Lynchburg area wants a regional tech hub, here's a chance to help write the rules, Beware the Ides of March; bloom-busting cold likely lurks. Bolen, asked for bail and for Allen to be freed as they appealed the case. 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