[34] They returned to their homes by traveling cross-country through the farm fields rather than public roads. Airy, North Carolina where he encountered Will McGraw, a moonshine hauler. But there they were, hidden in a drawer in the basement of the Wythe County Courthouse, where a longtime clerk discovered them in the fall of 2016. The last two bullets were fired by Floyd and went through two of the steps of one of the courthouse's stairways, where they can still be viewed today. The legend also claims that the marker was removed as a condition of Sidna Allens pardon in 1926 after he served 14 years. A stolen kiss. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. 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. Howard Gilmer had traveled to Hillsville with Massie because he had a case pending in court. The jury set his sentence at one year. Located in the Fancy Gap community near I-77 Exit 14. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". Not knowing all the details, I wasnt sure what to do with this information. [21] Two more illegal stills were found at Sidna Edwards' house. Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. Judge W. R. Staples presided over the courthouse shooting trials, which were prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Samuel W. Williams and involved attorneys Draper, Landreth, Poage and Wysor. He has a wonderful essay in there titled The American Geographies. He speaks of the need to understand the stories, the voices of memory over the land. I think that is why I always insist on exploring my neighborhoods by walking (or on bicycle) and reading about them. Sidna Allen and Claud Allen stood on benches in the courtroom's northeast corner to see over the crowd. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. When Floyd Allen's case was set for trial, rumors arose that he had sent word to Deputy Samuels that he would kill Samuels if the deputy testified against him. Now, thanks to Gerald Goads interest in this, the return of these documents can be part of a healing process. In the great Carroll County shootout in Hillsville on March 14, 1912, a judge, a sheriff, a commonwealth's attorney, a juror, and a spectator were all killed by shots fired by Allen and others after Allen was convicted of assault. Elian Gonzalez is a more recent example. As historian Ron Hall wrote in his book: And for a moment, the world stopped.. - Claude Allen did not take a gun when he went to Hillsville To Floyds trial. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. COOPERSTOWN NEW YORK POSTCARD~Orphanage Building/House~Cart 1911 (#185750574261) l***n (1544) - Feedback left by buyer l***n (1544). I have been reading Barry Lopezs About this Life. If you havent read it, you should. Wesley was sentenced to sixty days and his brother thirty, which were served outside jail on work-release. B. Earle, 1866-1867. - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. Seems like everybody from Carroll County has some connection to this story. It is the county seat of Carroll County and the only incorporated community in the county. Features three historians (two that have written books about the incident)and their interpretations of the events that led up to the shooting and the consequences. A local tradition maintained that if a boy discovered a red ear of corn, he had the choice to kiss any girl at the party. Newport News nuprt - -prt -6 is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. During the initial manhunt, several posses of detectives and local deputies searched the surrounding countryside. 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. Marshall. I bet there are lots of tales about Rochester, NY and the surrounding area that would make good reads as well. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. Wesley and Sidna would be charged with assault, but before they could be arrested, they dashed across the state line, where Carroll County lawmen could not apprehend them. Indications are that they will clash with the Allen's tonight or early in the morning. Those documents include indictments, judges instructions, grand jury indictments, trial transcripts, letters and other courtroom exhibits all words left by ghosts. Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. The announcement of that sentence set off a gun battle that became one of the worst incidences of violence ever to occur in an American courtroom. [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. [7] In 1908, while serving as special deputies, Allen and a relative, Henry "H.C." Allen, were charged with unlawful assault upon prisoners held in their custody who they claimed had resisted arrest. William Hodges Mann from Hillsvilles one outside line brought the famed Baldwin-Felts detectives to town the next day. The pop of a single revolver. The shooting began after the jury had found the defendant, Floyd Allen, guilty of forcefully releasing two prisoners (his sisters sons) from law enforcement as they were bringing the prisoners back from Mt. Sadler also knew that, minutes after Foster laid down his pencil, he was dead. Massie had been urged by Foster and Goad to disarm the throng before the trail began. 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. 10994 Hillsville Masscre Sidna Allen, No. . 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. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. The Carroll County Historical Society, INC. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? ( Historic Resource | DHR | Carroll County) 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. ")[1] Floyd Allen stated that only then did he draw his own revolver and begin shooting. Two months after the shootout, Floyd Allen was convicted in Wytheville of killing Foster, the commonwealths attorney. This is another book that Ive read in order to learn about my new locale. They, too, were captured by Felts and his men, as Sidna Allen came to believe that Wesleys girlfriend back home had betrayed them. Officers often had a violent past. In the confusion there was a lot of shooting. [4] At the next term of court, Allen produced an order of clemency from Governor Andrew J. Montague suspending the jail sentence. After those five shots, he dropped to his knees and reloaded his revolver. [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". 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. After a fusillade of shots, the Allen clan left the courthouse, armed with pistols and 12-gauge pump shotguns and shooting as they ran. The new system appointed a full-time judge to hold court at scheduled intervals in a circuit of several counties. [11] On the way to the courthouse, the buggy passed by several properties owned by the Allens. An Appalachian Feud Blows Up in 1912 Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime In Carroll . The property is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Hillsville began as a trading post known as Cranberry Plains. Edwards was one of those involved in the fight at the church with the Edwards brothers and went on to be County Sheriff for numerous terms. Court testimony says she was outside throwing up on the lawn when Doctor Nuckolls came by. In 1912 a Carroll County, Virginia, man was sentenced to serve a one year sentence in the state penitentiary. [6], Sidna Allen pleaded guilty and received a total of 35 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, and for second-degree murder of Judge Massie. [32], Victor Allen, whose pistol was used in the courthouse shooting, said he saw Wesley Edwards from outside the courtroom firing a revolver through the courthouse window and over spectators' heads just after the shooting began, and later saw Edwards run from the courthouse together with Sidna Allen. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, W. Va.: "Accuses Dexter Goad Of Shooting Betty Ayers". [38], Victor Allen and Barnett Allen were acquitted. Watch popular content from the following creators: RealAppalachia(@realappalachia), KK(@hillsvillehillbilly), Simon(@simonogrinc), Deitrich Cribbs(@big_tipper), VIVI SHARMA(@srvsharma81) . Neither was prosecuted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "[4], Judge Jackson recalled a trial in 1904 in which Allen was convicted of assaulting a neighbor, Noah Combs. He wrote urging that the state should pay a stipend to Judge Massies widow, who had become destitute in the years since her husbands death. Such tampering hindered the ability to link bullets to the guns fire or the direction from which they came. Many accounts claim that Allen initiated the confrontation by pulling a gun in court. 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. Sadler, who said he spent more than 1,700 hours researching the story, spoke to a gathering in March that commemorated the 110th anniversary of the tragedy. Sidna was released from prison, but he never set foot in his fine house again. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. However, once the story began, it flowed better. At a church service the next morning conducted by Wesley's uncle, Garland Allen, Thomas reportedly called out Wesley into a fight. In our first story, from Pennsylvania, we tell of a murder with a wizardly twist. Floyd spent the night at his brother Sidnas splendid new home in Fancy Gap, about 7 miles away. He was shot dead in the courtroom.. - 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. [5] Floyd's body bore the scars of thirteen bullet wounds, five of them inflicted in quarrels with his own family. [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. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. [2] In May 1889, Floyd's brothers, Garland and Sidna Allen, were tried for carrying concealed pistols and assaulting a group of thirteen men. Eventually, most of the clan was captured, although Sidna Allen and his nephew Wesley Edwards, whose fight in a churchyard had lit the fuse on this powder keg in 1910, made it to Des Moines, Iowa, where they worked and lived under aliases. "There were five people murdered. Easter ran to an acquaintance's home, and he telephoned the sheriff at Hillsville. [citation needed], Cousins Claud Allen and Sidna Edwards were soon arrested after a brief search. The sheriff in Hillsville had the boys arrested there and handed over to his deputies at the state line. HILLSVILLE, Va. On a cold March morning in 1912, this Blue Ridge Mountain town would change forever when gunfire erupted in the Carroll County Courthouse. 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. Far from the backward, murderous mob of hillbillies as they would later be portrayed in sensational news accounts, Floyd and his brothers were farmers, business people and even occasional lawmen who sometimes had their own run-ins with the law, usually stemming from their participation in the illegal liquor trade. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 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 Edwards drew nine years for each count of murder for the slaying of Foster, Massie, and Webb for a total of 27 years' imprisonment. Allen had been convicted of a serious offense interfering with a deputy (beating up a deputy was closer to the truth) to release his nephews from custody but nothing so serious that rose to the level of instigating a deadly shootout. Allen was noted for his generosity, but also his quick temper and easily injured pride. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. 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. The prosecutor's case was based on the formation of a conspiracy by the Allens to kill the trial judge, local law enforcement, and others who had wronged them in the event of a guilty verdict. We dont sell ads, or block you with a paywall. [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. [34] Allen claimed that when the shooting began, he drew his own revolver and fired five times at Deputy Clerk Goad and Deputy Sheriff Gillespie, because both men were firing at him. 1 minute, 47 seconds Read. Line the bottoms of pan or pans with piece of waxed paper trimmed to fit. - William McDonald Foster, Commonwealths Attorney in 1912, had been a Democrat but turned Republican when he ran for the post. "Accuses Dexter Goad of Shooting Betty Ayers". Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, some jurors and others shot on the conviction of Floyd Allen for a felony. 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. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. 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. - Sidna Edwards presence at Floyd Allens trial was requested by Floyds lawyers. He had them handcuffed and tied up with a rope. Most significantly, Sadler knew that he was reading a document that had been missing for more than 100 years. But the storys roots go further back and involve politics, rivalries, clannishness, thuggery, vengeance and even a little geography. Petty also witnessed a pistol duel between Sidna Allen and Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad. 2023 TheTVDB.com, A Whip Media Company. The defense attempted to show that Deputy Clerk Goad shot Elizabeth Ayers in his exchange of fire with the Allens, a charge Goad denied. Why does Carroll County have the lowest vaccination rate in Virginia? As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Sadler knew that tragic story, and he understood his familys connection to it. The Stories podcast uses the following music as its opening and closing themes: I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Maybe the county leaders didnt want to find errant bullets from their own guns in the bodies of the dead, some county residents whispered. Allen also had political run-ins with Foster, who switched parties from Democrat to Republican in order to defeat an Allen relative for the prosecutors post. Later, the Thomas boy and others scrapped with the Edwards boys outside a church service, with the Edwards brothers getting the best of their rivals. [36], For their roles in the shooting, Floyd and Claud were sentenced to death by electrocution. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. Sidna Allen received a 35-year prison sentence, his nephews Wesley and Sidna Edwards and Friel Allen got lesser sentences. WYTHEVILLE, Va., Nov. 22. 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. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. Otherwise, he would not have been armed. He was tried in federal court, found guilty, and sentenced to a year in federal prison at Moundsville, West Virginia. Howard Gilmer testified during the subsequent murder trials about the judges fatal bullet wound. The historical societys museum resides on the first floor of the old courthouse, which no longer is a government building but still majestically commands the high ground of Main Street like it did in 1912. "[16] The judge immediately sentenced Floyd Allen to one year's imprisonment.[16]. Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, and the jury foreman (Augustus C. Fowler), were all hit and died of their wounds sustained in the crossfire. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. "Allen Boys Tell of Shooting", Bluefield, West Virginia: "State Closes Case In Sidna Allen Trial". It also hired Baldwin-Felt hired detectives (a group like the Pinkertons). [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. The presentation will be held Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the Historic Carroll County Courthouse and will be led by Blacksburg . Family loyalty also played a role as the Allen/Edwards family stuck together to protect the Edward boys and later Floyd. The Carroll County Historical Society will host a special presentation of "The Last Witness - A story of Friendship and Trust," an examination of the Courthouse Tragedy in Hillsville on March 14 1912.". [21] [11][10][40][41] A dispute arose between McGraw and Jack Allen about the Hillsville tragedy; during the confrontation McGraw drew a gun and shot Allen twice, killing him on the spot. Bowman grew up in Hillsville, VA where the county seat is located, and has nurtured a life-long fascination with this story. Again, no investigation was made at the scene. [4] In July 1889, the Carroll County court indicted Floyd for assault as well, but in December of that year the Commonwealth's Attorney dropped the case. More leniency was given to the other Allens and their family members. In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. The oldest, continuously operating . You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeart Radio or on your favorite podcast app. 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.. Mt. According to Floyd Allen's defense attorney, David Winton Bolen, "[Floyd] hesitated a moment, and then he aroseHe looked to me like a man who was about to say something, and had hardly made up his mind what he was going to say, but as he got straight, he moved off to my left, I would say five or six feet, and he seemed to gain his speech, and he said something like this, 'I just tell you, I ain't a'going. On the cold spring morning of March 14, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny, rural, mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. One shot. [34] He also said he went to Blankenship's Livery Stable after the incident, where he met other family members and left Hillsville with Claud Allen, Wesley Edwards, and Sidna Edwards. Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, West Virginia: "Defense Continues Efforts To Disprove Conspiracy". The next morning, the jury quickly returned a guilty verdict and a sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. These mostly came from recent labor disputes in coal country and their mannerism didnt endure them to anyone, it seems. [35] In July 1912, after three separate trials, Claud Allen was convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, and for second-degree murder for the killing of Judge Massie. 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. He said he thought Floyd's fumbling with his sweater buttons was a prelude to drawing his pistol. Was Clerk of Carroll County Circuit Court During the Famous Allen Trial. 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. It was a huge goal to get this back in Carroll. He was convicted and executed for murder in 1913 after a sensational courthouse shootout the previous year that left a judge, prosecutor, sheriff, and two others dead, although the validity of the conviction has been a source of debate within Carroll County for decades. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. Director Rick Bowman Writers Rick Bowman Bill Perrine Stars [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. 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. However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. When the men were buried, it was beneath one final statement of defiance. He was not in the courthouse during the shootings, but immediately ran to his dying friend and mentor. Virginia law held that when a sheriff died his deputies lost all legal powers, so the shooting left Carroll County without law enforcement. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jury's imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. Mann asking either that the Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly. 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. Interesting, the real Mayberry is along the Blue Ridge, in Patrick County, but just east of Carroll County. The remaining prisoners received pardons (from a different governor) in the 1920s. [26] Gilmer said he heard Floyd Allen say two or three times, "I am shot, but I got the damn scoundrel. 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. [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. Too many other projects. shot up the Carroll county court at Hillsville last March, resulting in the death of five persons, was found guilty of murder in the Second degree for the killing of Judge Thornton L. Mas sie. - Nancy Elizabeth Betty Ayers was shot in the back just about the beltline and just to the right of her spine. On 13 March 1912, in the Carroll County Circuit Court, . You do have some interesting local history. Published in the SW VA Enterprise, Wytheville, Virginia Tuesday, July 4, 1939. Floyd said he did it peacefully and lawfully, claiming that the deputies did not have proper warrants for arrest. After several months' chase, Baldwin-Felts detectives located them in Iowa after an informant's tip. [26] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered. [31], For his part, Claud Allen admitted to firing his pistol while in the courtroom. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. Two of whom, Sidna and his nephew Wesley, in Des Moines, Iowa where they were starting a new life. The Historical Society has gathered significant materials, published over the years, that attempt to interpret this event in our local history. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. 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