Baldwin-Felts detectives traveled to Des Moines, arrested the suspects, and returned them to Carroll County to stand trial. 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. And then, he apparently moved on with life. He had them handcuffed and tied up with a rope. The author is honest and at many times in the book admits we wont know for sure what happened. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. Perhaps to get even, Goad charged Allen with falsifying expense reports when he worked as a county deputy. Nonetheless, the grand jury indicted Floyd Allen, Sidna Allen and Barnett Allen for interfering with the deputies, and Floyd Allen was also indicted for assault and battery upon Samuels. He pointed toward what appeared to Sadler to be a metal file. The next witness was Sidney Towe, who largely corroborated the testimony of Sheriff Edwards. [36], For their roles in the shooting, Floyd and Claud were sentenced to death by electrocution. 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. Terribly tragic. Bowman grew up in Hillsville, VA where the county seat is located, and has nurtured a life-long fascination with this story. [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. [citation needed], Cousins Claud Allen and Sidna Edwards were soon arrested after a brief search. Floyd had been seriously wounded. [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. Floyd Allen jury member, John W. Farris, remarked that they wouldnt be back until they were brought back. Its small enough for that to be possible I suspect. A witness later testified that Floyd Allen had remarked that he "would not let any man talk to me that way."[14]. And forensic science was almost non-existent, at least in rural areas. In a fusillade of shots, Allen hit Jack in the head, which struck a glancing blow on Jack's scalp, while one of Jack's bullets hit Allen in the chest. With the entry of the United States into World. B. Earle, 1866-1867. Elian Gonzalez is a more recent example. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. 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. Not only the sheriff and deputies, but Goad and Foster. Interesting, the real Mayberry is along the Blue Ridge, in Patrick County, but just east of Carroll County. Some of the detectives bragged about how many miners theyd killed. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The next morning, the jury quickly returned a guilty verdict and a sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The pop of a single revolver. (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! Two of the participants were executed and the others received lengthy prison sentences. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. WYTHEVILLE, Va., Nov. 22. [18], Seven others were wounded, including Deputy Clerk Goad and Floyd Allen. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. [20], Within a month, all suspected shooters were in custody, except Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. Mr. Alderman said he was not privy to what they discussed. On the morning of March 14, 1912, Mr. Floyd Allen stood in the Carroll County courtroom to hear the verdict of his peers. 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. I should do better and learn more about the area I call home. 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. Otherwise, neither Sidna Edwards nor Victor Allen would have been present. [34] They returned to their homes by traveling cross-country through the farm fields rather than public roads. Floyd said Goad and Foster were part of a privileged clique, according to Hall, one that would never include the likes of Floyd or his family. [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. [5] Floyd's body bore the scars of thirteen bullet wounds, five of them inflicted in quarrels with his own family. October 2, 2022. The men were gunned down during one of the most notorious events in Southwest Virginia history. 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. Hillsville Diner. 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. Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad admitted firing the second shot at Floyd, striking him in the pelvis. The courtroom buzzed. In 2015 or so, Sadler also found a .38 caliber bullet among the keepsakes. He never wrote a damn word about the most significant event in his life, Sadler said. [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. Floyd spent the night at his brother Sidnas splendid new home in Fancy Gap, about 7 miles away. To find the prized ear meant he could kiss any girl there. Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. As if entitled, they took what they wanted or needed. [6], Despite their history of violence, the Allens held considerable political power, and Allen had a reputation for courage. He found the murder indictment against Sidna Allen, Floyds brother who would be convicted and serve more than 13 years in prison. Hillsville, Virginia is part of the Preserve America program. On May 18, 1912, the jury found Floyd Allen guilty. 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. However, no extradition order was issued. But a year later the Hillsvile courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna and his wife had only lived there a year. He wept freely as the verdict was read. [1] Sentenced by the jury to an hour in jail and a $100 fine, plus costs, Allen immediately posted bail pending an appeal. As historian Ron Hall wrote in his book: And for a moment, the world stopped.. I like that youre reading up on your new home. [32], Sidna Edwards testified that he was not armed on the day of the shooting and that he did not like to carry guns. B. Marshall testified that when the shooting started he turned to escape the courthouse. With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. Massie had been urged by Foster and Goad to disarm the throng before the trail began. Ninety seconds later, 57 bullets had been fired. Mr. Allen stood and declared, "Gentlemen, I ain't a goin'." [29], Another witness, Walter Petty, also testified that the first shots were fired from the courtroom's northeast corner, where Claud Allen was standing. I recently learned that our town had a number of hiding spots on the Underground Railroad. 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. Many accounts claim that Allen initiated the confrontation by pulling a gun in court. The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. Maybe he didnt want anybody else rifling through those things, Hall said. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Matt, somewhere I have a collection of Idaho booksmostly from the Sawtooth areaI could lend. An Allen or a member of the court? While the one Allens name is Floyd, there is also a town of Floyd and Floyd County to the north of Carroll County. Movies. The remaining prisoners received pardons (from a different governor) in the 1920s. [citation needed], Floyd Allen was tried for the first-degree murder of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. 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. [1] 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. Thats why the discovery of the trial exhibits and documents in Wythe County is significant. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. Director Rick Bowman Writers Rick Bowman Bill Perrine Stars It is the county seat of Carroll County and the only incorporated community in the county. But the storys roots go further back and involve politics, rivalries, clannishness, thuggery, vengeance and even a little geography. [2] Both Allen and his brother Sidna held legal licenses for the production of alcohol. The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912. Join in supporting in-depth journalism for Southwest and Southside Virginia. '"[11][17] At this point, shots broke out in the courtroom. However, Goad denied firing the first shot in the fusillade. One shot. 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. 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. 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.. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, West Virginia: "Defense Continues Efforts To Disprove Conspiracy". 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. To see this handwritten verdict, I knew it was the Holy Grail and Exhibit One in the commonwealths case against Floyd Allen, Sadler said. 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. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. It is amazing how nothing changes Today, a story gets retold till its stale, unless something big happens to push it off the headlines. - 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. - Arresting officer Oscar Monday was the step-brother of the Edwards brothers. SHREDDED WHEAT RECIPIES - CIRCA 1933 Booklet~Advertising | Collectibles, Advertising, Food & Beverage | eBay! However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. Barely one year after the courthouse shootout, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed minutes apart at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. The new system appointed a full-time judge to hold court at scheduled intervals in a circuit of several counties. He apparently also hopes that the early hour will serve to dampen the spirits of the Allens. The exhibits were discovered in 2016 in Wythe County's courthouse. Other members of the family received long sentences. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. 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.. Mann asking either that the Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly. But the governor refused. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court, is a documentary feature concerning the Carroll County Courthouse shootings that occurred in Hillsville, Virginia. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. 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. 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. Five people died and seven were wounded in the gun battle that followed. I enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to get into it. "The Courthouse Massacre? 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. [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. 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 following two tabs change content below. On March 17, 1916, he stopped for the night in a roadhouse near Mt. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. If done right, this sounds as though it could make for a captivating film. Howard Sadlers grandfather, Howard Gilmer, who died before Sadler was born, carried the enormity of the tragedy with him throughout his short life. He only lived 7 years after the trial. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. M arch 14, 1912, arrives just as badly as the day before. . Who fired their pistol first? Line the bottoms of pan or pans with piece of waxed paper trimmed to fit. 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. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. He was shot dead in the courtroom.. Former judge David Winton Bolen, who had been present during the shooting as one of Floyd Allen's defense attorneys, was the first witness the prosecution called at Floyd Allen's murder trial. Floyd Allen was going to trial. Sidna Allen received a 35-year prison sentence, his nephews Wesley and Sidna Edwards and Friel Allen got lesser sentences. Foster married Katherine Tipton in 1894 and had 5 children by 1912. PARROW'S TRIAL POSTPONED Chicago Lawyer Will Not Appear Be fore Jan. 6. There is still question as to what happened and who shot first. Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. He proved to be right. We depend entirely on donations. According to local legend, a headstone placed atop their graves read: Sacred to the memory of Claude S. Allen and his father, who was judicially murdered in the Va. Penitentiary March 28 1913 by order of the Governor of the State over the protest of 100,000 citizens of the state of Va.. - Lewis Franklin Webb, the County Sheriff killed in the Courthouse Tragedy, had just taken office in January of 1912, but had been a deputy numerous times. Then a cacophony of gunfire. Friel Allen was tried in August 1912 and after confessing to shooting prosecutor Foster, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. 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. 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 historical society held a symposium that featured several speakers, and a play about the tragedy called Thunder in the Hills, written by Carroll County author/playwright/orchardist Frank Levering, was performed before sold-out audiences in the courtroom of the old courthouse where the shootout happened. 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. Many of Allen clan members were spectators in the courtroom, most of them armed with pistols. HILLSVILLE Howard Sadler held the last words of a dead man in his hands. Interest in the story never wanes, even though, as the historian Hall said, weve about beaten the thing to death.. 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. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. 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.". There are still questions to be answered, but they probably never will be answered. [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. [1], Governor Mann immediately called on the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to find those responsible for the shootings and arrest them. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Both, Walter Scott Tipton and David Winton Bolen, were retired Carroll County judges. 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. Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. [13], The rumor that the Allens were intimidating witnesses was called to the attention of the court. I bet there are lots of tales about Rochester, NY and the surrounding area that would make good reads as well. 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. 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. He was not in the courthouse during the shootings, but immediately ran to his dying friend and mentor. "[16] The judge immediately sentenced Floyd Allen to one year's imprisonment.[16]. "[4], Judge Jackson recalled a trial in 1904 in which Allen was convicted of assaulting a neighbor, Noah Combs. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. So, in late 1910 when two of Floyd Allens nephews got in a little trouble with the law, the consequences would be deadly. "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. The sheriff in Hillsville had the boys arrested there and handed over to his deputies at the state line. When it was over the judge and the sheriff laid dead. Wow. Floyd said he did it peacefully and lawfully, claiming that the deputies did not have proper warrants for arrest. - Almost everyone in Carroll County is related to everyone else. Everybody was packing weapons, it seemed. The announcement of. 11217 Sidna Edwards, No. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. A jury found Allen guilty, and on March 14, 1912, Allen went to his sentencing hearing before Judge Thornton L. Massie in the Hillsville courthouse. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Harry F. Byrd Sr. in the 1920s. Floyd freed his nephews and took them himself to the Hillsville jail two days later. In several instances he escaped indictment, I am satisfied, because the witnesses were afraid to testify to the facts before the grand jury. Otherwise, he would not have been armed. There were, however, nearly 20 Allen men among the spectators in the courtroom. - Andrew Howlett, one of the spectators who was wounded during the Courthouse Tragedy, was a brother to Mack Howlett, who shot and killed Carr Allen in 1898. 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. In 1921, however, Victor moved his family to Tabernacle Township, New Jersey. For example, Betty Ayers, who was killed in the courthouse tragedy, was a 4th cousin to Dexter Goad (clerk of court), 4th cousin, twice removed, from Woodson Quesenberry (deputy clerk), 2nd cousin, twice removed, from Floyd Allens wife and a 3rd cousin to the Edwards brothers, Wesley and Sidna. [citation needed], On the following Monday, Wesley and Sidna Edwards were turned over to the court by Floyd Allen, and the two Edwards brothers were soon tried and convicted of their crimes. 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