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. I should do better and learn more about the area I call home. 272 pages including sources and a few b&w photos. [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. 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. Sadler said that his grandfathers reputation was that of an attorney who possessed a great gift of gab and was a prolific letter writer, but he never left behind any record of what he saw or heard that day in the Hillsville courtroom. Wow. An Allen or a member of the court? After the Edwards were charged with assault, they fled across the North Carolina border to Mt. [11] There was only one set of handcuffs, and because Sidna Edwards had tried to escape a couple of times, Wesley was handcuffed in the front seat of the buggy and Sidna was tied in the back seat. Judge Bolen confirmed his prior testimony that he saw Claud Allen fire the first shot at Judge Massie from the courtroom's northeast corner, whereupon Claud advanced toward the court officers to where Commonwealth's Attorney Foster was standing. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. Two bullet holes Floyd Allens final shots in the massacre are still visible in the wooden steps. Site of the Bloody Massacre Photo by Author, Thelma Raker Coffone. The goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities. 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. 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. After all, he agreed hed have the boys in court? 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. October 2, 2022. Too many other projects. 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. Please visit their website for more information. You can also see some of Sidna Allens furniture craftsmanship and Claude Allens banjo on exhibit in the museum. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, West Virginia: "Defense Continues Efforts To Disprove Conspiracy". One of these days I would like to sit down and write a book about it but just havent made the time yet. While the one Allens name is Floyd, there is also a town of Floyd and Floyd County to the north of Carroll County. [15] Judge Thornton L. Massie, who had deputized Floyd six months earlier, presided. As Sadler studied his grandmothers old scrapbooks, he found a copy of a letter that he had written to state legislators nearly 20 years after the shootout. [29] Marshall then related that Sidna Allen's bullet buried itself in the window about six inches above his head. Bowman grew up in Hillsville, VA where the county seat is located, and has nurtured a life-long fascination with this story. Airy? Mr. Allen stood and declared, Gentlemen, I aint a goin. Gunfire, chaos, death ensued all in a moment. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. Marshall. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. The sentence would have had Floyd do time. In the confusion there was a lot of shooting. actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. Discover short videos related to Hillsville 1912 A Shooting in the Court on TikTok. Just a Presbyterian Church and a store. [citation needed], A Carroll County deputy sheriff, Thomas Samuels, and his driver, Peter Easter, traveled in Easter's four-seater buggy to the state line and received the brothers from Sheriff Haynes and Deputy Oscar Monday, who had arrested the brothers at work. 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. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? [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. Mr. Allen stood and declared, "Gentlemen, I ain't a goin'." Not only the sheriff and deputies, but Goad and Foster. 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. The defense attempted to show that Deputy Clerk Goad shot Elizabeth Ayers in his exchange of fire with the Allens, a charge Goad denied. Its cool you found such an interesting tale based in your area. [1] Others consider the alleged affidavit to be hearsay, made years after the event transpired, and worthless. [21] Barely one year after the courthouse shootout, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed minutes apart at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. One bullet entered the back and ranged upward, lodging directly under the collarbone. [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. 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. Perhaps the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is the frequently heard claim that the subject is dead. An Appalachian Feud Blows Up in 1912 Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime In Carroll . [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. [20], Within a month, all suspected shooters were in custody, except Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. Airy, North Carolina where he encountered Will McGraw, a moonshine hauler. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. Howard Gilmer testified during the subsequent murder trials about the judges fatal bullet wound. Claude had become a cause celebre in his final days, perhaps for his handsome looks that were regularly featured in newspaper photos and the fact that he was leaving behind a grieving fianc. - 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. "[1] Not long afterward, Allen shot and wounded Combs, and was indicted and tried on charges of assault. B. Indications are that they will clash with the Allen's tonight or early in the morning. Maybe he didnt want anybody else rifling through those things, Hall said. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. 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. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. B. Marshall testified that when the shooting started he turned to escape the courthouse. [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. [34] They returned to their homes by traveling cross-country through the farm fields rather than public roads. Again, no investigation was made at the scene. Harry F. Byrd Sr. in the 1920s. Bake . 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. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. "[4], Judge Jackson recalled a trial in 1904 in which Allen was convicted of assaulting a neighbor, Noah Combs. - Arresting officer Oscar Monday was the step-brother of the Edwards brothers. - Commonwealths Attorney, William McDonald Foster, was a brother-in-law to one of Floyd Allens defense attorneys; Walter Scott Tipton. The words, the handwriting and the language remind us that these people long dead and seemingly characters set in stone like the Confederate statue that still stands in front of the old courthouse were human beings caught up in a cataclysmic tragedy. [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. The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. Did Floyd force their release or were they released into his custody? Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. With the entry of the United States into World. [4][2] Sidna promptly appealed and won a new trial on the perjury charge. Gerald Goad said the documents needed to be back in Carroll County. Hillsville, Virginia is part of the Preserve America program. Other members of the family received long sentences. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. For a while, Hillsville was at the top of the nations newspaper. Felts and his team strode into action, quickly arresting a badly wounded Floyd Allen at a Hillsville Hotel during a staged scene for newspaper photographs. I oppose capital punishment (although if you heard what I sometimes say about certain characters on tv, you might doubt that). However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. He found the murder indictment against Sidna Allen, Floyds brother who would be convicted and serve more than 13 years in prison. . Bolen testified that Claud Allen fired the first shot, and that Claud Allen's pistol shot, together with a second shot fired by Sidna Allen, killed Judge Massie. WALTERBORO, S.C. ( WCSC /Gray News) - Attorneys in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial are expected to deliver their closing arguments beginning Wednesday after jurors visited the scene of the killings . (Walter Allen had lost the bitterly fought race. . The Hillsville Courthouse Shootout 1,426 views Jul 30, 2021 In 1912 a Carroll County, Virginia, man was sentenced to serve a one year sentence in the state penitentiary. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court, is a documentary feature concerning the Carroll County Courthouse shootings that occurred in Hillsville, Virginia. On the cold spring morning of March 14, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny, rural, mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. 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. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. I just can't bear to see anyone drug around."[13]. Its small enough for that to be possible I suspect. Floyd said that Commonwealth's Attorney Foster would not give him a show;[clarification needed] but that if he did not there would be a "big hole put in the court house." 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. 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. The animosity derived from a feud between Thomas father, George W. Thomas, and Floyd Allen. The home is owned by Bert and Marlene Widener, who offer tours by appointment. Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. He was tried in federal court, found guilty, and sentenced to a year in federal prison at Moundsville, West Virginia. While the state legislature still appointed circuit judges, the new system reduced the ability of individual delegates to ensure that their preferred judge was selected for their particular county; furthermore, judges could no longer practice law for private clients while on the bench, and as regional judges their susceptibility to local influence and public opinion was reduced. The Allens were unreconstructed Democrats, the county fathers were mildly progressive, albeit still conservative, Republicans. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. 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. [36], For their roles in the shooting, Floyd and Claud were sentenced to death by electrocution. A large collection of portrait photos, newspaper accounts, and a marvelous diorama of the 1912 courtroom scene are on display in the historic courthouse, as is the collection of folk marquetry furniture made by J. Sidna Allen. And then, he apparently moved on with life. After close to a year of delays, Floyd was finally brought to trial on March 13, 1912. 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. 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. [2] Deputy Samuels pulled a gun (later determined to be inoperative) and ordered Floyd to move away, and Floyd rode back past the buggy to Sidna's store where he then blocked the narrow road with his mare. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court; Videos; The Holstein Dilemma. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". 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. Allen rose to his feet and calmly said, "Gentlemen, I ain't goin'." People were struck, some were wounded, some killed instantly. He was called Pink because of a birthmark on his cheek. [1] Sentenced by the jury to an hour in jail and a $100 fine, plus costs, Allen immediately posted bail pending an appeal. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. 12 talking about this. -- Sidna Allen, leader of the Allen clan, which shot up the Carroll County Court at Hillsville last March, causing the death of five person, was to-day found guilty of . In several instances he escaped indictment, I am satisfied, because the witnesses were afraid to testify to the facts before the grand jury. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. 10995 Wesley Edwards, No. A fight ensued and Floyd beat Samuels with his own pistol. The flood of indictments that came just days after the shootout wail with pain, the typewritten words seething on the page while claiming that the Allens unlawfully, feloniously, wickedly and maliciously killed the sheriff and others. Howard Sadlers grandfather, Howard Gilmer, who died before Sadler was born, carried the enormity of the tragedy with him throughout his short life. Floyd Allen was the first to be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, and Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. Floyd even paid their bail. Tipton testified he saw Claud Allen in the courthouse with a pistol raised in both hands as if he had just fired it. He borrowed a .38 automatic from another cousin, Church Alderman. ")[1] Floyd Allen stated that only then did he draw his own revolver and begin shooting. Court Crime The 1910's Spread the love In 1912 a Carroll County, Virginia, man was sentenced to serve a one year sentence in the state penitentiary. Follow Us. [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. - 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. B. Earle, 1866-1867. 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. It lays the foundation of the events of that tragic story from March 1912.. 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. Sheriff. 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. Carroll County Historical Society and Museum. 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 . In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. Attorney Howard C. Gilmer, of Pulaski, Virginia, was at Hillsville Courthouse in a room adjoining Judge Massie's courtroom when the shooting broke out. After those five shots, he dropped to his knees and reloaded his revolver. 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. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. The spotlight returned to the story of the shootout when the centennial of the tragedy was marked in 2012. Justice came swiftly to the Allens, perhaps a bit too swiftly for those folks who began to believe that a grave conspiracy among county officials had provoked the Allens in order to bring them down. - Sidna Edwards presence at Floyd Allens trial was requested by Floyds lawyers. He began his sentence in August 1913, and died of pneumonia in prison on November 25, 1913.[A]. Photo by Ralph Berrier Jr. www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html, The politics of March pressing assault chargesagainst Williams. 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. Sadler also knew that, minutes after Foster laid down his pencil, he was dead. To see this handwritten verdict, I knew it was the Holy Grail and Exhibit One in the commonwealths case against Floyd Allen, Sadler said. [11] On the way to the courthouse, the buggy passed by several properties owned by the Allens. On March 17, 1916, he stopped for the night in a roadhouse near Mt. Built in 1873, the historic courthouse is the site of the tragic courtroom shooting of 1912 and is the current site of the museum. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. [27] Years later, an allegation surfaced that Deputy Clerk H.C. Quesinberry had confessed on his deathbed to starting the shooting; two men swore an affidavit to that effect in 1967 (for which each man was reportedly paid $25). Some of the detectives bragged about how many miners theyd killed. Was it Floyds son Claude? 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. - Thomas Franklin Pink Samuel, the deputy from whom Floyd Allen released his nephews, moved to Amelia County and never testified at the trial. 11218 The Roanoker - Hillsville Massacre Industrial Survey - Carroll County (NOTE a 1929 publication) Media The Carroll News The courtroom buzzed. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. Who tried to bring them to justice the wooden steps girl who had testified against Allen Allen in the.... Assaulting a neighbor, Noah Combs they fled across the North Carolina where he encountered Will McGraw, moonshine. And write a book about it but just havent made the time yet one Allens name Floyd! He saw Claud Allen in the window about six inches above his head down his,. 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