With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. No autopsies were ever performed and rumors flew of friendly fire casualties. [4][2] Sidna promptly appealed and won a new trial on the perjury charge. Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. The pop of a single revolver. Convicted on capital murder, both Claude and Floyd were sentenced to death. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. Located in the Fancy Gap community near I-77 Exit 14. [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. . The Hillsville Massacre By Seth Williamson Nobody knows who fired the first shot that cold, gray day, but before it was over, four lay dead, one was dying, and Carroll County would never be the same again. 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. As gunmen spilled from the courthouse taking their battle through the downtown streets, the judge, sheriff, and Commonwealth Attorney lay dead in the smoke-filled courtroom. Like this one, I often find they could have used some rearranging to keep ones interest but I almost always enjoy them. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. - Thomas Franklin Pink Samuel, the deputy from whom Floyd Allen released his nephews, moved to Amelia County and never testified at the trial. In the space of 90 seconds, 57 bullets were fired into the Hillsville courthouse, killing five men and wounding three more. 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. 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 oldest, continuously operating . 11218 The Roanoker - Hillsville Massacre Industrial Survey - Carroll County (NOTE a 1929 publication) Media The Carroll News On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Some later turned themselves in. 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. Floyd, wounded too badly in the hip, thigh and knee to leave town, instead spent the night in the Elliott Hotel accompanied by his eldest son, Victor, who was later acquitted of involvement in the shootout. [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. He proved to be right. Published in the SW VA Enterprise, Wytheville, Virginia Tuesday, July 4, 1939. Hall has done an outstanding job researching this subjectt. Barely one year after the courthouse shootout, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed minutes apart at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. [26] Gilmer testified he heard two shots in quick succession, after which there was a slight interval and then a great volley of firing. He had them handcuffed and tied up with a rope. Hall himself had asked Horney, who died in 2020, about the whereabouts of the trial exhibits while doing his own research. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court, is a documentary feature concerning the Carroll County Courthouse shootings that occurred in Hillsville, Virginia. Otherwise, he would not have been armed. In several instances he escaped indictment, I am satisfied, because the witnesses were afraid to testify to the facts before the grand jury. 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. Look after this now. The legend also claims that the marker was removed as a condition of Sidna Allens pardon in 1926 after he served 14 years. 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. As if entitled, they took what they wanted or needed. Again, no investigation was made at the scene. 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. A Journey to and Beyond the Blackboard - Kim Johnson 2021-07-25 Kim Johnson, or 'Sir', has spent his life striving to achieve outstanding Even the accused, Floyd Allen, carried a pistol. After close to a year of delays, Floyd was finally brought to trial on March 13, 1912. After several months' chase, Baldwin-Felts detectives located them in Iowa after an informant's tip. ( Historic Resource | DHR | Carroll County) [26] Gilmer said he heard Floyd Allen say two or three times, "I am shot, but I got the damn scoundrel. However, Goad denied firing the first shot in the fusillade. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, West Virginia: "Defense Continues Efforts To Disprove Conspiracy". 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. Wow. In his defense testimony, Floyd Allen stated that Sheriff Lew F. Webb fired first, but that the shot missed Allen, at which point Deputy Clerk Goad, the Clerk of Court, fired and hit Allen, causing him to fall. Those old papers were lost or stolen, Horney replied. 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. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (video) Library of Virginia "Mug Shot Special" Floyd and Claude Allen Friel Allen, No. 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 . After the shooting, because of the number of Allens in Carroll County, they housed the prisoners in Roanoke. The detectives left at Hillsville have gone to the mountains, headed by Lee Felts. 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 Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court; Videos; The Holstein Dilemma. [26] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered. 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. There are many questions as to what led up to this event, but it seems to have begun with Wesley Edwards getting a red ear of corn at a corn shucking. [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. 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. Sadler said that reading Fosters handwriting gave him chills. - 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. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. Wesley was sentenced to sixty days and his brother thirty, which were served outside jail on work-release. Victor Allen also asserted that Claud had taken Victor's handgun as the two left their hotel in Hillsville on that morning. Follow Us. 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. [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. In 1921, however, Victor moved his family to Tabernacle Township, New Jersey. 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. - Commonwealths Attorney, William McDonald Foster, was a brother-in-law to one of Floyd Allens defense attorneys; Walter Scott Tipton. These mostly came from recent labor disputes in coal country and their mannerism didnt endure them to anyone, it seems. The definitive history, Mr. Ron Halls Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy is still published and is available at the Museum bookstore. The deputies, though, accused Floyd of forcibly freeing the brothers, assaulting the lawmen and smashing Deputy Samuels pistol against a rock. In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. Movies. 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. 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. Sheriff and Commonwealth's Attorney dead, court serious. Ralph Berrier Jr. is a writer who lives in Roanoke. One of these days I would like to sit down and write a book about it but just havent made the time yet. 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. They didnt find Andrew because the cell was dark and he had climbed up between the chimney and wall near the ceiling. [5] Floyd's body bore the scars of thirteen bullet wounds, five of them inflicted in quarrels with his own family. Another of those events that have passed into history. Just a Presbyterian Church and a store. Mr. Alderman said Friel and Dexter met privately for about half an hour and shook hands at the end of their meeting. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. Thousands of people wrote letters to Gov. He was tried in federal court, found guilty, and sentenced to a year in federal prison at Moundsville, West Virginia. It was Thomas and his father who swore out warrants for the Edwards brothers as a result of the fight at the schoolhouse/church the next day. In the second, a husband, Spread the loveOne hundred five years ago this month opposition against the draft was coming to a boil, including in Appalachia. Interesting story. 1 minute, 47 seconds Read. 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. - After his release from prison in 1922, Friel Allen came back to Hillsville and had Attorney John Alderman arrange a meeting with Dexter Goad. He died at his daughters home in Hillsville in 1941. Please call to schedule an appointment. Sidna Allen was never tried for his part in the altercation, while Barnett Allen was acquitted at trial. Built in 1873, the historic courthouse is the site of the tragic courtroom shooting of 1912 and is the current site of the museum. - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. [2] Floyd then released the Edwards brothers. [10][41] Jack Allen was buried near his home in Carroll County, in the presence of a thousand mourners.[41]. 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. I find myself more and more drawn to history. On March 14, 1912, Floyd stood in the Hillsville, Va. courthouse, convicted of interfering with police business and assaulting a deputy sheriff. [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. The trials happened quickly in 1912 and early 1913. 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. Photo by Ralph Berrier Jr. www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html, The politics of March pressing assault chargesagainst Williams. 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. [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. [1] Sentenced by the jury to an hour in jail and a $100 fine, plus costs, Allen immediately posted bail pending an appeal. [10] Rather than face arrest, the two men fled over the state line to North Carolina, where they found jobs in a granite quarry. Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. Airy, North Carolina. Please visit their website for more information. During a second glance Tipton again saw Floyd with his pistol raised and held in both hands; he then saw Floyd Allen fire his pistol. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. Jack Allen lost his job as constable as a result of the Hillsville shooting, and soon his life. "Claude Allen Convicted: He Is Found Guilty of Murdering Commonwealth's Attorney Foster", Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Allen Clan Hillsville Courthouse Shootout", The Wheeling Intelligencer March 15, 1912 p.15, Transcriptions of contemporary newspaper articles, "Mug Shot Monday Special Edition: Floyd and Claude Allen", The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia at the Library of Virginia, The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia, "Hillsville Massacre - The UncommonWealth", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Floyd_Allen&oldid=1137936144, People executed by Virginia by electric chair, 20th-century executions of American people, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Articles needing additional references from October 2020, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2020, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from December 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lewis Franklin Webb, Carroll County sheriff, William McDonald Foster, Commonwealth's Attorney, Augustus Cezar Fowler, juror (died of wounds), This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 04:22. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. [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. Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad admitted firing the second shot at Floyd, striking him in the pelvis. Otherwise, neither Sidna Edwards nor Victor Allen would have been present. The ex On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. Most likely, someone had intentionally hidden the drawer to keep people from pawing through and perhaps removing the papers. 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.. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, a .32 caliber bullet was discovered. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. Mann asking either that the Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly. B. Earle, 1866-1867. [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. Take care, my friend! Although some stories say she didnt know she was shot and some say she said I am killed, no documentation exists to confirm either. With the entry of the United States into World. [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. On March 17, 1916, he stopped for the night in a roadhouse near Mt. 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. [33] He denied firing a gun during the courthouse shootings, and stated that he did not see who fired the first shot, but thought that it came from the vicinity of Deputy Clerk Goad's desk. Again it is . Floyd Allen grew up in a large family in southern Carroll County, raised on a farm wedged between the North Carolina border and the front wall of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. As the deputies were taking the Edwards back to Hillsville, Floyd released the boys from custody. The battle of tradition against modernity seemed to be the heart of the rivalries: Would Carroll County be a 20th century civilized bastion of law, order and rules, or would the hidebound rugged frontier individualism of taking law into ones own hands and the bucking of authority prevail? Generations of Carroll Countians would grow up and grow old hearing about the shootout, arguing over who the true perpetrators were, creating and dismissing wild theories and resolving nothing. After the Edwards were charged with assault, they fled across the North Carolina border to Mt. In 2015 or so, Sadler also found a .38 caliber bullet among the keepsakes. 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] They returned to their homes by traveling cross-country through the farm fields rather than public roads. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. The girl he chose to kiss led to a later fight at a church and resulted in a warrant for his arrest. Terribly tragic. [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. "[26], County Treasurer J. The spotlight returned to the story of the shootout when the centennial of the tragedy was marked in 2012. Floyd? 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. 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. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. He only lived 7 years after the trial. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. Two months after the shootout, Floyd Allen was convicted in Wytheville of killing Foster, the commonwealths attorney. October 2, 2022. The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. 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. The bullet came up under the skin of her right breast. Court testimony says she was outside throwing up on the lawn when Doctor Nuckolls came by. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeart Radio or on your favorite podcast app. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. Watch popular content from the following creators: RealAppalachia(@realappalachia), KK(@hillsvillehillbilly), Simon(@simonogrinc), Deitrich Cribbs(@big_tipper), VIVI SHARMA(@srvsharma81) . [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. '"[11][17] At this point, shots broke out in the courtroom. Blacksburg-based autonomous vehicle firm Torc to acquire Canadian company; more . Maybe so, but people just keep coming back to this story. He only picked up Victors gun when he left it in the hotel room on the morning of March 14th. He borrowed a .38 automatic from another cousin, Church Alderman. [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. 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. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court watch movie for free Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court full movie *Watch Movie Online or Watch Best Free HD 1080p Videos on Desktop, Laptop, Notebook, Tablet, iPhone, iPad, Mac Pro and more. Atop a shelf, he saw what looked like a drawer among the boxes. 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. Late in the day March 13, the jury had not reached a verdict, so Judge Massie sent them to the nearby Thornton Hotel for the night. 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 . Bringing in Sheaves: The Western Revivals of the Reverend A. 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. A rope courthouse, killing five men and wounding three more.38 automatic from another cousin church... Of Sidna Allens pardon in 1926 after he served 14 years, no investigation made! 34 ] they returned to their homes by traveling cross-country through the farm fields rather public... Gets Well into Case '', Bluefield, West Virginia shot and would soon diethe foreman. On that morning Massie, Foster, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter it. 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