hillsville 1912: a shooting in the court

Ive already read four books and have another four lined up to read!. Atop a shelf, he saw what looked like a drawer among the boxes. 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. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court at Amazon.com. 10994 Hillsville Masscre Sidna Allen, No. Neither was prosecuted. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . I was distraught over the recent rush to execute in our country. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". Two bullet holes Floyd Allens final shots in the massacre are still visible in the wooden steps. As I always read about where I am living and I spent several summers directing a church camp that was about a dozen miles north of Ketchum. On March 14, 1912, Floyd stood in the Hillsville, Va. courthouse, convicted of interfering with police business and assaulting a deputy sheriff. [4][2] Sidna promptly appealed and won a new trial on the perjury charge. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (video) Library of Virginia "Mug Shot Special" Floyd and Claude Allen Friel Allen, No. 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. 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. Foster married Katherine Tipton in 1894 and had 5 children by 1912. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. "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. [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. A Journey to and Beyond the Blackboard - Kim Johnson 2021-07-25 Kim Johnson, or 'Sir', has spent his life striving to achieve outstanding The identification label on the drawer bore a large A and an X. Horney pulled the label out from its slot, flipped it over and read the typed words on the other side: (Claudes name was frequently spelled with and without an E.). After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. The jury fixed the penalty at fifteen years in the penitentiary. But the documents do bring humanity to a story often told through tintype pictures, brittle newspaper clippings, hazy memories and fables passed down through generations. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. View Map and Driving Directions Phone: (276) 728-2594 While the one Allens name is Floyd, there is also a town of Floyd and Floyd County to the north of Carroll County. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. [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. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. [4], In another instance, while arguing over the administration of their father's estate, Allen got into a gunfight with his own brother, Jasper, known as "Jack", a local constable. 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. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. After several months' chase, Baldwin-Felts detectives located them in Iowa after an informant's tip. '"[11][17] At this point, shots broke out in the courtroom. Some later turned themselves in. Democratic Governor Elbert Lee Trinkle pardoned Friel Allen and Sidna Edwards in 1922. Easter ran to an acquaintance's home, and he telephoned the sheriff at Hillsville. - Old timers said that when Wesley kissed the McCraw girl at the cornshucking, it wasnt out of affection for her, it was to irritate her boyfriend, John William Thomas. The phone hasn't stopped ringing in the. 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.. He teased Horney about Wythe County losing such valuable historical artifacts. Floyd Allen was going to trial. Upon his arrest by deputies at the hotel, Floyd attempted to slash his own throat with a pocketknife, but was overpowered before he could complete the job.[19]. Yep, I think we do have similar tendencies. [21] - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. 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. [1], Governor Mann immediately called on the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to find those responsible for the shootings and arrest them. [13], The rumor that the Allens were intimidating witnesses was called to the attention of the court. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/41284, 28 Aussens@iten by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. [26] He also testified that he saw the crowd come out of the court house, and recognized Floyd and Sidna Allen as the last to leave, both of them following and firing as they backed out, apparently in response to fire coming from within the courthouse. This story could have been written in a Creative Non-Fiction genre. 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. Airy, North Carolina where he encountered Will McGraw, a moonshine hauler. [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. Hall himself had asked Horney, who died in 2020, about the whereabouts of the trial exhibits while doing his own research. The sentence would have had Floyd do time. SIDNA ALLEN'S TERM FIXED AT 35 YEARS; Head of Hillsville Clan Sentenced for Killing of Three Court Officials. This is the sort of history that gets lost a lot the sensational, headlining tale thats at the front of everyones mind until something even more sensational comes along. S. E. Gardner, a Hillsville undertaker who prepared the body of Sheriff Webb for burial, testified that the Sheriff was shot no less than five times. 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. - Almost everyone in Carroll County is related to everyone else. This is an interesting story of a time long past. However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. 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. Floyd once got in a tangle over a business deal with his younger brother Jasper Jack Allen, who might have been the toughest Allen of them all, and the two men shot and wounded each other. October 2, 2022. Located in the Fancy Gap community near I-77 Exit 14. Its small enough for that to be possible I suspect. Seems like everybody from Carroll County has some connection to this story. Airy). Maybe so, but people just keep coming back to this story. Hall thinks that Sheriff Webb, who was carrying a borrowed gun, might have fired accidentally. All men were pardoned by Gov. Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, some jurors and others shot on the conviction of Floyd Allen for a felony. V. Ray Bowman is known for Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (2011). That verdict, those words uttered by a jury foreman and re-written by Foster, were what prompted the freshly convicted the defiant Allen to stand up and pronounce, Gentlemen, I just aint a-goin, or words to that effect, right before the courtroom filled with smoke and lead. 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. Find out where you can buy, rent, or subscribe to a streaming service to watch it live or on-demand. He wept freely as the verdict was read. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Barry Lopezs book (above) sounds good. In April 1926, Governor Harry Flood Byrd pardoned Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. One of these days I would like to sit down and write a book about it but just havent made the time yet. He only lived 7 years after the trial. You do have some interesting local history. [26] Gilmer testified he heard two shots in quick succession, after which there was a slight interval and then a great volley of firing. After years of being privately owned, Sidna Allens house was given to the Carroll County Historical Society in 2014 by siblings Stanley Widener and Bonnie Wood, whose mother, Marlene, often opened the house to the public for tours. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. He worked for the Edison Lighting Company. The announcement of. Educational video on the history of Western medicine presented by the University of South Carolina's College of Library and Information Science as part of a workshop created by th Was it Floyds son Claude? At a church service the next morning conducted by Wesley's uncle, Garland Allen, Thomas reportedly called out Wesley into a fight. - 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. Friel Allen was tried in August 1912 and after confessing to shooting prosecutor Foster, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Was Clerk of Carroll County Circuit Court During the Famous Allen Trial. Maybe he didnt want anybody else rifling through those things, Hall said. Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. -- 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 . Hillsville, Virginia is part of the Preserve America program. Autopsies were not conducted on the dead nor was any meaningful forensic investigation of the crime scene undertaken even though the science such studies existed in 1912 which only generated more questions, arguments, fights and conspiracy theories over the decades. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. [15] Judge Thornton L. Massie, who had deputized Floyd six months earlier, presided. Bolen had been standing next to Floyd Allen, and was facing Judge Massie when the first shots struck the judge's robes. One can wonder if that was a sign that she blamed her husband for the tragic calamity that befell the family. 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. Perhaps the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is the frequently heard claim that the subject is dead. Fearful of the Allens' reaction, and having received death threats, many officials of the court armed themselves. He asked her if she was hurt or mashed and her sister-in-law responded that she was just scared. Mt. Supposedly, Andy Griffins father would take him up there when he was a boy (it was about 25 miles from Mt. On March 28, 1913, barely a year after the bloodshed in Hillsville, Floyd and Claude Allen were executed in the same electric chair. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, a .32 caliber bullet was discovered. In one case, after having ridden their horses to death, two of them took a mans mules from his plow in the middle of the field. Hall has done an outstanding job researching this subjectt. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. 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. No autopsies were performed. Sidna Allen maintained until the end of his life that this informant was Maude Iroller, Wesley's fiancee, who provided information on the fugitives' location in exchange for $500 from the detective agency. Floyd Allen jury member, John W. Farris, remarked that they wouldnt be back until they were brought back. WYTHEVILLE, Va., Nov. 22. The presentation will be held Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the Historic Carroll County Courthouse and will be led by Blacksburg . 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. 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