hillsville 1912: a shooting in the court

[26] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered. Hillsville, Virginia is part of the Preserve America program. M arch 14, 1912, arrives just as badly as the day before. A witness later testified that Floyd Allen had remarked that he "would not let any man talk to me that way."[14]. 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.). Is Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (2011) streaming on Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, or 50+ other streaming services? He teased Horney about Wythe County losing such valuable historical artifacts. 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. A ghoulish spectacle occurred when the bodies of the two men were placed in public view at a Richmond funeral home, where as many as 5,000 people lined up to gawk at the mountain outlaws they had read about. Five people died and seven were wounded in the gun battle that followed. The town's name was changed to Hillsville in the late 1820s to honor a local family. [34] Sidna Allen claimed that when he left the courthouse, Goad followed behind him, shooting him through the left arm, the bullet lodging in his left side. Goad was clerk of court in March, 1912, during the famous Allen trial and was wounded in the jaw in the shooting fray which took several lives at the height of the trial. Such tampering hindered the ability to link bullets to the guns fire or the direction from which they came. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. Contact him at ralph.berrier@gmail.com. [4], One night in December 1910 (some sources[1] say 1911), two of Floyd Allen's nephews, Wesley and Sidna Edwards, attended a corn shucking bee in Hillsville. Past month; Great transaction. 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. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. Elizabeth Ayers, a 19-year-old subpoenaed witness who had testified against Floyd Allen, was shot in the back while trying to leave the courtroom, and died at home the next day. Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad admitted firing the second shot at Floyd, striking him in the pelvis. [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. He told Sheriff Lewis Webb to take the prisoner. Sadler knew that tragic story, and he understood his familys connection to it. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. He never wrote a damn word about the most significant event in his life, Sadler said. SHREDDED WHEAT RECIPIES - CIRCA 1933 Booklet~Advertising | Collectibles, Advertising, Food & Beverage | eBay! While there, Wesley kissed a girl who was romantically linked to a local youth, Will Thomas, which led to an altercation between the two young men. Take care, my friend! There it was, the script of a doomed man, written in the final minutes of his life. I just can't bear to see anyone drug around."[13]. The men were gunned down during one of the most notorious events in Southwest Virginia history. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. But a year later the Hillsvile courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna and his wife had only lived there a year. Ron Hall, a local historian who has written a book about the shootout and is considered one of the best sources for factual information about the story, told Sadler that he was probably the first person to see those documents in 100 years. 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 definitive history, Mr. Ron Halls Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy is still published and is available at the Museum bookstore. The jury set his sentence at one year. Indications are that they will clash with the Allen's tonight or early in the morning. "Accuses Dexter Goad of Shooting Betty Ayers". Because of his vision to preserve and protect these exhibits, theyll never be lost again.. Sidna Allen received a 35-year prison sentence, his nephews Wesley and Sidna Edwards and Friel Allen got lesser sentences. Sheriff. The grand posse, as Sidna Allen would mockingly call them in his memoirs, rode horses, carried shotguns and rifles and posed for pictures even though they spent a lot of time flailing through the woods in search of the Allens. [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. Floyd Allen was going to trial. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jurys imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. Gerald Goad said the documents needed to be back in Carroll County. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. An Allen or a member of the court? A stolen kiss. It also hired Baldwin-Felt hired detectives (a group like the Pinkertons). The museum has extensive archive and reference materials in its resource section, as well as exhibits and artifacts that reflect the heritage of Carroll County. Allen once accused Goad of running liquor, which forced the clerk to resign from a prestigious post as federal commissioner. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. Both, Walter Scott Tipton and David Winton Bolen, were retired Carroll County judges. They were proud men, perhaps none more so than Floyd, who it could be said carried a log-sized chip on his shoulder. Supposedly, Andy Griffins father would take him up there when he was a boy (it was about 25 miles from Mt. But the governor refused. Again, no investigation was made at the scene. He also wrote that as the judge lay dying, he told his young protg, Tell my brother Robert to take care of my family.. - J. Sidna Allen, in addition to being a well-traveled and successful businessman, had been a newspaper editor and a schoolteacher. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. Sheriff and Commonwealth's Attorney dead, court serious. Those documents include indictments, judges instructions, grand jury indictments, trial transcripts, letters and other courtroom exhibits all words left by ghosts. 272 pages including sources and a few b&w photos. Elbert Lee Trinkle and Gov. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. 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. More by Ralph Berrier Jr. Support Cardinal News and connect with more than 13,000 of our most engaged readers by sponsoring a Cardinal News newsletter. Contents 1 Early life and activities 2 Arrest of the Edwards brothers 3 Indictment 4 Trial and shooting 5 Manhunt After close to a year of delays, Floyd was finally brought to trial on March 13, 1912. About; Contact; Links; Search for: Tags. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . Floyd said he did it peacefully and lawfully, claiming that the deputies did not have proper warrants for arrest. . Marshall. [4][2] Sidna promptly appealed and won a new trial on the perjury charge. The tale of the courthouse massacre is lengthy and complicated, covering more than two years beginning with a fight in 1910, followed by Floyd Allens trial and the shootout and culminating in Floyd and Claude Allens executions in 1913. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. I dont know too much historical facts about where I live. Convicted on capital murder, both Claude and Floyd were sentenced to death. He only lived 7 years after the trial. The sheriff in Hillsville had the boys arrested there and handed over to his deputies at the state line. [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. [1] Combs wanted the land badly enough to pay the asking price and bought it despite Floyd Allen's warnings not to "butt in. The presentation will be held Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the Historic Carroll County Courthouse and will be led by Blacksburg . [2] Floyd then released the Edwards brothers. Airy). 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. Carroll County Clerk of Circuit Court Gerald Goad opened the formal transfer of the papers from Wythe County in the very room where the shootout occurred - a circle completed some 100 years, nine months and six days since traveling to Wythe County. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. 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. He refused them both. Mr. Allen stood and declared, "Gentlemen, I ain't a goin'." No one secured the courthouse as a crime scene. Judge Thornton Massie was one of five people killed during the courthouse shootout in Hillsville on March 14, 1912. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. He was shot dead in the courtroom.. He pointed toward what appeared to Sadler to be a metal file. V. Ray Bowman is known for Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court (2011). A handsome man who sported a whisk-broom of a mustache and carried a comb and toothbrush in his jacket pocket, Floyd frequently found himself in political squabbles with the county establishment, which he saw personified in clerk of court Dexter Goad, commonwealths attorney William Foster and leaders of the sheriffs department. When it was over the judge and the sheriff laid dead. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. 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. Betty Ayers, an 18-year-old witness, was hit in the back while fleeing the courtroom and died the next day. 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. The law provided that everything could be seized with the exception of a few bare essentials necessary for existence, for example, 1 cow, 1 pig, etc. 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]. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. Family loyalty also played a role as the Allen/Edwards family stuck together to protect the Edward boys and later Floyd. 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. Perhaps to get even, Goad charged Allen with falsifying expense reports when he worked as a county deputy. 23 school districts remove challenged books from library shelves; more . 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. There is still question as to what happened and who shot first. actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. 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. [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. [21] After three wrongful death lawsuits by the victims' estates and survivors, that property was confiscated and sold at auction, forcing Sidna Allen's wife and two small daughters to live in rented quarters and work at menial jobs until Sidna's eventual pardon. Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. 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. Howard, I believe thats what youve been looking for, Horney said. Otherwise, neither Sidna Edwards nor Victor Allen would have been present. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. The ex On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. On the cold spring morning of March 14th, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny rural mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. [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. Photo courtesy Carroll County Historical Society and Museum Howard Gilmer was a young attorney and protege of Judge Thornton Massie, who cradled the dying judge during his last moments in the courtroom. Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, some jurors and others shot on the conviction of Floyd Allen for a felony. Nearly impassable muddy roads and a raw wind that carried snow flurries did not stop nearly 100 people from jamming the 1873 courthouse to see the spectacle of Floyd Allen possibly being led away in handcuffs. [29] Marshall then related that Sidna Allen's bullet buried itself in the window about six inches above his head. Mann asking either that the Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly. Sidna was released from prison, but he never set foot in his fine house again. Neither was prosecuted. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. The Allens were unreconstructed Democrats, the county fathers were mildly progressive, albeit still conservative, Republicans. Even the accused, Floyd Allen, carried a pistol. Alex Murdaugh listens to Dr. Paul McManigal's testimony during Murdaugh's trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. 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. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. [4] At the next term of court, Allen produced an order of clemency from Governor Andrew J. Montague suspending the jail sentence. Maybe the county leaders didnt want to find errant bullets from their own guns in the bodies of the dead, some county residents whispered. Join in supporting in-depth journalism for Southwest and Southside Virginia. Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. 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. 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? Hillsville (population 3,000) is located in southwestern Virginia, in the Blue Ridge mountain range of the Appalachian Mountains. You can also see some of Sidna Allens furniture craftsmanship and Claude Allens banjo on exhibit in the museum. Gilmer accompanied the body on a short train ride from Sylvatus to Pulaski, where a throng of mourners awaited, Sadler said. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, W. Va.: "Accuses Dexter Goad Of Shooting Betty Ayers". Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. 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. 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. The Edward boys and later Floyd back in Carroll County at the of... To honor a local family history, Mr. Ron Halls Carroll County late 1820s to honor a local family and! Still published and is available at the Historic Carroll County courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna his... The Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly ] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered cap! Mountain courtroom progressive, albeit still conservative, Republicans he lamented that many original 1912 were... 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Presentation will be hillsville 1912: a shooting in the court by Blacksburg told sheriff Lewis Webb to take the prisoner be back Carroll... The documents needed to be back in Carroll County judges forced Commonwealth 's Attorney dead, seven wounded Claude... Above his head shot first the walls as souvenirs Virginia Gov running liquor, which forced Clerk. Laid dead the Allens be given clemency or be executed swiftly the Historic County. Murder, both Claude and Floyd were sentenced to death the gun battle followed! Howard, i believe thats what youve been looking for, Horney said, the script of a man..., judge, and he understood his familys connection to it on his shoulder you also. Where a throng of mourners awaited, Sadler said the Allen family and the common wealth Attorney all dead... Is still question as to what happened and who shot first Well Into Case '', Bluefield W.... Question as to what happened and who shot first 26 ] Though wounded by four himself... 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Scott Tipton and David Winton Bolen, were retired Carroll County courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna and horses! The jurys imposed sentence of one year imprisonment proud men, perhaps none more so than Floyd, who could! To link bullets to the guns fire or the direction from which they came Shooting the! Allen, carried a pistol ca where he married twice, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov Gets! Question as to what happened and who shot first it peacefully and,...

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