Blacksburg-based autonomous vehicle firm Torc to acquire Canadian company; more . [1] Combs wanted the land badly enough to pay the asking price and bought it despite Floyd Allen's warnings not to "butt in. But the governor refused. However, no extradition order was issued. It sounded like Mayberry, but only for a moment! Discover short videos related to Hillsville 1912 A Shooting in the Court on TikTok. Mr. Alderman said he was not privy to what they discussed. - 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. 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. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. [26] Though wounded by four bullets himself, Goad recovered. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. We depend entirely on donations. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court Great Video Historical documentary of the 1912 Hillsville, VA courthouse shootout between the Allen family and the officers of the court. The handwritten note, scribbled hastily in pencil on a folded piece of paper, read: We the jury find the defendant Floyd Allen guilty as charged in the within indictment and fix his punishment at confinement in the penitentiary of this state for one year., Sadler knew that William Foster, the chief prosecutor in Carroll County, had written those words at the behest of a judge. There it was, the script of a doomed man, written in the final minutes of his life. 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. [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. [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. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeart Radio or on your favorite podcast app. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. "There were five people murdered. He borrowed a .38 automatic from another cousin, Church Alderman. 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. - To illustrate the volatility of turn-of-the-century mountaineers, when Jeremiah Allen died in 1898, Floyd and Jack Allen got into a ruckus over a barrel of brandy when the estate was being divided. 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. Sadler took the file drawer to a vault in the courthouse and dove into the trove. Watch popular content from the following creators: RealAppalachia(@realappalachia), KK(@hillsvillehillbilly), Simon(@simonogrinc), Deitrich Cribbs(@big_tipper), VIVI SHARMA(@srvsharma81) . Five people died and seven were wounded in the gun battle that followed. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. 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. Why does Carroll County have the lowest vaccination rate in Virginia? During the initial manhunt, several posses of detectives and local deputies searched the surrounding countryside. 10994 Hillsville Masscre Sidna Allen, No. March broke cold and rainy in the mountains. In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. I recently learned that our town had a number of hiding spots on the Underground Railroad. Terribly tragic. Eleven minutes later, his son, Claud, followed his father to death in the electric chair. 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. [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 oldest, continuously operating . 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. One shot. [24], Yet another lawyer who witnessed the shooting, W. A. Daugherty of Pikeville, stated that several young men were standing on court benches at the back of the room firing their pistols "like Custer's cavalrymen at the Little Big Horn". [30], At Claud Allen's trial for the murder of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, Judge David W. Bolen was again the prosecution's star witness. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. [4] At the next term of court, Allen produced an order of clemency from Governor Andrew J. Montague suspending the jail sentence. 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. 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. (Walter Allen had lost the bitterly fought race. - Almost everyone in Carroll County is related to everyone else. He only picked up Victors gun when he left it in the hotel room on the morning of March 14th. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. A nation-wide manhunt was called for by the Governor of Virginia which lasted six months. Two bullet holes Floyd Allens final shots in the massacre are still visible in the wooden steps. After several months' chase, Baldwin-Felts detectives located them in Iowa after an informant's tip. 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. The girl he chose to kiss led to a later fight at a church and resulted in a warrant for his arrest. The courtroom buzzed. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. Its cool you found such an interesting tale based in your area. The jury found Allen guilty of assault on 14 March and sentenced him to one year in the penitentiary. He asked her if she was hurt or mashed and her sister-in-law responded that she was just scared. There is still question as to what happened and who shot first. [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. SIDNA ALLEN'S TERM FIXED AT 35 YEARS; Head of Hillsville Clan Sentenced for Killing of Three Court Officials. Betty Ayers, an 18-year-old witness, was hit in the back while fleeing the courtroom and died the next day. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. 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. One can wonder if that was a sign that she blamed her husband for the tragic calamity that befell the family. People were struck, some were wounded, some killed instantly. Not knowing all the details, I wasnt sure what to do with this information. Atop a shelf, he saw what looked like a drawer among the boxes. - Nancy Elizabeth Betty Ayers was shot in the back just about the beltline and just to the right of her spine. [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. I bet there are lots of tales about Rochester, NY and the surrounding area that would make good reads as well. - William McDonald Foster, Commonwealths Attorney in 1912, had been a Democrat but turned Republican when he ran for the post. 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. This story could have been written in a Creative Non-Fiction genre. I oppose capital punishment (although if you heard what I sometimes say about certain characters on tv, you might doubt that). 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. Floyd? As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Floyd had been seriously wounded. Bake . More than fifty bullets were later recovered from the shooting scene. 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. He died there in 1953. Governor Mann, who had received death threats in the same handwriting as the threats previously delivered to the trial judge, had to cut short a trip to Pennsylvania after learning his Lieutenant Governor, James Taylor Ellyson (18471919), had attempted to commute the Allens' sentences in his absence, instigating a brief constitutional power struggle between the two men. Allen once accused Goad of running liquor, which forced the clerk to resign from a prestigious post as federal commissioner. The bullet came up under the skin of her right breast. This sort of isolation probably meant that Floyd and his siblings grew up independent, resourceful and perhaps overly prideful and defiant. On March 17, 1916, he stopped for the night in a roadhouse near Mt. Friel Allen sat in the back of the room, and the Edwards boys stood on benches next to the north wall. The property is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Barely one year after the courthouse shootout, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed minutes apart at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. Others were captured. Barry Lopezs book (above) sounds good. He was not in the courthouse during the shootings, but immediately ran to his dying friend and mentor. Recognizing the need for immediate action, assistant clerk S. Floyd Landreth sent a telegram to Democratic Governor William Hodges Mann which read: Send troops to the County of Carroll at once. Being from below the mountain, as Carroll Countians described the community, the Allens and neighbors were cut off from the county seat in Hillsville, which in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a two-day horse ride over the peak through Fancy Gap. The discovered papers do little to shed new light in the darkended corners of the tragedy. [21] Two more illegal stills were found at Sidna Edwards' house. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. The answer would soon become obvious. (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! I enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to get into it. Sidna was released from prison, but he never set foot in his fine house again. Spread the loveOne of the first writers to bring the real Appalachia to the world was John Fox Jr., who had come to the coal boom town of Big Stone, Spread the loveWe have a two-fer for you this week! Please call to schedule an appointment. [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. Many of Allen clan members were spectators in the courtroom, most of them armed with pistols. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. [4][2] The next year, after the Allens complained that they could not expect justice from William Foster, the Republican Commonwealth Attorney of the county (who had recently switched parties), Judge Thornton L. Massie appointed both Floyd and H.C. as police officers for the New River section of the county. I was distraught over the recent rush to execute in our country. Floyd Allen's son, Victor, bought his father's house so his mother would not have to move. Roanoke, Va., March 16, --The prisoners from Hillsville are not expected here before 3 o'clock Sunday morning. Allen rose to his feet and calmly said, "Gentlemen, I ain't goin'." Now, the manner by which he freed them depended on who was telling the story. - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. There is a story of where I live now that has never been written about that I have found very fascinating and have extensive notes on it. Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. He proved to be right. actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. Neither died, but Jack had a silver plate in his head until he died. [1] Sentenced by the jury to an hour in jail and a $100 fine, plus costs, Allen immediately posted bail pending an appeal. Airy). 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. 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. When it was over the judge and the sheriff laid dead. Judge W. R. Staples presided over the courthouse shooting trials, which were prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Samuel W. Williams and involved attorneys Draper, Landreth, Poage and Wysor. [22], The prosecution attempted to show that Floyd and Claud Allen prompted the gun battle by standing and pulling their pistols and opening fire. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. [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. Fearful of the Allens' reaction, and having received death threats, many officials of the court armed themselves. Allen and several members of his family immediately fled the courtroom but were later captured and convicted of murder. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, a .32 caliber bullet was discovered. 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. 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. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. 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