Now, the manner by which he freed them depended on who was telling the story. Officers often had a violent past. 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.. Take care, my friend! Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Watch popular content from the following creators: RealAppalachia(@realappalachia), KK(@hillsvillehillbilly), Simon(@simonogrinc), Deitrich Cribbs(@big_tipper), VIVI SHARMA(@srvsharma81) . [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. - William McDonald Foster, Commonwealths Attorney in 1912, had been a Democrat but turned Republican when he ran for the post. [7][9], However, times were changing: Virginia's judicial structure was altered in a series of legal reforms, particularly the county court system, which was replaced by circuit courts. He was not in the courthouse during the shootings, but immediately ran to his dying friend and mentor. 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. One of these days I would like to sit down and write a book about it but just havent made the time yet. 272 pages including sources and a few b&w photos. Floyd had been seriously wounded. To see this handwritten verdict, I knew it was the Holy Grail and Exhibit One in the commonwealths case against Floyd Allen, Sadler said. 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. 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. Their trials took place in Wytheville. Who fired their pistol first? [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. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. [2], Deputy Samuels was left lying unconscious in a ditch, and his horses were run off. A Journey to and Beyond the Blackboard - Kim Johnson 2021-07-25 Kim Johnson, or 'Sir', has spent his life striving to achieve outstanding [13], The rumor that the Allens were intimidating witnesses was called to the attention of the court. Elian Gonzalez is a more recent example. Find out where you can buy, rent, or subscribe to a streaming service to watch it live or on-demand. - Almost everyone in Carroll County is related to everyone else. The sentence would have had Floyd do time. [20], Within a month, all suspected shooters were in custody, except Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. (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! [2] The federal court in Greensboro found him not guilty, while Sidna's alleged accomplice, Preston Dickens, was found guilty and sentenced to serve five years in federal prison. A nation-wide manhunt was called for by the Governor of Virginia which lasted six months. [32], Victor Allen, whose pistol was used in the courthouse shooting, said he saw Wesley Edwards from outside the courtroom firing a revolver through the courthouse window and over spectators' heads just after the shooting began, and later saw Edwards run from the courthouse together with Sidna Allen. 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. [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. 11217 Sidna Edwards, No. Two months after the shootout, Floyd Allen was convicted in Wytheville of killing Foster, the commonwealths attorney. Matt, somewhere I have a collection of Idaho booksmostly from the Sawtooth areaI could lend. The men were gunned down during one of the most notorious events in Southwest Virginia history. He worked for the Edison Lighting Company. Ive already read four books and have another four lined up to read!. During the initial manhunt, several posses of detectives and local deputies searched the surrounding countryside. [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. 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. Perhaps to get even, Goad charged Allen with falsifying expense reports when he worked as a county deputy. [36], For their roles in the shooting, Floyd and Claud were sentenced to death by electrocution. 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. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. 1912 SIDNA ALLEN CRIMINAL HOUSE FANCY GAP HILLSVILLE VA COURT SHOOTING ~ A1 (#185771767538) s***s (604) - Feedback left by buyer s***s (604). In March 1912, there was a shooting at the Carroll County, Courthouse in Hillsville, Virginia. 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. Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. He never wrote a damn word about the most significant event in his life, Sadler said. [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. [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. 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. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. [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 borrowed a .38 automatic from another cousin, Church Alderman. "There were five people murdered. Hall himself had asked Horney, who died in 2020, about the whereabouts of the trial exhibits while doing his own research. 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. In response, the judge told the two men that if the law could not be faithfully enforced in Carroll County by the county's deputized officers he would bring in state troops if necessary to maintain order. Jack came to and shot Floyd which ended the affair. One local historian interviewed by Williamson for The Roanoker magazine in 1982 stated unequivocally that Claude Allen, Floyds son, fired first. Sadler looked at Fosters cursive handwriting of Floyd Allens conviction and understood the documents gravity. It is amazing how nothing changes Today, a story gets retold till its stale, unless something big happens to push it off the headlines. The police of 1912 were not exactly professional. Perhaps the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is the frequently heard claim that the subject is dead. Bolen had been standing next to Floyd Allen, and was facing Judge Massie when the first shots struck the judge's robes. Bringing in Sheaves: The Western Revivals of the Reverend A. Sadler said that reading Fosters handwriting gave him chills. V. Ray Bowman, Self: Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court. Floyd Allen jury member, John W. Farris, remarked that they wouldnt be back until they were brought back. 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 Allens could be a rough bunch, who fought with and shot at enemies which they had no shortage of, apparently and even each other. 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. 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. - J. Sidna Allen, in addition to being a well-traveled and successful businessman, had been a newspaper editor and a schoolteacher. Howard Gilmer had traveled to Hillsville with Massie because he had a case pending in court. A second shot entered the back about four inches lower, while a third shot cut the sheriff across the chin. [1], Governor Mann immediately called on the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to find those responsible for the shootings and arrest them. Another younger brother, Sidna, was a successful businessman who had prospected for gold in Alaska, operated a store, owned a considerable amount of land and built a lovely Queen Anne-style home in Fancy Gap, and yet he was accused of being a counterfeiter who barely avoided jail time even though one of his associates was sent up the river. [2] Both Allen and his brother Sidna held legal licenses for the production of alcohol. On 13 March 1912, in the Carroll County Circuit Court, . The legend also claims that the marker was removed as a condition of Sidna Allens pardon in 1926 after he served 14 years. It lays the foundation of the events of that tragic story from March 1912.. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. The next morning, the jury quickly returned a guilty verdict and a sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Airy? When the men were buried, it was beneath one final statement of defiance. Careful who you kiss, huh? Again it is . Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. Mr. Allen stood and declared, "Gentlemen, I ain't a goin'." On the morning of March 14, 1912, Mr. Floyd Allen stood in the Carroll County courtroom to hear the verdict of his peers. The Historical Society has gathered significant materials, published over the years, that attempt to interpret this event in our local history. 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. Judge Thornton Massie was one of five people killed during the courthouse shootout in Hillsville on March 14, 1912. 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. Virginia law held that when a sheriff died his deputies lost all legal powers, so the shooting left Carroll County without law enforcement. Mr. Allen stood and declared, Gentlemen, I aint a goin. Gunfire, chaos, death ensued all in a moment. 11218 The Roanoker - Hillsville Massacre Industrial Survey - Carroll County (NOTE a 1929 publication) Media The Carroll News See production, box office & company info. The following two tabs change content below. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. [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. . Floyd freed his nephews and took them himself to the Hillsville jail two days later. He died there in 1953. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. 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. No one secured the courthouse as a crime scene. B. Marshall testified that when the shooting started he turned to escape the courthouse. He was the patriarch of the county's most prominent family, which, in addition to owning large tracts of farmland and a prosperous general store, were also active in local politics as proud Southern Democrats. Massie had been urged by Foster and Goad to disarm the throng before the trail began. He was tried in federal court, found guilty, and sentenced to a year in federal prison at Moundsville, West Virginia. 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. Then a cacophony of gunfire. 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. 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. Victor Allen also asserted that Claud had taken Victor's handgun as the two left their hotel in Hillsville on that morning. Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. [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. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, West Virginia: "Defense Continues Efforts To Disprove Conspiracy". This sideline didnt add to the story. Spray bottom of pans with Pam baking spray apply the waxed paper and spray the pan, waxed paper and sides with Pam. And then, he apparently moved on with life. 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. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. Wow. Marshall. He said he thought Floyd's fumbling with his sweater buttons was a prelude to drawing his pistol. PARROW'S TRIAL POSTPONED Chicago Lawyer Will Not Appear Be fore Jan. 6. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. 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. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. He apparently also hopes that the early hour will serve to dampen the spirits of the Allens. Hillsville Courthouse. Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. Floyd Allen was the first to be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, and Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Newport News nuprt - -prt -6 is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. After close to a year of delays, Floyd was finally brought to trial on March 13, 1912. Features three historians (two that have written books about the incident)and their interpretations of the events that led up to the shooting and the consequences. Burden "Byrd" Marion, a cousin and neighbor, had all charges against him dropped. Other members of the family received long sentences. 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. In the space of 90 seconds, 57 bullets were fired into the Hillsville courthouse, killing five men and wounding three more. [29] Marshall also testified he had been standing near Sheriff Webb, but did not see any pistol in the Sheriff's hand. The house back in 1911 was worth 13,000.00 and was said to be the most beautiful house in South-West Virginia. Made the time yet but never had any children window of his office when two,. 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