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. Allen was noted for his generosity, but also his quick temper and easily injured pride. Like this one, I often find they could have used some rearranging to keep ones interest but I almost always enjoy them. Massie refused, saying he was there to prosecute, not persecute.. - Nancy Elizabeth Betty Ayers was shot in the back just about the beltline and just to the right of her spine. 1912 SIDNA ALLEN CRIMINAL HOUSE FANCY GAP HILLSVILLE VA COURT SHOOTING ~ A1 (#185771767538) s***s (604) - Feedback left by buyer s***s (604). Eventually, Carroll County deputies Thomas Pink Samuels and Peter Easter nabbed the brothers in North Carolina, shackled them and loaded them on a wagon for the long ride up the mountain, passing by Sidna Allens home and store in Fancy Gap where they were met by none other than a hot-tempered Floyd Allen, who was angered that his kinfolk were hog-tied in a wagon like livestock being carted to market. 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 Again, no investigation was made at the scene. 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. 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. [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. There are still questions to be answered, but they probably never will be answered. In a presentation he called The Last Witness, he recounted his grandfathers story and reminded people that, with the return of the trial documents to Carroll County, they were all watching history unfold. B. 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. The girl he chose to kiss led to a later fight at a church and resulted in a warrant for his arrest. Floyd? [10] Rather than face arrest, the two men fled over the state line to North Carolina, where they found jobs in a granite quarry. Floyd Allen was born in 1856 and spent much of his life living in Cana, Virginia, located below Fancy Gap Mountain in Carroll County. Bowman grew up in Hillsville, VA where the county seat is located, and has nurtured a life-long fascination with this story. Was it Floyds son Claude? Some of the detectives bragged about how many miners theyd killed. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. (Walter Allen had lost the bitterly fought race. During my term of office Floyd Allen was several times charged with violations of law. Maybe he didnt want anybody else rifling through those things, Hall said. Airy. 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. [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. 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. Later, Foster changed to the Republican party, and by 1912 was a prominent leader in the GOP in Carroll County, being elected the last time on the Republican ticket. Floyd said he did it peacefully and lawfully, claiming that the deputies did not have proper warrants for arrest. - Commonwealths Attorney, William McDonald Foster, was a brother-in-law to one of Floyd Allens defense attorneys; Walter Scott Tipton. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, 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. The definitive history, Mr. Ron Halls Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy is still published and is available at the Museum bookstore. The author is honest and at many times in the book admits we wont know for sure what happened. At a church service the next morning conducted by Wesley's uncle, Garland Allen, Thomas reportedly called out Wesley into a fight. Please visit their website for more information. [2] His pistol empty, Allen proceeded to beat Jack with the butt of his empty revolver. With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. The oldest, continuously operating . 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? However, no extradition order was issued. But the storys roots go further back and involve politics, rivalries, clannishness, thuggery, vengeance and even a little geography. 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. Wow. Look after this now. Howard Sadlers grandfather, Howard Gilmer, who died before Sadler was born, carried the enormity of the tragedy with him throughout his short life. This story could have been written in a Creative Non-Fiction genre. [25], Deputy Sheriff George W. Edwards, who became the sheriff of Carroll County after Sheriff Webb's death, testified that, as a deputy sheriff at the time, he had spoken with Floyd Allen just after Allen learned of his indictment. 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. The town's name was changed to Hillsville in the late 1820s to honor a local family. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. A few weeks ago, that trove of documents related to the shootout and subsequent trials made its way back to Carroll County, where the whole mess started. Many accounts claim that Allen initiated the confrontation by pulling a gun in court. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. See details- ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK - HILLSVILLE 1912: A SHOOTING IN THE COURT: A FAMILY BECAME Buy It Now Add to cart Watch Sold bymoviemars (2843836)97.1% Positive feedbackContact seller About this product Product Identifiers Record Label CD Baby UPC 0884501678674 eBay Product ID (ePID) 28046038825 Product Key Features Artist Conner & Miller Format Matt, somewhere I have a collection of Idaho booksmostly from the Sawtooth areaI could lend. "Floyd Allen Defense Gets Well Into Case", Bluefield, W. Va.: "Accuses Dexter Goad Of Shooting Betty Ayers". 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. His grandfather had taken the round from the courthouse the day of the killings. Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. Newport News nuprt - -prt -6 is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. Such tampering hindered the ability to link bullets to the guns fire or the direction from which they came. He teased Horney about Wythe County losing such valuable historical artifacts. [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. Those old papers were lost or stolen, Horney replied. [2] Wesley Edwards tried to grapple with Easter, but Easter got away and fired a shot at Floyd as he did so, wounding Floyd in the finger. In 2015 or so, Sadler also found a .38 caliber bullet among the keepsakes. In the 1960s, a boisterous flea market and liquor store owner in Cana named Rufus Gardner took up the Allens cause and found two men who claimed one of Goads assistants admitted to firing first at Floyd Allen. "Allen Boys Tell of Shooting", Bluefield, West Virginia: "State Closes Case In Sidna Allen Trial". Photo by Ralph Berrier Jr. www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html, The politics of March pressing assault chargesagainst Williams. Floyd Allen jury member, John W. Farris, remarked that they wouldnt be back until they were brought back. 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. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, some jurors and others shot on the conviction of Floyd Allen for a felony. Accounts differ as to who actually fired the first shot. 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. Floyd admitted that he mightve gotten rough with Samuels. Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . One bullet entered the back and ranged upward, lodging directly under the collarbone. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. Floyd said Goad and Foster were part of a privileged clique, according to Hall, one that would never include the likes of Floyd or his family. Maybe so, but people just keep coming back to this story. There is still question as to what happened and who shot first. (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! Family loyalty also played a role as the Allen/Edwards family stuck together to protect the Edward boys and later Floyd. I enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to get into it. SIDNA ALLEN'S TERM FIXED AT 35 YEARS; Head of Hillsville Clan Sentenced for Killing of Three Court Officials. Ralph Berrier Jr. is a writer who lives in Roanoke. 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. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. - Sidna Edwards presence at Floyd Allens trial was requested by Floyds lawyers. When Floyd Allen's case was set for trial, rumors arose that he had sent word to Deputy Samuels that he would kill Samuels if the deputy testified against him. He was called Pink because of a birthmark on his cheek. [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. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. They, too, were captured by Felts and his men, as Sidna Allen came to believe that Wesleys girlfriend back home had betrayed them. 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. [10][39] Shortly after the Allen trials, law enforcement officers found a still in an old house on Burden Marion's farm, and he was arrested for making illegal liquor. [3] He had a history of violent altercations, including shooting a black man in North Carolina, beating a police officer in Mount Airy and later shooting his own cousin. Others were captured. 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.). Those involved on the Allen side ran away. I find myself more and more drawn to history. I was distraught over the recent rush to execute in our country. 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. - Floyd Allen had a long history of serving the law in Carroll County as a deputy sheriff and was, in fact, a special policeman at the time of the tragedy. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. - William Fosters daughter, Aline, married George Ellison Bud Edwards in 1917. [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". On the cold spring morning of March 14, 1912, shots rang out in the tiny, rural, mountain town of Hillsville, Virginia. He had them handcuffed and tied up with a rope. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. As if entitled, they took what they wanted or needed. After getting down the steps he leaned against the window of his office when two girls, Dora and Elizabeth Ayers, passed him. 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. [1] Allen, who was before the bar for sentencing after being convicted of taking a prisoner from a deputy sheriff, allegedly triggered the shooting at the Carroll County Courthouse in Hillsville on March 14, 1912. 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. We are the court of record. [6], Despite their history of violence, the Allens held considerable political power, and Allen had a reputation for courage. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court Gerald Goad sits behind the drawer that holds long-lost documents from the murder trials that followed the infamous "Courthouse Massacre" in 1912. Allen had been convicted of a serious offense interfering with a deputy (beating up a deputy was closer to the truth) to release his nephews from custody but nothing so serious that rose to the level of instigating a deadly shootout. The ex On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. 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. Interesting, the real Mayberry is along the Blue Ridge, in Patrick County, but just east of Carroll County. [1] Combs wanted the land badly enough to pay the asking price and bought it despite Floyd Allen's warnings not to "butt in. 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