So was the judge. Ive already read four books and have another four lined up to read!. This sideline didnt add to the story. The play was still occasionally performed before the pandemic. [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. Sadlers research took him to the Wythe County Courthouse, where he befriended Hayden H. Horney, the longtime circuit court clerk. B. Marshall testified that when the shooting started he turned to escape the courthouse. With the entry of the United States into World. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. "[16] The judge immediately sentenced Floyd Allen to one year's imprisonment.[16]. He was called Pink because of a birthmark on his cheek. If done right, this sounds as though it could make for a captivating film. Ralph Berrier Jr. is a writer who lives in Roanoke. The answer would soon become obvious. Again it is . You do have some interesting local history. The Carroll County Historical Society, INC. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 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. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Hall has done an outstanding job researching this subjectt. [citation needed]. If the Blacksburg-Roanoke-Lynchburg area wants a regional tech hub, here's a chance to help write the rules, Beware the Ides of March; bloom-busting cold likely lurks. Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. There are still questions to be answered, but they probably never will be answered. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. Massie had been urged by Foster and Goad to disarm the throng before the trail began. The jury fixed the penalty at fifteen years in the penitentiary. Movies. He only picked up Victors gun when he left it in the hotel room on the morning of March 14th. [23], Another prosecution witness was Floyd Allen's other attorney, Walter S. Tipton. The significance of this event to Carroll County is profound, Sadler said. He apparently also hopes that the early hour will serve to dampen the spirits of the Allens. View over 100 different photos - art pieces about the 1912 courthouse tragedy and Allen family from Cana, VA in this. He has a wonderful essay in there titled The American Geographies. He speaks of the need to understand the stories, the voices of memory over the land. I think that is why I always insist on exploring my neighborhoods by walking (or on bicycle) and reading about them. I find myself more and more drawn to history. Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. Please call to schedule an appointment. Floyd? I like that youre reading up on your new home. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Even the accused, Floyd Allen, carried a pistol. Victor Allen also asserted that Claud had taken Victor's handgun as the two left their hotel in Hillsville on that morning. In the confusion there was a lot of shooting. Despite taking his nephews to jail himself, Floyd was accused that he did feloniously and forcably [sic] rescue his nephews, according to a grand jury indictment. To this day, 110 years later, nobody who has studied this notorious event can say with any assurance who fired that catastrophic first shot. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. And then, he apparently moved on with life. . All men were pardoned by Gov. 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. The bullet came up under the skin of her right breast. Yep, I think we do have similar tendencies. 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. While the state legislature still appointed circuit judges, the new system reduced the ability of individual delegates to ensure that their preferred judge was selected for their particular county; furthermore, judges could no longer practice law for private clients while on the bench, and as regional judges their susceptibility to local influence and public opinion was reduced. The 1912 documents referred to in this story were scanned and digitally archived by Delilah Brady, a volunteer and director for the Carroll County Historical Society and Museum. Airy). He began his sentence in August 1913, and died of pneumonia in prison on November 25, 1913.[A]. 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. [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. Maybe he didnt want anybody else rifling through those things, Hall said. [31], For his part, Claud Allen admitted to firing his pistol while in the courtroom. Allen and Goad had butted heads before. Many of Allen clan members were spectators in the courtroom, most of them armed with pistols. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. Mr. Alderman said Friel and Dexter met privately for about half an hour and shook hands at the end of their meeting. [4] His defense team included former Commonwealth's Attorney Walter Tipton and recent County Court Judge Oglesby. But a year later the Hillsvile courthouse tragedy occurred and Sidna and his wife had only lived there a year. [29] Marshall then related that Sidna Allen's bullet buried itself in the window about six inches above his head. March broke cold and rainy in the mountains. This is the actual foundation of all of the story, said Goad, whose own great-great-uncle, Dexter Goad, was a Carroll clerk of court who traded bullets with the Allens on that tragic day. WALTERBORO, S.C. ( WCSC /Gray News) - Attorneys in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial are expected to deliver their closing arguments beginning Wednesday after jurors visited the scene of the killings . 11218 The Roanoker - Hillsville Massacre Industrial Survey - Carroll County (NOTE a 1929 publication) Media The Carroll News Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. The exciting story of the Allen family and the officials who tried to bring them to justice. 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. 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 The remaining prisoners received pardons (from a different governor) in the 1920s. Too many other projects. - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. 10994 Hillsville Masscre Sidna Allen, No. Supposedly Floyd said, as the Sheriff and the Clerk of the Court approached to take him into custody, Im not going. The shooting then started. Airy? More leniency was given to the other Allens and their family members. One day in the fall of 2016, when Sadler was in Wytheville doing more research on a Friday afternoon, Horney called him into his office. What follows is a genuine effort to accurately summarize the tragedy and the events that led to the bloodshed. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. Floyd Allen grew up in a large family in southern Carroll County, raised on a farm wedged between the North Carolina border and the front wall of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 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. William Hodges Mann from Hillsvilles one outside line brought the famed Baldwin-Felts detectives to town the next day. Not knowing all the details, I wasnt sure what to do with this information. [10] Rather than face arrest, the two men fled over the state line to North Carolina, where they found jobs in a granite quarry. Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. [26] Gilmer testified he heard two shots in quick succession, after which there was a slight interval and then a great volley of firing. Floyd Allen was the first to be brought to trial on a charge of murdering Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, and Commonwealth's Attorney Foster. Seems like everybody from Carroll County has some connection to this story. [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. [20] Sidna Edwards had scalded his foot some years before and was partially lame, and limped out of the courthouse, riding his mother's horse back to his home. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jurys imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. [1] Combs wanted the land badly enough to pay the asking price and bought it despite Floyd Allen's warnings not to "butt in. People were struck, some were wounded, some killed instantly. [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. [33] He denied firing a gun during the courthouse shootings, and stated that he did not see who fired the first shot, but thought that it came from the vicinity of Deputy Clerk Goad's desk. I just can't bear to see anyone drug around."[13]. 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. Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad admitted firing the second shot at Floyd, striking him in the pelvis. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. There were, however, nearly 20 Allen men among the spectators in the courtroom. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The phone hasn't stopped ringing in the. - Nancy Elizabeth Betty Ayers was shot in the back just about the beltline and just to the right of her spine. [8] On February 1, 1908, the Allens were convicted of the charge and sentenced to ten days in jail and a fine of $10. 2023 TheTVDB.com, A Whip Media Company. [11] On the way to the courthouse, the buggy passed by several properties owned by the Allens. [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. The courtroom buzzed. He pointed toward what appeared to Sadler to be a metal file. 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. After the shooting, because of the number of Allens in Carroll County, they housed the prisoners in Roanoke. This film is currently in development. 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. According to Floyd Allen's defense attorney, David Winton Bolen, "[Floyd] hesitated a moment, and then he aroseHe looked to me like a man who was about to say something, and had hardly made up his mind what he was going to say, but as he got straight, he moved off to my left, I would say five or six feet, and he seemed to gain his speech, and he said something like this, 'I just tell you, I ain't a'going. . View Map and Driving Directions Phone: (276) 728-2594 And forensic science was almost non-existent, at least in rural areas. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. - Sidna Edwards presence at Floyd Allens trial was requested by Floyds lawyers. Maybe so, but people just keep coming back to this story. 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. The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. Not only the sheriff and deputies, but Goad and Foster. When it was over the judge and the sheriff laid dead. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. Petty also witnessed a pistol duel between Sidna Allen and Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad. Who fired their pistol first? Explore the latest videos from hashtags: #truckspottinginthe717 . More than fifty bullets were later recovered from the shooting scene. He found trial transcripts. I enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to get into it. - Thomas Franklin Pink Samuel, the deputy from whom Floyd Allen released his nephews, moved to Amelia County and never testified at the trial. One can wonder if that was a sign that she blamed her husband for the tragic calamity that befell the family. Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. 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. In 1921, however, Victor moved his family to Tabernacle Township, New Jersey. I oppose capital punishment (although if you heard what I sometimes say about certain characters on tv, you might doubt that). Officers often had a violent past. 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. 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. 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