hillsville 1912: a shooting in the court30 Mar hillsville 1912: a shooting in the court
Was Clerk of Carroll County Circuit Court During the Famous Allen Trial. The jury found Allen guilty of assault on 14 March and sentenced him to one year in the penitentiary. 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. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Allen and Goad had butted heads before. Ralph Berrier Jr. is a writer who lives in Roanoke. Gilmer accompanied the body on a short train ride from Sylvatus to Pulaski, where a throng of mourners awaited, Sadler said. Many accounts claim that Allen initiated the confrontation by pulling a gun in court. [37] Allen's death sentence was deeply unpopular with Allen supporters in the county, but many other residents were unsympathetic, surprised by the deaths of so many people over Floyd Allen's refusal to serve a year in prison. To be honest, nothing in the more than 180 pages of court papers adds any new information to the well-researched story of the shootout and its equally tragic aftermath. "[4], Judge Jackson recalled a trial in 1904 in which Allen was convicted of assaulting a neighbor, Noah Combs. Sadler pored over available documents from the murder trials, but he lamented that many original 1912 exhibits were lost. Jack came to and shot Floyd which ended the affair. It was Thomas and his father who swore out warrants for the Edwards brothers as a result of the fight at the schoolhouse/church the next day. He never wrote a damn word about the most significant event in his life, Sadler said. Preserve America is a federal initiative that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. View over 100 different photos - art pieces about the 1912 courthouse tragedy and Allen family from Cana, VA in this. [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. Others state that Miss Iroller's father, who had never approved of his daughter's romance with Wesley Edwards, tipped off the detectives that Maude was going to Des Moines to marry him. He only lived 7 years after the trial. Sadler took the file drawer to a vault in the courthouse and dove into the trove. Airy, North Carolina. actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. Interesting story. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. V. Ray Bowman, Self: Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court. Officers often had a violent past. Marshall. 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. Sadler knew the family lore that Judge Massie had died in his grandfathers arms, and that Gilmer had helped transport the judges remains back to Pulaski, and he even helped a mortician examine the corpse. [citation needed], Cousins Claud Allen and Sidna Edwards were soon arrested after a brief search. [2] Samuels again pulled his gun on Floyd. The jury fixed the penalty at fifteen years in the penitentiary. Hall thinks that Sheriff Webb, who was carrying a borrowed gun, might have fired accidentally. 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. Two of the participants were executed and the others received lengthy prison sentences. However, Goad denied firing the first shot in the fusillade. The announcement of. On the morning of March 14, 1912, Mr. Floyd Allen stood in the Carroll County courtroom to hear the verdict of his peers. It lays the foundation of the events of that tragic story from March 1912.. Democratic Governor Elbert Lee Trinkle pardoned Friel Allen and Sidna Edwards in 1922. . On March 14, 1912, Floyd stood in the Hillsville, Va. courthouse, convicted of interfering with police business and assaulting a deputy sheriff. - In 1912, the Carroll County courtroom was some 20 feet shorter than it is today. 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. Friel Allen gave himself up to detectives in the company of his father, Jack Allen, who worried his son might be killed while being apprehended. No autopsies were performed. [4] Sidna was retried and found guilty of perjury in his trial testimony, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. An Appalachian Feud Blows Up in 1912 Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime In Carroll . [29] Marshall also testified he had been standing near Sheriff Webb, but did not see any pistol in the Sheriff's hand. 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. B. Katherine survived until 1960. [6], Sidna Allen pleaded guilty and received a total of 35 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, and for second-degree murder of Judge Massie. In several instances he escaped indictment, I am satisfied, because the witnesses were afraid to testify to the facts before the grand jury. One can wonder if that was a sign that she blamed her husband for the tragic calamity that befell the family. I like how youre reading books about where you live. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. You do have some interesting local history. [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. There were, however, nearly 20 Allen men among the spectators in the courtroom. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? He asked her if she was hurt or mashed and her sister-in-law responded that she was just scared. Please visit their website for more information. Floyd Allens case had been continued a couple of times before he finally appeared in court for a two-day trial that started on March 12, 1912. [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. 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. Located in the Fancy Gap community near I-77 Exit 14. 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. 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. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court 7,494 views Jan 8, 2011 42 Dislike Share Save Bill Perrine 320 subscribers A brief trailer for the upcoming documentary about the 1912 Hillsville. Just a Presbyterian Church and a store. 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. Family loyalty also played a role as the Allen/Edwards family stuck together to protect the Edward boys and later Floyd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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. Ive already read four books and have another four lined up to read!. The documents found their way to Wytheville because that was the site of the ensuing trials that followed the shootout, the venue having been moved from Hillsville where anger against the defendants boiled. No one secured the courthouse as a crime scene. 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. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court at Amazon.com. Hall himself had asked Horney, who died in 2020, about the whereabouts of the trial exhibits while doing his own research. Witnesses said she never looked Floyds way. The new system appointed a full-time judge to hold court at scheduled intervals in a circuit of several counties. Foster married Katherine Tipton in 1894 and had 5 children by 1912. 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. [18], Seven others were wounded, including Deputy Clerk Goad and Floyd Allen. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. [1], In his testimony at his murder trial, Floyd Allen admitted he had fired at Deputy Clerk Quesinberry and again twice more at other unknown persons once he had left the courthouse.[28]. The Carroll County prosecutor placed liens on all property owned by Floyd Allen and Sidna Allen for the heirs of the victims. 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 Hillsville Massacre By Seth Williamson Nobody knows who fired the first shot that cold, gray day, but before it was over, four lay dead, one was dying, and Carroll County would never be the same again. Massie had been urged by Foster and Goad to disarm the throng before the trail began. Massie sentenced Allen to one year in prison. Sidna Allen maintained until the end of his life that this informant was Maude Iroller, Wesley's fiancee, who provided information on the fugitives' location in exchange for $500 from the detective agency. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court is a 70 minute film that will be presented to The History Channel and PBS, and entered in film festivals across the US. The legend also claims that the marker was removed as a condition of Sidna Allens pardon in 1926 after he served 14 years. "[26], County Treasurer J. [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. William Hodges Mann from Hillsvilles one outside line brought the famed Baldwin-Felts detectives to town the next day. For a while, Hillsville was at the top of the nations newspaper. As historian Ron Hall wrote in his book: And for a moment, the world stopped.. Of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun urged by foster and Goad disarm! Wounded, including Deputy Clerk Goad and Floyd Allen and Sidna Edwards were soon after... Sidna Edwards were soon arrested after a brief search her sister-in-law responded that she her! The nations newspaper tragedy and Allen family from Cana, VA in this preserve America is writer! 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