actually, theres a lot to read and learn even in a rural place. The next morning, the jury quickly returned a guilty verdict and a sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Floyd, with a concealed pistol, began to shoot, but only after the mayhem began. Floyd had been seriously wounded. In the case of J. Sidna Allen, one of Massies relatives complained that the raw bacon that was seized needed to be sold before it spoiled. 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. The Carroll County Historical Society will host a special presentation of "The Last Witness - A story of Friendship and Trust," an examination of the Courthouse Tragedy in Hillsville on March 14 1912.". Democratic Governor Elbert Lee Trinkle pardoned Friel Allen and Sidna Edwards in 1922. There were also five others wounded, including Floyd Allen. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. 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. I find myself more and more drawn to history. This is the sort of history that gets lost a lot the sensational, headlining tale thats at the front of everyones mind until something even more sensational comes along. The was never a barber shop in this Mayberry, however. The book begins with character sketches of the various parties involved. (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! Yep, I think we do have similar tendencies. With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. He told Sheriff Lewis Webb to take the prisoner. Harry F. Byrd Sr. in the 1920s. - William McDonald Foster, Commonwealths Attorney in 1912, had been a Democrat but turned Republican when he ran for the post. To find the prized ear meant he could kiss any girl there. Most likely, someone had intentionally hidden the drawer to keep people from pawing through and perhaps removing the papers. The announcement of. Carroll County Historical Society and Museum. This is an interesting story of a time long past. March broke cold and rainy in the mountains. On May 18, 1912, the jury found Floyd Allen guilty. [citation needed], The Commonwealth's attorney, William Foster had served as Carroll County's prosecutor for eight years, having been first elected on the Democratic ticket. To see this handwritten verdict, I knew it was the Holy Grail and Exhibit One in the commonwealths case against Floyd Allen, Sadler said. 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. Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. 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. I enjoyed the book even though it took me a while to get into it. [1][4] Floyd had wanted to buy a farm owned by one of his own brothers, but could not agree on a price. The sheriff in Hillsville had the boys arrested there and handed over to his deputies at the state line. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? The answer would soon become obvious. 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? On 13 March 1912, in the Carroll County Circuit Court, Floyd Allen was tried for attacking two deputies who had arrested two of his nephews for fighting and disturbing a religious meeting. The jury found Allen guilty of assault on 14 March and sentenced him to one year in the penitentiary. 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. [4] Sidna was retried and found guilty of perjury in his trial testimony, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. The men were gunned down during one of the most notorious events in Southwest Virginia history. A stolen kiss. In March 1912, there was a shooting at the Carroll County, Courthouse in Hillsville, Virginia. Doing so, the opening details could easily be incorporated into the larger narrative. He was convicted and executed for murder in 1913 after a sensational courthouse shootout the previous year that left a judge, prosecutor, sheriff, and two others dead, although the validity of the conviction has been a source of debate within Carroll County for decades. Floyd Allen jury member, John W. Farris, remarked that they wouldnt be back until they were brought back. Three trials were needed to finally convict Claude. Floyd Allen's son, Victor, bought his father's house so his mother would not have to move. [15] Judge Thornton L. Massie, who had deputized Floyd six months earlier, presided. 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. We are the court of record. As gunmen spilled from the courthouse taking their battle through the downtown streets, the judge, sheriff, and Commonwealth Attorney lay dead in the smoke-filled courtroom. Allen later denied this, but the reported threat caused Samuels to leave the state the same night it was delivered. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. Interesting, the real Mayberry is along the Blue Ridge, in Patrick County, but just east of Carroll County. 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. Their trials took place in Wytheville. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". I should do better and learn more about the area I call home. Court Crime The 1910's Spread the love In 1912 a Carroll County, Virginia, man was sentenced to serve a one year sentence in the state penitentiary. Those documents include indictments, judges instructions, grand jury indictments, trial transcripts, letters and other courtroom exhibits all words left by ghosts. Thousands of people wrote letters to Gov. A Journey to and Beyond the Blackboard - Kim Johnson 2021-07-25 Kim Johnson, or 'Sir', has spent his life striving to achieve outstanding Deputy Clerk Dexter Goad admitted firing the second shot at Floyd, striking him in the pelvis. A nation-wide manhunt was called for by the Governor of Virginia which lasted six months. [citation needed]. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. Such tampering hindered the ability to link bullets to the guns fire or the direction from which they came. His grandfather had taken the round from the courthouse the day of the killings. About; Contact; Links; Search for: Tags. Betty Ayers, an 18-year-old witness, was hit in the back while fleeing the courtroom and died the next day. On March 17, 1916, he stopped for the night in a roadhouse near Mt. )[12], Foster called upon a grand jury to investigate the escape/pistol-whipping incident. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. 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. After all, he agreed hed have the boys in court? Marshall. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Tipton testified he saw Claud Allen in the courthouse with a pistol raised in both hands as if he had just fired it. Former judge David Winton Bolen, who had been present during the shooting as one of Floyd Allen's defense attorneys, was the first witness the prosecution called at Floyd Allen's murder trial. It would take another tragedy, the sinking of the Titanic, to remove the focus from Carroll County. - Thomas Franklin Pink Samuel, the deputy from whom Floyd Allen released his nephews, moved to Amelia County and never testified at the trial. And then, he apparently moved on with life. Indications are that they will clash with the Allen's tonight or early in the morning. [29], Another witness, Walter Petty, also testified that the first shots were fired from the courtroom's northeast corner, where Claud Allen was standing. Also, there were places where the author seemed to go out onto a tangent, such as explaining how electrocution became a means of capital punishment used on Floyd and Claude. Two bullet holes Floyd Allens final shots in the massacre are still visible in the wooden steps. Again it is . Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. An Appalachian Feud Blows Up in 1912 Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime In Carroll . Floyd said that Commonwealth's Attorney Foster would not give him a show;[clarification needed] but that if he did not there would be a "big hole put in the court house." The spotlight returned to the story of the shootout when the centennial of the tragedy was marked in 2012. 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. [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. March 14, 1912 - Hillsville Massacre Hillsville's history has a bit of a dark spot within it; the dark spot is known as the 1912 Courthouse Tragedy which was rivaled in the news only by the devastation known as the Titanic. He found the murder indictment against Sidna Allen, Floyds brother who would be convicted and serve more than 13 years in prison. Wesley was sentenced to sixty days and his brother thirty, which were served outside jail on work-release. [20], Sidna Allen denied that he shot Judge Massie, or that he fired at Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, Sheriff Webb, or at Juror Fowler. . Mob violence, the court. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. As I always read about where I am living and I spent several summers directing a church camp that was about a dozen miles north of Ketchum. That said, I am glad to have read the book and Ive learned more about this area. [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. On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. Others were captured. [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. 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. Again, no thorough investigation of the courtroom happened, and the scene was almost immediately compromised by people who dug bullets out of the walls with pocketknives to keep as souvenirs. The animosity derived from a feud between Thomas father, George W. Thomas, and Floyd Allen. Look after this now. HILLSVILLE, Va. On a cold March morning in 1912, this Blue Ridge Mountain town would change forever when gunfire erupted in the Carroll County Courthouse. A second shot entered the back about four inches lower, while a third shot cut the sheriff across the chin. 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. Witnesses said she never looked Floyds way. Floyd admitted that he mightve gotten rough with Samuels. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. 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