Those involved on the Allen side ran away. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jurys imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. At least two of the participants, Judge Massie and Sheriff Webb, had told friends that they expected trouble. It is the county seat of Carroll County and the only incorporated community in the county. Did Floyd force their release or were they released into his custody? These mostly came from recent labor disputes in coal country and their mannerism didnt endure them to anyone, it seems. Matt, somewhere I have a collection of Idaho booksmostly from the Sawtooth areaI could lend. Its small enough for that to be possible I suspect. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. Both, Walter Scott Tipton and David Winton Bolen, were retired Carroll County judges. The trouble started with a kiss. Later, the Thomas boy and others scrapped with the Edwards boys outside a church service, with the Edwards brothers getting the best of their rivals. Why does Carroll County have the lowest vaccination rate in Virginia? In one case, after having ridden their horses to death, two of them took a mans mules from his plow in the middle of the field. Perhaps the hardest thing for an outsider to understand is the frequently heard claim that the subject is dead. Floyd, wounded too badly in the hip, thigh and knee to leave town, instead spent the night in the Elliott Hotel accompanied by his eldest son, Victor, who was later acquitted of involvement in the shootout. The documents were found in the basement of the Wythe County Courthouse and have now been returned to Carroll County. 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. 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. The police of 1912 were not exactly professional. His grandfather, Howard Gilmer, was a young attorney who had been in Hillsville that day, and he was one of the last people to comfort the mortally wounded judge, Thornton Massie, Gilmers neighbor and mentor back home in Pulaski. Now, thanks to Gerald Goads interest in this, the return of these documents can be part of a healing process. Hall has done an outstanding job researching this subjectt. As the smoke cleared the sheriff, judge, and the common wealth attorney all lay dead. When it was over the judge and the sheriff laid dead. Was it Floyds son Claude? I just can't bear to see anyone drug around."[13]. Massie, Foster, Webb and juror Augustus Fowler died in the courtroom. This sideline didnt add to the story. "You have no idea how much it means to me for you to be here today. Sidna was released from prison, but he never set foot in his fine house again. Take care, my friend! Such stories as you mention, deserve being told. While there, Wesley kissed a girl who was romantically linked to a local youth, Will Thomas, which led to an altercation between the two young men. Gerald Goad, Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court, engineered the transfer of the documents from Wytheville to Hillsville. As Sadler studied his grandmothers old scrapbooks, he found a copy of a letter that he had written to state legislators nearly 20 years after the shootout. Allen also had political run-ins with Foster, who switched parties from Democrat to Republican in order to defeat an Allen relative for the prosecutors post. Soon afterwards, folks dug bullets buried in the walls as souvenirs. But the governor refused. - Arresting officer Oscar Monday was the step-brother of the Edwards brothers. "The Courthouse Massacre? Theres Fosters handwriting and then you realize that within five or six minutes, he was dead. There was a massive effort for the governor to commute the sentences of Claude and Floyd, including a petition with over 100,000 signatures. Bolen had been standing next to Floyd Allen, and was facing Judge Massie when the first shots struck the judge's robes. [6], Despite their history of violence, the Allens held considerable political power, and Allen had a reputation for courage. Floyd? Brothers Wesley and Sidna Edwards (not to be confused with their uncle, Sidna Allen, Floyds brother), attended a corn-shucking party, a country frolic where folks played music, drank liquor on the side and, yes, shucked corn. The next witness was Sidney Towe, who largely corroborated the testimony of Sheriff Edwards. The home is owned by Bert and Marlene Widener, who offer tours by appointment. It sounded like Mayberry, but only for a moment! [32], Sidna Edwards testified that he was not armed on the day of the shooting and that he did not like to carry guns. 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. Edwards was one of those involved in the fight at the church with the Edwards brothers and went on to be County Sheriff for numerous terms. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. A nation-wide manhunt was called for by the Governor of Virginia which lasted six months. 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. Two of the participants were executed and the others received lengthy prison sentences. The documents dont answer the seemingly unsolvable questions that have lingered in the air like gun smoke for 110 years. Then he found the original Floyd Allen indictment that bore William Fosters final written words. 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. 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. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. Howard Gilmer testified during the subsequent murder trials about the judges fatal bullet wound. [2] His pistol empty, Allen proceeded to beat Jack with the butt of his empty revolver. Most of the documents from the subsequent murder trials that followed the shootout had been lost or were thought to have been lost or stolen. 10995 Wesley Edwards, No. Bringing in Sheaves: The Western Revivals of the Reverend A. In March 1912, there was a shooting at the Carroll County, Courthouse in Hillsville, Virginia. Courthouse Productions will stage "Thunder in the Hills" again at the historic Carroll County Courthouse, North Main Street, Hillsville, Virginia, beginning April 7. 11218 The Roanoker - Hillsville Massacre Industrial Survey - Carroll County (NOTE a 1929 publication) Media The Carroll News At one time, there was another store and a tannery and a number of dairies and some local micro-distilleries (before they became popular or legal). Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. At a church service the next morning conducted by Wesley's uncle, Garland Allen, Thomas reportedly called out Wesley into a fight. The last and fifth shot went into the calf of the leg and when his trousers were removed, a .32 caliber bullet was discovered. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. [2], Floyd Allen met the buggy south of Sidna Allen's home as he was on the way to his own home. Most of the Allens and their cohorts escaped initially, but an emergency call to Virginia Gov. [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 Allens could be a rough bunch, who fought with and shot at enemies which they had no shortage of, apparently and even each other. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56171 Ft: Aussens@iter (tobias_weber), Gerd Kohlmeier, Audio Podcast WordPress Theme By VWThemes, Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers Killed August 1, 1921, World War I Anti-Conscription Movement 1917, https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/49746687/download.mp3, The Hatfields and the McCoys: After the Feud, http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/41284. The courtroom buzzed. In some ways, the county never recovered from that day. 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. People were struck, some were wounded, some killed instantly. [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. The animosity derived from a feud between Thomas father, George W. Thomas, and Floyd Allen. He proved to be right. Photo courtesy Carroll County Historical Society and Museum Howard Gilmer was a young attorney and protege of Judge Thornton Massie, who cradled the dying judge during his last moments in the courtroom. "[26], County Treasurer J. More by Ralph Berrier Jr. Support Cardinal News and connect with more than 13,000 of our most engaged readers by sponsoring a Cardinal News newsletter. Two were executed and a number went to prison for their part in the tragedy. Allen and several members of his family immediately fled the courtroom but were later captured and convicted of murder. The answer would soon become obvious. More than fifty bullets were later recovered from the shooting scene. Mr. Allen stood and declared, "Gentlemen, I ain't a goin'." It is amazing how nothing changes Today, a story gets retold till its stale, unless something big happens to push it off the headlines.