- Floyd Allen was tried in 1903 for shooting his first cousin, Noah Combs, and was sentenced to spend 1 hour in jail and pay a fine. Gerald Goad, Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court, engineered the transfer of the documents from Wytheville to Hillsville. [2] In May 1889, Floyd's brothers, Garland and Sidna Allen, were tried for carrying concealed pistols and assaulting a group of thirteen men. The grand posse, as Sidna Allen would mockingly call them in his memoirs, rode horses, carried shotguns and rifles and posed for pictures even though they spent a lot of time flailing through the woods in search of the Allens. Recognizing the need for immediate action, assistant clerk S. Floyd Landreth sent a telegram to Democratic Governor William Hodges Mann which read: Send troops to the County of Carroll at once. Please visit their website for more information. Then a cacophony of gunfire. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. [8] Only a month later, their petition for executive clemency was granted by Governor Claude A. Swanson, restoring their political rights to hold office. He defeated the son of Jasper Jack Allen for the position. It also hired Baldwin-Felt hired detectives (a group like the Pinkertons). With the death of the Sheriff and so many of the Allens on the loose, the state sent help. And then, he apparently moved on with life. 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. "[1] Not long afterward, Allen shot and wounded Combs, and was indicted and tried on charges of assault. Floyd admitted that he mightve gotten rough with Samuels. - William Sidna Edwards, the nephew of Floyd Allen, was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a result of the Courthouse Tragedy, although he never fired a shot. 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. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. [29] Marshall then related that Sidna Allen's bullet buried itself in the window about six inches above his head. Was Clerk of Carroll County Circuit Court During the Famous Allen Trial. Newport News nuprt - -prt -6 is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. 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. Sidna Edwards pleaded guilty in August 1912 to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to 15 years in the penitentiary. He told Sheriff Lewis Webb to take the prisoner. 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. He was with his brother when the shooting occurred and was in jail with him when a vigilante mob took his brother into the jail yard and killed him. Director Rick Bowman Writers Rick Bowman Bill Perrine Stars He only picked up Victors gun when he left it in the hotel room on the morning of March 14th. - As a result of the deaths that occurred in the courtroom in 1912, the entire estates of Floyd and J. Sidna Allen were seized in settlement of wrongful death suits by the families of Massie, Foster and Webb. [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. - Arresting officer Oscar Monday was the step-brother of the Edwards brothers. He apparently also hopes that the early hour will serve to dampen the spirits of the Allens. 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. - Sidna Edwards presence at Floyd Allens trial was requested by Floyds lawyers. People who have researched the shootout long knew that Judge Massie had instructed Foster to re-write the jury verdict in proper legal language just minutes after it had been handed down, but no one knew precisely what Foster had actually written until the discovery of the Allen documents. 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. 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. [1] Sentenced by the jury to an hour in jail and a $100 fine, plus costs, Allen immediately posted bail pending an appeal. Bake . Ronald W. Hall,The Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy(2013 printing, Hillsville VA: Carroll County Historical Society,1998). Friel settled in Inglewood, CA where he married twice, but never had any children. 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 once got in a tangle over a business deal with his younger brother Jasper Jack Allen, who might have been the toughest Allen of them all, and the two men shot and wounded each other. 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. In April 1926, Governor Harry Flood Byrd pardoned Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards. Or the Clerk of Court Dexter Goad, who seems to have first pulled a gun? There were, however, nearly 20 Allen men among the spectators in the courtroom. Others were captured. Allen rose to his feet and calmly said, "Gentlemen, I ain't goin'." Floyd Allen was well represented by a two-attorney team. How can you have seven murder trials in Wythe County and not have any exhibits whatsoever? Sadler often asked. Ninety seconds later, 57 bullets had been fired. However, Sidna Allen and his nephew, Wesley Edwards, fled Virginia. 1982-2023 The Carroll County Historical Society, INC. - The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum website, The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum, Welcome To The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum Website, Family Search.org | Carroll County, Virginia Genealogy, Family Search.org | Grayson County, Virginia Genealogy, Mount Airy, NC Museum of Regional History. View Map and Driving Directions Phone: (276) 728-2594 Wesley was sentenced to sixty days and his brother thirty, which were served outside jail on work-release. [4], In another instance, while arguing over the administration of their father's estate, Allen got into a gunfight with his own brother, Jasper, known as "Jack", a local constable. Gilmer accompanied the body on a short train ride from Sylvatus to Pulaski, where a throng of mourners awaited, Sadler said. "Claude Allen First To Fire At Hillsville". [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. Not knowing all the details, I wasnt sure what to do with this information. [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. Foster was a political enemy of the Allens, who had supported Jack Allen's son, Walter, as Democratic candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney against Foster in the last election. Its small enough for that to be possible I suspect. As gunmen spilled from the courthouse taking their battle through the downtown streets, the judge, sheriff, and the Commonwealth Attorney lay dead in the smoke-filled courtroom. Wow. 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. This film is currently in development. She was shot on Thursday morning and lived until early the next morning. [26] He also testified that he saw the crowd come out of the court house, and recognized Floyd and Sidna Allen as the last to leave, both of them following and firing as they backed out, apparently in response to fire coming from within the courthouse. 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. I like that youre reading up on your new home. [34] Sidna Allen claimed that when he left the courthouse, Goad followed behind him, shooting him through the left arm, the bullet lodging in his left side. - After his release from prison in 1922, Friel Allen came back to Hillsville and had Attorney John Alderman arrange a meeting with Dexter Goad. [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. Floyd called home to have his son, Victor, bring him to court on Wednesday, March 13th. Baldwin-Felts detectives traveled to Des Moines, arrested the suspects, and returned them to Carroll County to stand trial. [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. After the shooting, because of the number of Allens in Carroll County, they housed the prisoners in Roanoke. Find the cheapest option or how to watch with a free trial. His grandfather had taken the round from the courthouse the day of the killings. Bowman grew up in Hillsville, VA where the county seat is located, and has nurtured a life-long fascination with this story. 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. [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. - Old timers said that when Wesley kissed the McCraw girl at the cornshucking, it wasnt out of affection for her, it was to irritate her boyfriend, John William Thomas. Much of the information was gleaned from Halls book, The Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy, and other sources. [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. The historical society has raised thousands of dollars and conducted much-needed remodeling work in order to resume free tours, with the next public opening happening June 4-5. Mr. Alderman said Friel and Dexter met privately for about half an hour and shook hands at the end of their meeting. 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