[2] His pistol empty, Allen proceeded to beat Jack with the butt of his empty revolver. 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. Floyd stood up, his hands fidgeting with the bottom of his sweater, and he spoke his defiant words. [2] In May 1889, Floyd's brothers, Garland and Sidna Allen, were tried for carrying concealed pistols and assaulting a group of thirteen men. Director Rick Bowman Writers Rick Bowman Bill Perrine Stars Allen was noted for his generosity, but also his quick temper and easily injured pride. When all the smoke cleared, there were five dead, seven wounded. He began his sentence in August 1913, and died of pneumonia in prison on November 25, 1913.[A]. The U.S. Revenue Service had sent Deputy Agent Faddis to investigate reports of illegal liquor trafficking by the Allens. [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. [8], In 1910, Sidna Allen was tried in the United States court at Greensboro, North Carolina for making twenty-dollar counterfeit coins. He found the murder indictment against Sidna Allen, Floyds brother who would be convicted and serve more than 13 years in prison. "[16] The judge immediately sentenced Floyd Allen to one year's imprisonment.[16]. Seems like everybody from Carroll County has some connection to this story. Katherine survived until 1960. A large collection of portrait photos, newspaper accounts, and a marvelous diorama of the 1912 courtroom scene are on display in the historic courthouse, as is the collection of folk marquetry furniture made by J. Sidna Allen. Some later turned themselves in. [5] Floyd's body bore the scars of thirteen bullet wounds, five of them inflicted in quarrels with his own family. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court - Actors and actresses. Who shot whom? Two others had been shot and would soon diethe jury foreman and a 19-year-old girl who had testified against Allen. Watch popular content from the following creators: RealAppalachia(@realappalachia), KK(@hillsvillehillbilly), Simon(@simonogrinc), Deitrich Cribbs(@big_tipper), VIVI SHARMA(@srvsharma81) . The goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving the country's cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities. 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. Upon conviction of interfering with an officer of the law, Judge Thornton Massie oversaw the jurys imposed sentence of one year imprisonment. COOPERSTOWN NEW YORK POSTCARD~Orphanage Building/House~Cart 1911 (#185750574261) l***n (1544) - Feedback left by buyer l***n (1544). I like how youre reading books about where you live. Gerald Goad said the documents needed to be back in Carroll County. [4] Sidna was retried and found guilty of perjury in his trial testimony, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The remaining prisoners received pardons (from a different governor) in the 1920s. This sideline didnt add to the story. Horney told Sadler he decided to take one more look in the basement for the lost documents, moving more than 700 boxes. There was a massive effort for the governor to commute the sentences of Claude and Floyd, including a petition with over 100,000 signatures. 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. He had them handcuffed and tied up with a rope. The new system appointed a full-time judge to hold court at scheduled intervals in a circuit of several counties. Elbert Lee Trinkle and Gov. Howard Gilmer testified during the subsequent murder trials about the judges fatal bullet wound. Sadler, who said he spent more than 1,700 hours researching the story, spoke to a gathering in March that commemorated the 110th anniversary of the tragedy. shot up the Carroll county court at Hillsville last March, resulting in the death of five persons, was found guilty of murder in the Second degree for the killing of Judge Thornton L. Mas sie. One can wonder if that was a sign that she blamed her husband for the tragic calamity that befell the family. Why does Carroll County have the lowest vaccination rate in Virginia? Mt. Those documents can be found at www.ccva.digital/1912-historical-courthouse-tragedy.html. [15] Judge Thornton L. Massie, who had deputized Floyd six months earlier, presided. Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court watch movie for free Hillsville 1912: A Shooting in the Court full movie *Watch Movie Online or Watch Best Free HD 1080p Videos on Desktop, Laptop, Notebook, Tablet, iPhone, iPad, Mac Pro and more. But the governor refused. 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. Roanoke, Va., March 16, --The prisoners from Hillsville are not expected here before 3 o'clock Sunday morning. - 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. The house back in 1911 was worth 13,000.00 and was said to be the most beautiful house in South-West Virginia. The announcement of. His brother, Sidna? 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. 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. Samuels' departure forced Commonwealth's Attorney William M. Foster to rely on testimony from Deputy Easter. [30], At Claud Allen's trial for the murder of Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, Judge David W. Bolen was again the prosecution's star witness. (Interesting Southwest Virginia side note: Initially, Floyds nephew Barnett Allen, the grandfather of legendary Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer, was charged along with his uncles Floyd and Sidna for taking the Edwards boys from the deputies. 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. Floyd Allen (July 5, 1856 March 28, 1913) was an American landowner and patriarch of the Allen clan of Carroll County, Virginia. Harry F. Byrd Sr. in the 1920s. 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. To this day, 110 years later, nobody who has studied this notorious event can say with any assurance who fired that catastrophic first shot. [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. Otherwise, he would not have been armed. Doing so, the opening details could easily be incorporated into the larger narrative. 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 involved on the Allen side ran away. Judge Massie, Sheriff Webb, Commonwealth's Attorney Foster, and the jury foreman (Augustus C. Fowler), were all hit and died of their wounds sustained in the crossfire. He said he thought Floyd's fumbling with his sweater buttons was a prelude to drawing his pistol. He lived to be the last surviving member of the jury, dying in 1963. Attorney Howard C. Gilmer, of Pulaski, Virginia, was at Hillsville Courthouse in a room adjoining Judge Massie's courtroom when the shooting broke out. 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. - Claude Allen did not take a gun when he went to Hillsville To Floyds trial. [1] Others consider the alleged affidavit to be hearsay, made years after the event transpired, and worthless. The sentence would have had Floyd do time. 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. See production, box office & company info. With the entry of the United States into World. Join in supporting in-depth journalism for Southwest and Southside Virginia. After a fusillade of shots, the Allen clan left the courthouse, armed with pistols and 12-gauge pump shotguns and shooting as they ran. Another entered the body at the cap of the left hip and passed through the abdomen. ( Historic Resource | DHR | Carroll County) 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. 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. [7] In 1908, while serving as special deputies, Allen and a relative, Henry "H.C." Allen, were charged with unlawful assault upon prisoners held in their custody who they claimed had resisted arrest. Their trials took place in Wytheville. A jury foremans handwritten verdict in blotchy ink condemns Claude Allen to death. That day was March 14, 1912, the day five people were killed in a shootout between members of the Allen family and court officials on the floor of a small-town courtroom, an event forever known as The Courthouse Massacre.. No autopsies were ever performed and rumors flew of friendly fire casualties. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. You do have some interesting local history. The defense attempted to show that Deputy Clerk Goad shot Elizabeth Ayers in his exchange of fire with the Allens, a charge Goad denied. Synopsis On the cold Spring morning of March 14th, 1912 shots rang out inside the tiny mountain courtroom. During the initial manhunt, several posses of detectives and local deputies searched the surrounding countryside. 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