Allen Family Scrapbook
Scope and Content
This collection contains photocopies of a scrapbook compiled by an unidentified person, chronicling the Allen family of Carroll County, Virginia and the 1912 Hillsville courthouse gun battle. A large portion of the scrapbook is devoted to a series of articles by Louise Jones Dubose, titled "Fatal Doom of the Allens" and reprinted in the South West Virginia Enterprise in 1970. The scrapbook also contains a number of newspaper clippings that seem to date from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Also included are one original piece (a poem titled "A Memorial: Claude Swanson Allen," seemingly published not long after Allen's execution) and a copy of a signed 1964 affidavit from Randolph F. Surratt and Sam Marshall regarding events preceding the incident.
Dates
- Creation: 1970 - 1972
Creator
- Allen family (Family)
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from the Allen Family Scrapbook must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Biographical Information
On March 14, 1912, Floyd Allen, a resident of Carroll County, Virginia, was convicted of interfering with an officer of the law. Soon after Allen's sentence was announced, a gun battle ensued, killing five people (Judge Thornton Massie, Sheriff Lewis Webb, Commonwealth's Attorney William Foster, juror Augustus C. Fowler and witness Betty Ayers) and wounding seven others, including Floyd Allen. Several members of the Allen family fled the scene. While most were soon apprehended, two (Wesley Edwards and Sidna Allen) would not be arrested until six months later in Iowa. On May 18, 1912, Floyd Allen was convicted in the murder of William Foster and sentenced to electrocution. In July, Floyd Allen's son, Claude, was also convicted and sentenced to death by electric chair for Foster's murder. Freil Allen, Sidna Allen, and Wesley Edwards received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the shootings. Details of the gun battle, also known variously as the Hillsville Courthouse Massacre and the Carroll County Courthouse Tragedy, are available in a number of published sources.
Full Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet ( 1 folder)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Photocopies of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings relating to the Allen family of Carroll County, Virginia and the 1912 Hillsville courthouse gun battle. Includes one original piece, a poem titled "A Memorial: Claude Swanson Allen."
Arrangement
The photocopies remain in the same order in which the items had been placed within the original scrapbook. In the upper right-hand corner of each copy, a number appears in brackets, representing the page number of the original scrapbook into which each item had been inserted or mounted.
Acquisition Information
The Allen Family Scrapbook was purchased by Special Collections in 2008.
Bibliography
- Hall, Ronald W., The Carroll County Courthouse tragedy (Hillsville, Va.: Carroll County Historical Society, 1997).
- Mathews, Lloyd, The Carroll County Courthouse tragedy ([Pulaski, Va.: L. Mathews, n.d.]).
General Physical Description note
1 container; 0.1 cu. ft.
Processing Information
The processing and description of the Allen Family Scrapbook commenced and was completed in August 2008.
- Title
- A Guide to the Allen Family Scrapbook, 1970-1972
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- John M. Jackson
- Date
- © 2008 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu