Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Allen Family Papers, Mss. Collection 1998.4, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Unknown.

Biographical/Historical Information

Sidna Allen and his nephew Wesley Edwards were members of the gang involved in the shooting deaths of Judge Thornton L. Massie, Commonwealth Attorney William Foster, Sheriff Lewis F. Webb, juror Augustus C. Fowler, and witness Nancy Elizabeth Ayers during the sentencing of Floyd Allen on 14 March 1912 in Hillsville, Virginia. The incident became known as the Carroll County Courthouse shooting or the Hillsville shooting.

While other gang members including Floyd Allen, Friel Allen, Sidna Edwards, Victor Allen, and Claude Allen, were captured quickly, Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards evaded capture for several months.

The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, producers of the wanted cards in this collection, finally tracked the fugitives to Des Moines, Iowa. Allen's girlfriend, Maude Iroller, supplied information as to their location.

Scope and Content

Two wanted cards, measuring 3" x 5 3/4", for Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards issued by the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency of Roanoke, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia, comprise this collection. The card for Sidna Allen offers a $1,000 reward for his capture dead or alive while the card for Wesley Edwards offers $500.

Photocopies of the cards have been placed in the Kegley Library vertical file for Families-Allen.