Description
Floyd Allen was the central figure in one of the most sensational and bizarre incidents in Virginia criminal and legal history, the so-called Hillsville Massacre. In the great Carroll County shootout in Hillsville on March 14, 1912, a judge, a sheriff, a commonwealths attorney, a juror, and a spectator were all killed by shots fired by Allen and others after Allen was convicted of assault. Allen and several members of his family immediately fled the courtroom but were later captured and convicted of murder. Allen and his youngest son, Claude Swanson Allen, were both executed for their crimes. This image was most recently published in The Roanoker, November, 1982.