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I Have Never Heard That Part Of The Story Before. Very Interesting . I Have Read The Book But It Was A Long Time Adgo .
I Was Born In Mt. Airy So I Had Herad People Talk All My Life .
Thank For The Info. About This Story . Mary Gooch
hello Mary I do have Eden Edwards mother and father infomation: I will post it shortly let me check something first. thanks
Littlebear
The tragedy has been discussed on the Jacob Jeffries thread but I will just c&p my final reply on the thread….. regarding judging ancestors actions. From what my family says, Littlebear has it pretty straight. (and we are Daltons and Goads) We feel it is likely that, inside the courthouse, the Allens and Edwards probably fired in self-defence. That comes down from a family member who was in the courthouse that day.
Dreaminghawk says>>> The first rule in tracing ancestors is to not be upset by what we find. We can’t judge their actions, not knowing the whole truth. Sometimes lies are recorded as truth, either intentionally or inadvertently. We accept what we find without judging or condemning.
In this case, your family is sorta Romeo and Juliet of the feud. ….Edwards was on one side of the fight and Goad was on the other side ..LOL. Sidna and Wesley Edwards were the participants, being cousins to the Allens. I do know for a fact that phone inquiries at the Carroll Co courthouse into the genealogy of Wesley Edwards are likely to result in a hungup phone. This comes from a direct descendent of Wesley who we know from the Va powwow circuit.
There are 2 books that I know of which are excellent capsules of that time and area. The first is “The Man Who Moved A Mountain” by Richard C Davids. As far as I know, copies can still be found at giftshops along the Blue Ridge Parkway. First published in 1970.
The 2nd book is extremely rare. “Memoirs of J Sidna Allen- A True Narrative of What Happened at Hillsville, Virginia” written by J Sidna Allen in 1929 and published in Galax, Va. I have a copy that has been passed down through the family.
These 2 books tell entirely different versions of what happened and who shot first. Will we ever know for sure who was at fault? Probably not.
On a sidenote….. the intricate inlaid furniture that Sidna Allen made in prison sits in a second story on Main Street in Hillsville. The public is not allowed to see it even though Hillsville has an excellent History Museum.
I fully agree with Dreaminghawk We just accept what we find without judging or condemning after all it is our history.
who shot first in the court Room? ask six people got six answers, I am not sure any one but the person who was at fault really knows,
Here are some bible records with information about
Eben edwards parent. now with the edwards there are
some secrets that the family will not tell other then
there are secrets. we do know James was disowned for
marrying Charity Hayes (Hazes)
Lydia Edwards Bible
Eben Parents
James Edwards 1797 -4-2-1878
Charity Edwards 1795 -13-3-1870
Lydia parents
Tyra dunagan 1787-12-24-1869
Diannah Gillespie 1786 -.5-6-1871
Lydia Grandparents
Elijah Galaspy 1862
Sallie Galaspy 1870
others Names
Jessie Edwards died may 26 1858
MARY Edwards 9-15-1859
Susan Edwards 7-27-1871
Frances Edwards 1889
Sarah hull 5-12-1874
Sydris hull d-10-29-1872
I Agree With With You And Dreaminghawk 100 % About Our Ancestors . We Are Not In Control Of Them . But I Love The Histery Of The Ancestors I Know That Thay Had Hard Life Who Knows Why Thay Did What Thay Did .anyway Thanks For The Post
Mary Gooch:)
Littlebear….. what is the connection of Greenberry Edwards to John Jasper Edwards? JJ is not shown as son of Levi and I can find no tree that shows a father for JJ.
Sorry I had not checked in early. I don’t have a cousin chart with me
4-William
3- MT John Edwards
2- James Edwards 4- Sarah
3- Nancy Mankins
1-Jasper Edwards
2-adeline
4-William
3-James J Edwards
2- Levi Edwards 4- Sarah
3-Sarah Johnson
1-Greenberry Edwrads
2- Charity Bobbitt
1-Jasper Edwards
2- James Edwards and adeline
3- MT John Edwards and Nancy Mankins
4-William Edwards 1790 and Sarah
1-Greenberry
2- Levi Edwards and Charity Bobbitt
3-James J Edwards and Sarah Johnson
4-William Edwards 1790 and Sarah
Sir,
Actually the deputy, Thomas Franklin Samuel (the family insists the name did not have the “s” on it.) did not cross into North Carolina. That was a story started and perpetuated by the Allen faction. Sidna and Wesley Edwards were arrested at their jobs in Mount Airy by sheriff Cabell Haynes and his deputy, Oscar Monday. They transported the pair to the state line where they were met by Samuel and a man he had deputized, Peter Easter.
Since only Samuel was an official deputy, there was only one set of handcuffs so Wesley was cuffed in the front seat of the buggy beside Easter and Sidna was tied in the back seat beside Samuel. (They were using Easter’s buggy.)
As to why Samuel wanted to go up Fancy Gap, no one knows. It was not a good choice since it passed by the homes of five Allen brothers; Floyd, Garland, Sidna, Jack and Victor.
It is not widely known, but the Edwards boys’ mother, Alverta was married to Oscar Monday’s father, making him a stepbrother to the Edwards boys. He was also one of three detectives who went to Des Moines to arrest Sidna Allen and Wesley Edwards.
best regards,
Ron Hall
Carroll County Historical Society.
Sidna Allen’s memoirs are currently being republished by his grand daughter in Eden, NC. The Carroll Historical Society sells them for $15. In terms of total truth about the courthouse tragedy, the memoirs only tell the truth as Sidna saw it, which is a little distorted. However, it’s understandable since he was the 3rd wealthiest man in Carroll County in 1912 and he lost everything he owned.
Unfortunately, “The Man Who Moved a Mountain” does not tell the total truth either. A direct descendant of Mr. Childress told me not to believe everything in the book. As to telling anything at all about the courthouse tragedy, it is a poor source.
Sidna Allen’s furniture rests in the Carroll County Historical Society’s Museum in Hillsville where it is on prominent display. This is about half of his collection. The other half is owned by his descendants.
His home, privately owned since 1912, is unfortunately, near collapse. The family who own it will not sell it to any folks interested in restoring and saving it. I expect one good windstorm will take it down.
There are no secret passages in it. It, like the rest of the commonly accepted story of the tragedy, is misrepresented by a lot of myth and fiction. Unfortunately, many of the myths were created by the newspapers of 1912 and perpetuated by most of the 13 books that have been written about it.
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