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About: Roger
Roger has worked at the Library of Virginia since 1997 and currently works in the state records section. Roger has a Master of Arts degree in Public History from the University of South Carolina. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from Millersville University.
Author Archives Roger
Mug Shot Monday Special Edition: “Hillsville Massacre”
7 March 2012
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday Special Edition. Next Wednesday, 14 March marks the 100th anniversary of the infamous “Hillsville Massacre,” where five people were killed in a gunfight in the Carroll County courthouse. For the next week, Out of the Box will spotlight records at the Library of Virginia related to the individuals convicted for their role in the shooting.
On 13 March 1912, in the Carroll County Circuit Court, Floyd Allen was tried for attacking two deputies who had arrested two of his nephews for fighting and disturbing a religious meeting. The jury found Allen guilty of assault on 14 March and sentenced him to one year in the penitentiary. Allen stood up and stated, “Gentlemen, I ain’t going” and shots erupted in the courthouse leaving several county officials and a spectator dead. The Allen family claimed that several court officials opened fire on Floyd Allen, while other witnesses contended that Claude Swanson Allen, the defendant’s son, began the shooting. Nevertheless, Floyd Allen, Claude Swanson Allen, and other members of the Allen family were tried for murder in the Wythe County Circuit Court from April-December 1912. Floyd Allen was convicted of first degree murder on 16 May 1912. Claude S. Allen was also found guilty of first degree murder. Father and son were executed on 28 March 1913.
Sidna Allen, Floyd’s brother, was sentenced … read more »
Posted in Mug Shot Monday, State Records Blog Posts
Tagged Carroll County (Va.), Claude Allen, clemency, execution files, Floyd Allen, Friel Allen, Hillsville (Va.), murder, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Sidna Allen, Sidna Edwards, state records, The Beacon, Virginia Dept. of Corrections, Virginia State Penitentiary, Wesley Edwards
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Baring Their Assets: The Department of Treasury’s Division of Unclaimed Property
29 February 2012
“Lost and Found,” the Library of Virginia’s new exhibition, explores how the loss and discovery of items affects personal and collective memory. The exhibition was inspired by the records “found” in bank safety deposit boxes by the Department of Treasury’s Division of Unclaimed Property. In Virginia, the Unclaimed Property Act (Code of Virginia, 55-210.1 to 55-210.30) establishes the Department of Treasury and its Unclaimed Property Division as the official custodian for property left in safety deposit boxes when no owner or heir appears to claim the assets.
By 2001, roughly 300 cubic feet of Department of the Treasury records sat unused in the stacks of the Library of Virginia. Changes in the retention and disposition schedule for this series of records have allowed State Records archivists at LVA to review their contents and make them available to the public for the first time. These records, managed by the Unclaimed Property Division, consist of personal papers culled from abandoned safe deposit boxes throughout the state. Previously, the collection was scheduled to be retained permanently, but was restricted and could be used only by Treasury employees.
Should attempts by Treasury employees to locate the owners or rightful heirs of the unclaimed property prove unsuccessful, the property in question legally reverts to the state. As the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes arrive in the Unclaimed Property Division, … read more »
Walk Like a Man? One-Legged Prisoner Escapes Road Camp
4 January 2012
On Sunday 20 January 1907, Ed Baker, a “one leg Italian” with “a bad face”, escaped from the State Convict Road Force camp near Williamsburg. Baker, one of the camp cooks, made his break at 6:07 a.m. when a guard sent him to get some wood. The alarm was sounded at 6:15 and a manhunt begun. Baker, who had a wooden leg and only an eight-minute head start, was not easy to recapture. The Virginia Gazette reported that Baker was pursued by several guards as well as local citizens and students for nearly nine hours. Baker was finally caught at 3 pm by guard R.F. Morris – 20 miles from the camp! The guard in charge of Baker when he escaped was fired. That evening camp Sgt. W.B. Pattie wrote Penitentiary Superintendent E.F. Morgan that ”a man who can’t hold 4 men with a shot gun & pistol is no good to me.” Baker was also punished. Even though Baker only had one leg, Pattie “put a ball and chain on that and will give him 39 [lashes] in the morning.”
Letter from W.B. Pattie, dated 20 January 1907 to Capt E.F. Morgan
The State Convict Road Force was created by the General Assembly in 1906 as part of the Withers-Lassiter “good roads” law that created the State Highway Commission. The Penitentiary was responsible for … read more »
Mug Shot Monday: Mary L. Morst, No. 11033
19 December 2011
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. Mary L. Morst, the subject of this week’s post, was pregnant when she arrived at the Penitentiary.
In October 1912, Mary Morst was sentenced by the Pittsylvania County Circuit Court to 18 years in the Penitentiary for murdering her husband. Morst’s mug shot, taken upon her arrival at the Penitentiary on 14 October 1912, clearly shows she is pregnant. On 13 January 1913, Morst gave birth to twins: Joseph and Martha. What would happen to her children?
The Code of Virginia provided the answer. Section 4124 of the Code stated that “an infant accompanying a convict mother to the penitentiary, or born after her imprisonment therein, shall be returned, on attaining the age of four years, to the county or city from which the mother came, to be disposed of as the County Court of said county…may order.” The Penitentiary’s annual reports from 1875 to 1918 include a list of children in the Penitentiary. The list includes the name of the child, date and place of birth, race, sex and name of mother. An additional list of children in the Penitentiary from 1926 to 1932 can be found in the back of a Death Register (volume 124). It is … read more »
Mug Shot Monday: Will Liddle, No. 6484 and No. 7341
5 December 2011
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. Will Liddle, the subject of this week’s post, served two nearly back-to-back terms, escaped for 20 minutes and was paroled in 1913.
On 4 April 1906, 24-year-old Will Liddle entered the Virginia Penitentiary to serve his one-year sentence for writing a bad check in Tazewell County. He was discharged on 15 February 1907. His freedom was short lived. Liddle returned to the Penitentiary on 21 September 1907 to begin serving a three-year term for stealing a mule. He also was given an extra five years for his second conviction. Liddle’s good behavior quickly earned him “trusty” status which provided him with extra privileges. In the spring of 1908, Liddle’s trusted status allowed him to assist some carpenters working on the outside of the Penitentiary and the opportunity to escape. On 12 June 1908, Liddle, under the guise of going to the tool box, used a crowbar to break into the carpenter’s storage room. He put on a carpenter’s suit over his prison clothes and walked away from the prison. The guards quickly noticed his absence and sounded the alarm. After a 20 minute search Liddle was recaptured four blocks away. Those 20 minutes of “freedom” added an extra year … read more »
Mug Shot Monday: Walter Turpin, No. 3159 and No. 4361
21 November 2011
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. Walter Turpin, the subject of this week’s post, had a long criminal history of housebreaking and counterfeiting. His prison record was spotty at best. He escaped once and masterminded a daring escape plan with two other prisoners that failed, yet, he was pardoned – twice.
Walter Turpin had a difficult childhood. He was born in December 1877 in Bedford County. Orphaned at a young age, Turpin made a living as a newsboy on the streets of Lynchburg. In 1890 he was arrested for stealing cigarettes and sent to a reformatory for seven years. Turpin quickly graduated from the reformatory to the penitentiary when he was sentenced in January 1900 by the Richmond City Hustings Court to two years in the Virginia Penitentiary for breaking into the storehouse of the Southern Railway. Turpin was discharged on 21 October 1901; however, his freedom was short-lived. Turpin was sent back to the Penitentiary in June 1902 for five years for breaking into a hardware store in Lynchburg. Since this was Turpin’s second conviction, five additional years were added to his sentence.
On 25 October 1902, Turpin escaped from the Penitentiary in broad daylight. He exchanged his prison stripes for … read more »
Mug Shot Monday: Preston Waters, No. 18879 and Alfred Williams, No. 19912
14 November 2011
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. This week’s entry will spotlight the photographs of escaped inmates. When an inmate escaped from the Penitentiary, State Farm, or a convict road camp, the superintendent issued to law enforcement 3″x5″ index cards. The front side contained the prisoner mug shot, while the back of the card provided basic information (name, inmate number, date and location of escape, crime, sentence), physical description, and the name and address of immediate family.
On 26 April 1925, Preston Waters, No. 18879, and Alfred Williams, No. 19912, two convicts at the Virginia Penitentiary in Richmond, sawed their way out of their cell with a hacksaw. Avoiding the guards, the prisoners made their way to the ground floor, climbed on top of a row of new cells, and cut their way through the metal ceiling in order to gain access to the roof at the southwest corner of the building. They lowered themselves down by rope to a window and then dropped the fifteen feet to the ground and escaped into the night.
In April 1923, 21-year-old Preston Waters of Culpeper County was sentenced to 15 years in the Virginia Penitentiary for attempted rape. Alfred Williams had a lengthy criminal record. In December 1920, … read more »
There Ain’t No Barbecue Like a “Montague Barbecue”
9 November 2011
An ongoing project to arrange and describe the executive papers of Virginia’s 20th century governors has brought to light many important and interesting papers of Governor Andrew Jackson Montague, who served as governor of the Commonwealth from 1902 to 1906. While in office, Montague campaigned against incumbent senator Thomas S. Martin for his seat in the United States Senate. Montague’s papers are unique among executive papers in that they include correspondence, voter lists, broadsides, and other material related to his campaign.
In addition to his campaign material, Montague’s executive papers contain a wealth of constituent correspondence. Letters from the attorney general, superintendent of the Penitentiary, adjutant general, state librarian, and superintendents of the state’s mental hospitals represent a large portion of these papers. Moreover, Montague’s correspondents include such notable figures of the early 20th century as Clara Barton of the American National Red Cross, Principal Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute, President Theodore Roosevelt, and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller.
Also well documented within Montague’s executive papers is the enlargement of the Virginia State Capitol. Montague’s term in office saw the most significant changes in Jefferson’s design of the Capitol with the addition of wings to the east and west sides of the structure. Included are bills, receipts, correspondence, minutes, reports, and other papers including manuscripts from architect John Keevan Peebles … read more »
Mug Shot Monday: Theodore Gibson, No. 32872
3 November 2011
[Editors Note: Yes, we know it is not Monday. The Out of the Box staff had a technical glitch this afternoon and accidentally published Monday's post today. We will have a new, non-mug shot post on Monday.] Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate mug shots in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. Theodore Gibson’s mug shots caught my attention because they showed how much he aged in prison. When I researched his case, I was shocked by what I found.
In the early morning of Thursday, 18 October 1934, William H. Woodfield, a 71-year-old night watchman for the coal yard of W.A. Smoot and Company in Alexandria, was murdered. Woodfield’s skull was crushed with a hammer. No money was stolen but Woodfield’s watch was missing. On Tuesday, October 23, acting on an anonymous tip, the Alexandria police arrested 25-year-old Theodore Gibson. He confessed to the killing two days later. Gibson stated that he was walking through the coal yard when he was accosted by Woodfield who ordered him to leave the yard. Woodfield struck him, Gibson claimed, so he grabbed a small sledge hammer and hit Woodfield in the head twice. Gibson dragged the body 50 feet and fled.
The speed of Gibson’s legal proceedings, according to the Washington Post, was “believed … read more »
Mug Shot Monday (Halloween Edition): Benjamin Gilbert
31 October 2011
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday (Halloween Edition)! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary.
At 7:15 A.M. on 19 March 1909 , Benjamin Gilbert, age 19, was electrocuted for the 23 July 1908 murder of Amanda Morse in Norfolk. Gilbert and Morse dated briefly. After Morse ended the relationship in the spring of 1908, Gilbert made frequent threats of bodily harm to her. On the evening of 23 July 1908, Gilbert approached Morse and several of her male companions on the Campostella Bridge. When Morse refused to speak with him, Gilbert pulled a revolver and fired three shots, hitting Morse twice in the back. She died the next day. Gilbert was convicted of first degree murder in October 1908 and sentenced to death. Virginia Governor Claude Swanson granted Gilbert two respites to allow his attorney to appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court. The Court refused to grant a writ of error and the death sentence was carried out at the Virginia Penitentiary.
After Gilbert’s execution, the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch reported on an effort to revive him. Dr. J.P. Jackson of South Norfolk wanted to revive Gilbert with a respirator, an invention that he claimed could restore life if used immediately after death in cases of electrocution and asphyxiation. The 19 March 1909 … read more »
