On 30 January 1909, Ben F. Parker, a 30-year-old African American from Nansemond County, arrived at the Virginia Penitentiary to begin serving a three-year sentence for forgery.  Parker was sent to work on the Bedford County road force operated by W.H. McMillan.  He was a model prisoner.  After serving half his sentence, Parker applied for a conditional pardon (parole) in August 1910.  C.T. Allen, a farmer in Good View, Virginia, agreed to employ Parker on his farm for $6 a month for seventeen months.  Allen also promised to “take a friendly interest” in Parker, “to counsel and advise him in which is good,” and to report to the Penitentiary Superintendent any conduct or behavior that would violate the conditions of his parole. Allen’s offer of employment was accepted with one caveat.  The Penitentiary Board of Directors did not parole prisoners for less than $10 per month and board.  Allen agreed to increase Parker’s compensation and the prisoner was paroled in September 1910.

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The salary difference foreshadowed future conflicts between Parker and Allen.  In a letter dated 24 October 1910 to Penitentiary Superintendent J.B. Wood, Parker states his employment for Allen is going well except that “his satisfaction is not very good on the money matters” as he had not been paid.  Wood interceded on Parker’s behalf and he received his pay.  Wood cautioned Parker that if he left Allen’s employment without the consent of the Superintendent, he would be in violation of his parole and could be arrested and returned to the Penitentiary to serve out the remainder of his sentence.  By March 1911, Allen was no longer satisfied with Parker.  He found him difficult to manage and threatened to return him to the Penitentiary.  To avoid reincarceration, Parker made Allen a proposition:  he would work on the Virginia Railway but pay Allen $10 a month.  Allen agreed.  In an 8 April 1911 letter to Wood, he added that “Ben is under my control just like he was when he was on my farm.”  Wood responded three days letter.  He stated that Allen had no right to Parker’s wages.  “When you released him to work for the Railway Company,” Wood wrote, “you lost all control over him.”  Wood added that “to take a convict and farm him out might be a serious matter if it were brought to the attention of the Authorities.”  Parker was free to work on the railroad, Wood advised in an 18 April 1911 letter.  Wood’s only request was for Parker to “let me hear how you are getting along until your time here expires.”  There is no further correspondence from Parker in the collection.

Next week:  Edmonia M. Peebles

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

In December 1912 in the Wythe County Circuit Court, Wesley Edwards, nephew of Floyd Allen, was sentenced to 27 years in the Virginia Penitentiary for two counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for his involvement in the Carroll County shootout.  Edwards was admitted to the penitentiary on 14 December 1912.  An anonymous fellow prisoner, writing in the 27 April 1922 issue of the inmate-run penitentiary newspaper, The Beacon, shared his observations of Wesley Edwards:

“The first day I was in prison I ran into Wesley Edwards on the steps of the Industrial Department and started a conversation with him.  As soon as I told him where I was from, he at once extended his hand, with a smile, and said he was glad to see someone from near his old home, though he was sorry to see me in trouble.  I in turn extended my sympathy to him.  My thoughts of him were many, the chief one being how strange it seemed that this tall, blue-eyed, young fellow could be so jovial and so interested in his work.  He was even then in a hurry, had saw-dust in his hair and on his clothing and carried a rule in his hand.  I had pictured him, before I met him, as being a rather rough looking man with a sad countenance, with hope crushed by the unduly long enforcement of prison life.  Our first conversation was short, but impressive.”

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Edwards’ petition for a conditional pardon was denied on 6 October 1922 by Governor E. Lee Trinkle on grounds that he had only served a small portion of his 27-year sentence.  In 1926, Edwards applied again for a pardon.  Governor Harry F. Byrd granted the pardon on 29 April 1926.  “Upon the petition of thousands of citizens,” Byrd wrote, “this man [Wesley Edwards] having served about half his time and made an excellent prisoner, and feeling that the ends of justice have been met sufficiently to warrant giving him a chance at this time, granted conditional pardon.”

In May 1934, Wesley Edwards applied for the removal of political disabilities (restoration of his voting rights) and an absolute pardon. “[S]ince the granting of the conditional pardon,” Edwards attorneys wrote Governor George C. Peery, “Mr. Edwards has been actively engaged in business, and at the present time operates a filling station on the Richmond-Washington Highway in Henrico County.”  Edwards “is in no way a charge on the community, and so far as we have been able to learn he has lived as a law abiding citizen and has not in any way breached the conditions of the pardon granted him.”  Governor Peery granted both requests on 11 June 1934.

Wesley Edwards died from influenza on 16 November 1939.

Tomorrow: Floyd and Claude Allen

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

*Update – 21 March 2012*

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce a new blog, Fit to Print:  Dispatches from the Virginia Newspaper Project @ The Library of Virginia.  The first post, 100 Years Ago – Law and Disorder, is about the Allen’s and the Carroll County Courthouse shooting.

In December 1912 in the Wythe County Circuit Court, Sidna Allen, brother of Floyd Allen, was sentenced to 35 years in the Virginia Penitentiary for the crimes of first, second and third degree murder.  Allen was admitted to the penitentiary on 14 December 1912.  An anonymous fellow prisoner, writing in the 27 April 1922 issue of the inmate-run penitentiary newspaper, The Beacon, shared his observations of Sidna Allen:

“I at last had an opportunity to go through the carpenter shop where I saw Sidna Allen…I stopped and watched him for a while at his work, before I went over and talked with him.  He was working with as much zeal as any man who owned and operated a manufacturing plant.  His hair was a silvery gray, though tinted with the yellow saw-dust, and his face pale, though it had the illuminated appearance of a pure Christian man….After talking with him a little while I found that the expression on his face was only revealing the man as he was; a true Christian man.  Sunday morning and any time he had a spare, you could see him sitting around reading the Bible and enjoying the words he was daily living.”

Allen’s petition for a conditional pardon was denied on 6 October 1922 by Governor E. Lee Trinkle on grounds that he had only served a small portion of his 35-year sentence.  In 1926, Allen again applied for a pardon.  Governor Harry F. Byrd granted the pardon on 29 April 1926.  “Upon the application of thousands of citizens,” Byrd wrote, “this man [Sidna Allen] having served about thirteen and one-half years and made an excellent prisoner, and feeling that under the circumstances and also by reason of the peculiar conditions surrounding the case that he has probably been sufficiently punished as to warrant giving him another chance, granted conditional pardon.”

After his release from prison, Allen moved to North Carolina.  In bad health, Allen came back to Carroll County to live with his daughter.  He died on 26 September 1941.

Tomorrow:  Wesley Edwards, No. 11218

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

*Update – 21 March 2012*

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce a new blog, Fit to Print:  Dispatches from the Virginia Newspaper Project @ The Library of Virginia.  The first post, 100 Years Ago – Law and Disorder, is about the Allen’s and the Carroll County Courthouse shooting.

In August 1912 in the Wythe County Circuit Court, Sidna Edwards, nephew of Floyd Allen, plead guilty to second-degree murder for his involvement in the Carroll County shootout.  He was sentenced to 15 years in the Virginia Penitentiary and admitted on 18 September 1912.  By all accounts Edwards was a model prisoner.  The 27 April 1922 issue of The Beacon, the inmate-run penitentiary newspaper, contained this observation of Sidna Edwards by a fellow prisoner:

“[I] noticed a stalwart looking man standing on the prison hospital steps.  He had a young, though sad looking face, his hair was beginning to silver and his general expression showed much pain and worry for a young man of his seeming age.  I remarked to another prisoner that the big, young fellow seemed rather under the weather.  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘that is Sidna Edwards.  He has rheumatism and has been in the hospital a long time, although not confined to bed.  He has the duty of nursing the other patients.’  To describe him takes only a few words, he has one of the most gentle, accommodating, kind and truthful dispositions that I have ever met in any man.  He is generally liked and trusted by offiicials, as well as inmates. “

Governor E. Lee Trinkle agreed and granted Edwards a conditional pardon on 6 October 1922.  “I find that the prison record of Sidna Edwards has been without a mark against him,” Trinkle wrote in announcing the pardon.  “I further find that he has made a model prisoner and from the best information that I can get he is a reformed man and worthy of a new trial in life.”

On 26 March 1928, Sidna Edwards applied for the removal of political disabilities (restoration of his voting rights) and an absolute pardon.  “I herewith make my humble appeal to you,” Edwards wrote Governor Harry F. Byrd, “you being the only person in the world who has the power to grant it, is that you restore me my citizenship which I forfeited 16 years ago when I entered State Prison.”  Edwards added that since he was conditionally pardoned in 1922, he has “led an exemplary life ever since and enjoy the confidence and respect of all that I come in contact with, but I feel so humiliated and depressed when I remember that I cannot read my title clear to citizenship in my own beloved Virginia.”  Edwards included letters of recommendation from his two employers, The Little Oil Company and Bradshaw’s, a clothing store, both located in Richmond.  Governor Byrd granted both requests on 10 April 1928.

Sidna Edwards died in Washington, D.C. on 15 March 1933.  He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Monday:  Sidna Allen, No. 11217

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

*Update – 21 March 2012*

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce a new blog, Fit to Print:  Dispatches from the Virginia Newspaper Project @ The Library of Virginia.  The first post, 100 Years Ago – Law and Disorder, is about the Allen’s and the Carroll County Courthouse shooting.

In August 1912 in the Wythe County Circuit Court, Friel Allen, son of Jasper “Jack” Allen and nephew of Floyd Allen, was convicted of second degree murder in the death of William McDonald Foster, Carroll County Commonwealth’s Attorney.  Allen was sentenced to 18 years in the Virginia Penitentiary and admitted to the penitentiary on 18 September 1912.  By all accounts Allen was a model prisoner.  An anonymous fellow prisoner, writing in the 27 April 1922 issue of the inmate-run penitentiary newspaper, The Beacon, shared his observations of Friel Allen:

“I had noticed a well-dressed young man passing through the yard of the prison, and on asking who he was I got this reply: ‘that is the Superintendent’s Chauffeur, Friel Allen.’  I immediately remarked that he was only a boy, that if he had been here ten years and looked that now, he must have been only a kid when he was sent here.  I ventured up for a talk with him, expecting a sad answer, but not so, he sprang a friendly joke on me right away and began to kid me, showing his youth and good spirits.  Our association from then on became more intimate, especially evenings.  I well remember a five round bout with him.  He showed the utmost fair play all the way through, and I remember the writer who once said; ‘To judge a person’s character and finer self, just watch him at play.’  Needless to say he got the decision of the boxing bout.  I have found him a staunch companion and man both in play and on duty.  I thought him such a fine fellow that I immediately began to bum him for cigarettes until I got too strong for him along that line, and he broke me by giving me one that behaved like an automobile tire when it blows out.  I in turn would play little tricks on him evenings, and he has never shown anything but the boyish, good-natured disposition and forgiving spirit which he has developed under the most adverse circumstances.  He has proven himself trustworthy, as well as efficient, to the officials and his fellow prisoners, and is equally admired by them all.”

Governor E. Lee Trinkle agreed and granted Allen a conditional pardon on 6 October 1922.  “[H]e has made a model prisoner,” Trinkle wrote in announcing the pardon.  Allen “has been for sometime a trusty and has impressed all who have come in contact with him” and “he is a reformed young man, capable and will in the future lead a law abiding life.”

Tomorrow:  Sidna Edwards, No. 10995

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

*Update – 21 March 2012*

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce a new blog, Fit to Print:  Dispatches from the Virginia Newspaper Project @ The Library of Virginia.  The first post, 100 Years Ago – Law and Disorder, is about the Allen’s and the Carroll County Courthouse shooting.

On 16 May 1936 at 8:15 PM, Bob Addison, #35074, a prisoner assigned to Camp 16 of the State Convict Road Force located in Fauquier County, escaped.  Addison used a fake shackle to fasten himself to the chain that bound all the inmates together at night.  He quickly used an iron bar to open the back cell door, fled into the night and disappeared without a trace.  Addison remained a fugitive for the next 30 years until his past finally caught up with him.

Bob Addison was born in Tazewell County in July 1913.  In May 1932, at the age of 19, Addison was convicted in Tazewell County of assault with a knife and sentenced to four years in the Virginia Penitentiary.  He served 2 1/2 years and was released.   Addison got in trouble again in 1935 in Russell County.  He was arrested for cutting another man with a knife but escaped prior to his trial and fled to West Virginia.  He met a girl, Edna Sanders, whom he married in October 1935.  Addison used his real name during the ceremony and was captured five days later.  He was tried in December 1935 in Russell County and received a five year sentence for malicious wounding with an additional year added for a second conviction.

After his escape in 1936, Addison found his wife and moved to Kentucky and changed his name to Elbert Roy Clark.  For the next 30 years, the Clark’s lived in Kentucky and West Virginia and raised their six children.  In mid-1966 an unidentified person made the connection between Addison and Clark which led to his arrest by the FBI on 27 December 1966.  Addison waived extradition and was returned to the Virginia Penitentiary on 3 January 1967.  After an outpouring of letters recommending clemency, including one from the Governor of West Virginia, Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr. pardoned Addison on 27 January 1967.

Next Week:  Benjamin Gilbert

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

In June 1936 in the Augusta County Circuit Court, Sylvia Elwood Huffman was convicted of first degree murder in the death of W.H. Riddle, an Annex merchant.  Huffman shot and killed Riddle in a botched robbery attempt that netted him less than $5.   He was sentenced to die in the electric chair at the Virginia Penitentiary on 7 August 1936.  Governor George C. Peery granted Huffman four respites during his two appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court.  On 27 December 1937 Governor Peery commuted Huffman’s death sentence to life in prison after receiving a report from the Board of Mental Hygiene that stated Huffman was not sane.  Huffman had been a patient at Western State Hospital on two separate occasions (January-June 1924 and December 1931-June 1935) and Huffman’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully presented an insanity defense.

Huffman’s mug shots caught my attention because they showed how much he had aged in prison.  I was curious why there were two negatives, one from 1937 and a second one dated 3 March 1959.  Huffman’s entry in Prison Book No. 2 noted that he had been returned to the Penitentiary in 1959 for violating his 1957 conditional pardon.  Governor J. Lindsay Almond, Jr. pardoned Huffman on 9 October 1961.

Next Week:  Bob Addison

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

In April 1935 James “Jimmie” Strother, a blind musician, was convicted of second degree murder in Culpeper County in the death of Blanche Green, his wife. Strother received a twenty-year prison sentence. He was received at the Virginia Penitentiary on 21 May 1935 and transferred to the State Farm in Goochland County six days later. He was pardoned by Governor James Price in 1939.

According to a Virginia Department of Historic Resources Historical Highway Marker, famed folklorist John A. Lomax visited the Virginia State Prison Farm and the Virginia Penitentiary in Richmond in 1936.   The marker states that “working for the Library of Congress’s Archive of Folk Song, Lomax canvassed southern prisons in search of traditional African American music. On 13 and 14 June 1936, Lomax, assisted by Harold Spivacke, recorded quartets, banjo tunes, work songs, spirituals, and blues at the State Farm. Among the notable performers were inmates Jimmie Strother and Joe Lee. The Library of Congress first released songs from the sessions in the 1940s and they have appeared on many recordings since. These sessions are among the earliest aural records of Virginia’s black folk-song tradition.”

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In 2002-2003, the Library of Virginia highlighted these recordings in the Virginia Roots Music exhibition including James Strother’s contribution. When I processed the records of the Virginia Penitentiary, I had hoped to find more information on these recording sessions and on Strother. Unfortunately, no records from that time period are extant. The only items in the collection about Strother were his mug shot and prison register entry. However, James Strother’s pardon file, found in the Executive Papers of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, provide Strother’s version of the events that led to the death of his wife and clues as to what happened to him after he was pardoned. Included are letters written by Strother to Governor Price requesting clemency and describing how a blind man shot and killed a woman.  Also included are letters written to Strother by William Taylor, a relative in Baltimore who promised to support Strother if pardoned.  I have included the entire pardon file with this post.

Next Week: Sylvia Elwood Huffman

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

Transcript of James Strother, #33927, letter to Governor James H. Price, 24 August 1939

Transcript of William Taylor letter to James Strother, #33927, 20 August 1939

Transcript of William Taylor letter to Governor James H. Price, 20 August 1939

Transcript of William Taylor letter to Governor James H. Price, 19 July 1938

Transcript of James Strother, #33927, letter to Governor James H. Price, 12 June 1939

Transcript of William Taylor letter to James Strother, #33927, 8 June 1939

Transcript of James Strother, #33927, letter to Governor James H. Price, 1 May 1939

Transcript of James Strother, #33927, letter to Governor James H. Price, 10 October 1938

Transcript of James Strother, #33927, letter to Governor James H. Price, 27 March 1937