Hard to See Through the Smoke : Remembering the 1912 Hillsville, Virginia Courthouse Shootout
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2017 Hard to see through the smoke : remembering the 1912 Hillsville, Virginia courthouse shootout. Travis A. Rountree University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Appalachian Studies Commons, Other Rhetoric and Composition Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Rountree, Travis A., "Hard to see through the smoke : remembering the 1912 Hillsville, Virginia courthouse shootout." (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2620. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2620 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HARD TO SEE THROUGH THE SMOKE: REMEMBERING THE 1912 HILLSVILLE, VIRGINIA COURTHOUSE SHOOTOUT By Travis A. Rountree B.A., James Madison University, 2004 M.A., Appalachian State University, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English/Rhetoric and Composition Department of English University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2017 Copyright 2017 by Travis A. Rountree All rights reserved. HARD TO SEE THROUGH THE SMOKE: REMEMBERING THE 1912 HILLSVILLE, VIRGINIA COURTHOUSE SHOOTOUT By Travis A. Rountree B.A., James Madison University, 2004 M.A., Appalachian State University, 2007 A Dissertation Approved on April 19, 2017 by the following Dissertation Committee: __________________________________ Dr. Stephen Schneider __________________________________ Dr. Amy Clukey __________________________________ Dr. Timothy Johnson ___________________________________ Dr. Sara Webb-Sunderhaus ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family and our love of remembering. Dedicated to: James Rountree Gladys Rountree Alan Rountree Cheryl Rountree Molly Trask In Memory of: B.K. Allen Helen Allen iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to first acknowledge all of my contacts in Hillsville who were willing to be interviewed by me and generously share with me their knowledge of the shootout: Bill Webb, Gary Marshall, Kay Cox, Howard Sadler, Allison Craig, and Ronald W. Hall. I hope this project honors the story of the shootout for each of you. I want to next thank each member of my committee: Sara Webb-Sunderhaus who first demonstrated to me that I could combine my love of composition and rhetoric and Appalachian Studies at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her friendship and knowledge of Appalachian culture and literacy helped to make this dissertation into a meaningful project. Tim Johnson who meticulously read each chapter and gave me extensive notes. His careful eye and our meaningful conversations were integral in the development of this dissertation. Amy Clukey who reread each chapter with a close eye. Her mentorship and encouragement inspires me to want to continue to pursue the links between The New Southern Studies and Appalachian Studies. My highest thanks goes to Stephen Schneider who has provided me with so much support throughout the dissertation process. When I first met iv Stephen in his office he encouraged me that this was a project worth doing and exploring and has never stopped encouraging me. His support throughout the process and determination to help me finish on time was a valuable asset. Saving the most significant for last, I want to thank my grandparents, James and Gladys Rountree for their constant encouragement during my education. I would not be here without their support. I also want to thank my parents, Alan and Cheryl Rountree and my sister and brother-in-law, Molly and Justin Trask for their unwavering support through not only this project, but my educational career as a whole. Their continued encouragement helped me to realize my full potential as an academic. Finally, to Caleb Pendygraft, who has been with me through this entire writing process. I owe my deepest and heartfelt thanks. Words can hardly express how much this dissertation has grown because of you. It truly shows how much we can do together. v ABSTRACT HARD TO SEE THROUGH THE SMOKE: REMEMBERING THE 1912 HILLSVILLE, VIRGINIA COURTHOUSE SHOOTOUT Travis A. Rountree May 12, 2017 This dissertation examines rhetorical rememberings of the 1912 Hillsville, Virginia courthouse shootout. It begins with an overview of the historical event, then through four chapters focuses on different rememberings that take up the event. Using Burke’s terministic screens, the study presents several lenses through which to view these rememberings. Chapter One presents the national and local newspaper constructions of the shootout in three terministic screens: the violent mountaineer, the gangster, and the uncolonized other. These three screens predate what is now the hillbilly image of the mountaineer. Chapter Two analyzes performative actions of the shootout. The ballads about the event demonstrate the bifurcation of the town: “Sidna Allen” uses the dangerous mountaineer terministic screen whereas “Claude Allen” presents a more sympathetic, humanistic account of the shootout. Recent plays written by Hillsville local, Frank Levering, reveal the shootout participants and their families with sympathy and vi humanity, especially in scenes that acknowledge that these plays are performed in the historic courthouse where the shootout occurred. Chapter Three presents how the three local museums continue to engage with these terministic screens. The Carroll County Historical Society and Museum demonstrates a local vernacular remembering of the event as it concentrates on the local families involved whereas the Mt. Airy Museum of Regional History argues for a national view of the shootout that still engages with stereotypical terministic screens. The last museum located in the Harmon Western Wear Store contains purely vernacular remembering of the shootout. By relying on local and national newspapers and various other artifacts of the shootout, the exhibit encourages patrons to create their own version of the shootout. Chapter Four centers on new portrayals of the shootout through the mostly unheard voices of the women in Hillsville who were left over when their husbands and sons either died or were incarcerated by the state of Virginia. This chapter explores how these mountain women demonstrated resilience through refusing to talk about the event. In addition, it explores recovered women’s through nonfiction and fictional rememberings of the shootout. These chapters demonstrate how the shootout contributed to the Appalachian identity that continues to develop in today’s America. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………..…………iv ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………...vi LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………ix INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER ONE……………………………………………………………….14 CHAPTER TWO……………………………………………………...……….46 CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………….......…..95 CHAPTER FOUR………………………………………………………...……126 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………......…….157 REFERENCES………………………………………………………......……..165 CURRICULUM VITAE………………………………………………..………170 viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. New York Times Political cartoon of the Shootout……………………......28 2. Life Magazine Political cartoon of the Shootout………………...……......31 3. “Sidna Allen” ballad………………………………………………….…...55 4. “Claude Allen” ballad……………………………………………………..60 5. Claude’s Medal……………………………………………………………61 6. Present day Hillsville Courtroom…………………………………………72 7. Courtroom schemata………………………………………………………73 8. Wooden schemata of courtroom…………………………………………..105 9. W.H. Mann letter to Jezebel Goad……………………………………...…107 10. Jezebel Goad’s medal……………………………………………………..107 11. Mt. Airy Museum of Regional History Courthouse Shootout exhibit….…113 12. Harmon’s museum………………………………………………………...121 13. Photos of Allen men……………………………………………………….136 14. Photograph of Sidna and Betty Allen…………………………………...…138 15. Photograph of Sidna and Betty Allen………………………………...……138 ix INTRODUCTION “Are you an Allen?” He stood there hearing what the man said. The question brought thoughts in his mind. Was he an Allen? The oldest of five, he remembered his own father. “Orphaned” is what the state had written on the birth certificate. His father a tall, powerful presence was known to come to violence quickly. A moonshiner in Powhatan county, Virginia. A scar on his face that told about a time when he jumped a fence to escape federal agents and got his face caught on the barbwired only for a second before sprinting away in the darkness bleeding. Violence begets violence, but was his own Daddy tied to this place? Could he have been an orphan from the shootout that happened here in the courthouse? Did that violence still run in his blood? The shadow of the confederate statue lengthened on the sidewalk as the man spoke again, “You’d better leave town. We don’t like your kind around here.” Not looking for more trouble, he, his wife, and the couple they traveled with left the sleepy mountain town of Hillsville to travel on. The narrator of