Edmundson, Nathaniel: 1850

On September 17, 1850, Nathaniel Edmundson was murdered in Hollidaysburg.  His killer was Alexander Hutchinson.  Neither of these men appears in the census taken that year, so they may not have been local residents.
The murder took place near the canal basin; no circumstances are recorded as to motive or other particulars.  The time of the killing, combined with historical facts of the period, leads to some speculation, however.  At that time, Hollidaysburg had a stop on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves headed to Canada and freedom.  Nathaniel Edmundson was African-American, and the slaying took place the day before Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act.  The Altoona Tribune of February 19, 1885, looking back on the incident, noted that Nathaniel Edmundson was “an old colored man.”
Hutchinson’s weapon was a musket, loaded with six buckshot.  Two of these struck Edmundson in the left side and caused his death.  Hutchinson was arrested and tried in Hollidaysburg in December of 1850.  He was represented by Thomas C. McDowell; justice was represented by attorneys David H. Hofius and S.S. Blair.  The Commonwealth presented evidence that the murder was deliberate and brutal, and Hutchinson was found guilty on Christmas Day, 1850; he was sentenced to death two days later.
Pennsylvania’s method of execution at the time was to be hanged by the neck until dead, but Hutchinson was destined to escape the hangman’s noose.  The governor of the Commonwealth at the time of conviction was William F. Johnston; his term expired in 1852 without his signing the death warrant.  His successor, William Bigler, refused to sign the warrant, believing Johnston should have done so.  Bigler was also a Democrat and had mixed views on the race and slavery questions of the day.
In consequence, Hutchinson was never executed because the death warrant went unsigned.  As time passed, the officials at the county jail allowed him greater and greater liberty, and even allowed him out of the jail to go on errands.  At some point in time, and with the help of some friends, he disappeared.  No effort was made to track him down or capture him, and his fate is unknown to this day.