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r-ofHISTORICAL ADDRESS.iaBy Hon. John Dean, President Judge ofthe 24th Judicial District.aniininminmmh Iin !wjm | in ; in jhiC-it* 1-[concluded.]There have been tried in the Oyer and Terminer thirty cases of homicide. Of these eleven were found not guilty ; three, Alexander Hutchinson, James Shirley and David Mc-Kim, were found guilty of murder in the first degree. The first, Hutchinson, was tried in 1850. After sentence his friends induced the Legislature to interfere by attempting legislation to relieve him from the death penalty. Nothing effective was done; but the warrant for his execution was withheld until Gov. Johnston, during whose administration he wasHuston, Tyrone and Wood berry townships in Huntingdon ; also, that part of Morris township in Huntingdon county west of a line run by William Heed, surveyor to be called Catharine Township, llollidaysburg and Martinsburg hadalready been incorporated as Boroughs. The townships formed since the organization, are Juniata, out ofGreenfield, in 1847 ; Logan out ofAllegheny and Antis, in 1850; Taylor out of North Woodberry and Iluston, in 1855; Freedom out of Juniata, in 1857. Altoona was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and came under a city charter in 1871, Tyrone became a borough in 1857 ; East Tyrone in 1873 ; Newry in 1876.Eleven constables made returns thefirst day of the Court, twenty-three,now.COUNTY SEAT AND 1UI1HC BUILDINGS.•eaoadege□reeconvicted, was out of office. Gov. Bigler declined to issue it because, as he alleged, it was a duty of his predecessor which he was not bound to perform. Hutchinson remained in jail until 1853, when he escaped. Shirley was tried at March Term, 1853, for the murder of his wife, and executed in August of that year. McKim was tried at April Term, 1857 for the murder of Norcross,and executed in July following. The other convictions in the Oyer and Terminer were either of murder inThe original act required the Governor to appoint three non-residents of the county, Commissioners to run the county lines and fix the countyseat. He appointed Henry McBride, of Westmoreland, General Orr, of Armstrong and Judge Christy, of Juniata counties, who fixed upon llollidaysburg as the county seat.The first court was held in an old Methodist church, which stoodkni-the second degree or manslaughter..tdd1There were two hearings on Hab. Corp. in the case of alleged fugitive slaves; one before Judge McFarlane, in 1849, and one before Judge Moses, in March, 1862. In each case the detained persons were discharged. In 1855 a man named Parsons, fromchurch,where the present Methodist church now stands. Mahony’s stone house alongside was rented at the rate of $50 per year and used for a jail. A contaact was made in 1846, with Dan. K. Kearney, then a prominent builder, for the erection of a Court House and jail on the ground covered bv the present Court House. The contract price for both was $11,-998.50, but because of changes and extras, the amount paid was $14,-♦ Ik 117 d \ t»/A It n 1 U A/1 rv /I
Newspaper Details
Altoona Evening Mirror
Altoona, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Jul 11, 1877
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Altoona A.
PA, USA 12 Dec 2018
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