What do a murder at a Pittsburgh gas station during the Great Depression, a shootout near the Rattlesnake Mountain airmail beacon, and Bellefonte Academy students have in common? The true crime of George Clark Skidmore.
On September 20, 1930, twenty-year-old George Skidmore was involved in a robbery of a service station in the Mount Washington section of Pittsburgh. Things did not go as planned, and George shot and killed a twenty-two-year-old attendant, Charles P. Hammond. George would always contend that he accidentally fired his .45 automatic pistol. Nevertheless, George was wanted for murder and Pittsburgh detectives got a tip that George had also participated in robbing a National Guard armory of guns and ammunition. The informant said that George had probably run off to the mountains of Centre County, “with which Skidmore had become well acquainted while a student at the Bellefonte Academy two years ago.” The manhunt was on.
George’s brother, Leonard, was still a student at the Academy. George and a friend were on their way to see Leonard in his Hudson automobile.
The brothers had come a long way, given their troubled childhood. Despite their mother having custody, their father had kidnapped them and carried them away to Wyoming. In the wilds, their father instilled in the boys fascination with firearms, self-defense, and the outdoors. Through due process, their mother recovered the boys and brought them back to her hometown of Pittsburgh.
The city of Pittsburgh was a challenging environment for the young men, especially as the Great Depression set in. Meanwhile, advertisements in newspapers all over the Mid-Atlantic region were promoting the Bellefonte Academy as “The School in the Mountains” and that its setting was “one of the most healthy and picturesque sections in the country and abounds in natural attractions, hunting grounds, and fishing streams.” Ads such as these likely pulled the Skidmore brothers to Centre County.
Detectives and highway patrolmen were now looking for George and Leonard in Bellefonte. They searched Leonard’s room at school and found a gun, ammo, and a stick of dynamite. Such items were not out of the ordinary for the Skidmore boys. While at the Academy, they would go on excursions deep into the woods for target practice.
George and his car were seen parked at the Academy, where George talked to his brother. They were then seen in downtown Bellefonte, stocking up on groceries and cigars. While in town, George ran into the headmaster of the Bellefonte Academy, James R. Hughes, and spoke briefly, Hughes being unaware at the time of the manhunt that was going on. With the help of Hughes, the officers tracked Leonard down at the Academy and persuaded him to lead the lawmen to his brother.
George and his accomplice, William Dutton, were laid up in a cabin on the Black Moshannon in “one of the wildest spots in the Allegheny Mountains.” The cabin belonged to Carl Ericson, a taxidermist in Philipsburg. Leonard was put in the convoy of two cars, full of highway patrolmen and a game warden, and guided them to the cabin. The officers made a careful approach, but when they entered the hideout, George had escaped out the back door. Dutton and Leonard were brought back to Bellefonte and temporarily locked up in the Centre County jail.
The next day, a week after the murder in Pittsburgh, the patrolmen continued to search the mountains for George. Along Rattlesnake Pike they encountered William Fox, who was the keeper of the airmail beacon light on Rattlesnake Mountain. The officers asked Fox if he’d seen anyone suspicious and mentioned that they were looking for George Skidmore. Coincidentally, Fox knew the Skidmore boys from their previous forays into the wilds. Fox jumped into the car with the policemen to help identify George.
The police rolled up on a young man with a rifle slung on his shoulder. Fox quickly identified George and they got out of the vehicle. George immediately opened fire on the men. Fox was hit first in the left elbow. Another bullet struck the stock of the revolver of Corporal J.G. Olmes, tearing off part of his thumb and sending bullet fragments into his body. Another bullet pierced the cap of Sergeant W.C. Baer, and another tore a hole in the pants of Corporal C.I. Gross. The officers returned fire, but Skidmore disappeared.
The wounded men were taken to nearby hospitals, and one of the largest manhunts in Centre County history ensued. Over 150 people searched the mountains, including reinforcements from Pittsburgh and National Guard troops from Bellefonte, Lewistown, and Lock Haven.
The search efforts were in vain. It seemed that Skidmore had vanished. They found his rifle on a coal car in Jersey Shore, indicating he had hopped a train on the New York Central Railroad. George Skidmore would not be brought to justice until 1936, six years later. In the meantime, theories abounded that he must have died of a gunshot wound somewhere. Wilder claims said that he survived and joined the Chinese Army.
Turns out that George was in Idaho working on a farm under an alias, perhaps trying to forget his troubled youth in Pennsylvania. His employer read a magazine story about Skidmore and connected the dots.
In 1936, Skidmore was convicted of the murder of Charles P. Hammond in Pittsburgh. Skidmore was also blamed for the death of William Fox, the custodian of the airmail beacon. In 1933, Fox had died from complications after the amputation of his wounded arm.
Skidmore was sentenced to life in prison at the Western State Penitentiary. However, by 1951 his sentence was commuted, and he was paroled after serving fifteen years. In 1962, he was even pardoned for his “exemplary life for the past 11 years.” Unfortunately, those last eleven years could never undo the carnage he caused in 1930, regardless of George Skidmore’s efforts to bury his secrets in the wilds of Black Moshannon. T&G
Local Historia is a passion for local history, community, and preservation. Its mission is to connect you with local history through engaging content and walking tours. Local Historia is owned by public historians Matt Maris and Dustin Elder, who co-author this column. For more, visit localhistoria.com.
Sources:
“Fox, Bandit Skidmore Victim, Dies of Wounds.” State College Times (State College, PA). May 19, 1933.
“Killer, Who Hid Out in County, Pardoned.” Centre Daily Times (State College, PA). Dec. 6, 1962.
Sensational Manhunt for Alleged Murderer.” Democratic Watchman (Bellefonte, PA). October 3, 1930 (p. 8 & 4). https://panewsarchive.psu.edu/lccn/sn83031981/1930-10-03/ed-1/seq-8/
“Skidmore, 41, Wins Commutation.” The Centre Democrat (Bellefonte, PA). April 19, 1951. https://panewsarchive.psu.edu/lccn/sn84009409/1951-04-19/ed-1/seq-1/
