The Clara Price Murder (Centre & Clearfield Counties)

Clara Price's cenotaph
Author's Photo

    You never quite know what might be just around the next bend, which is especially true if you happen to find yourself on scenic Route 879 near the small river town of Karthaus. Not more than a half-mile from town sits a monument to a horrific tragedy. Stopping to investigate will find the end, rather than the beginning, of a story about a young girl who traveled this same route over a century ago and never made it around the next bend.

  

    To explore the beginning of the story, we must first introduce Clara Ida Price. Clara was born on June 16, 1873 to David and Margaret Price of Karthaus, Clearfield County. By the time she was a teenager, it was said that Clara was a very respected young woman and one of the most attractive girls in the area.


    On November 27, 1889, the day before Thanksgiving, sixteen-year old Clara was walking home from spending time with a family friend in Centre County. She walked along the wagon road that connected Karthaus to Pine Glen. As she walked along, Clara passed the home of  Mrs. Watson, who lived along the road. Soon after Clara passed, a young man wearing a derby hat walked by heading in the same direction. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Watson at the time, she had just been the last person to see Clara Price alive.

An 1874 map of the road Clara would have taken back to Karthaus from Pine Glen
Note there is a M. Watson above the P.O. 

    Later that same day, several men were walking the same road towards Karthaus. Right before the road descended towards town, the men found the lifeless body of a young girl lying in the road. She had been shot several times and her undergarments torn and bloodied. The men alerted the authorities in Karthaus and an investigation was launched. It didn't take long for them to identify the body as young Clara Price. Though remote, news of the murder spread like wildfire across the region. The investigation focused on the young man that was seen on the road earlier that same day. The man’s description matched that of someone who had previously lived in Karthaus, 21 year-old Alfred Andrews.

The lonely stretch of road near where the murder took place
Author's Photo

    Andrews was arrested at his home in Brisbin, Clearfield County on December 1st and held at the jail in Bellefonte, Centre County. Alfred Andrews was an English immigrant that had arrived in the United States at the age of 17. He had established quite the reputation as a petty criminal while in England and his mischievous ways had evidently followed him to America.


    Andrews’ trial was held in January 1890 at the Centre County courthouse. The trial lasted six days with over sixty witnesses were brought to the stand. Due to the murder’s location, none of these individuals actually saw Andrews kill Clara. Instead, a loose collection of circumstantial evidence and a convincing prosecution would be used to sway the jury. 

    One of the most critical pieces of evidence used in the prosecution was the blood found on Andrews’ shoes. Alfred claimed it was from the rooster he had killed the day before. This was refuted by two “experts” that said that the blood was in fact human (How they arrived at that conclusion before forensics is unknown). Shoe prints in the dirt around where Clara’s body was found also reportedly matched a pair owned by Andrews. While Andrews maintained his innocence right up to the end, the efforts of the prosecution must have been convincing, as after two and a half hours, they delivered a guilty verdict. The judge then sentenced Andrews to “hang by the neck until you are dead.” 

    As he awaited his execution, Andrews confessed to Clara’s murder. He reported that he had set out days before to rob and plunder as opportunities presented themselves. After meeting Clara on the road to Karthaus, he had hurried ahead and waited in the brush for her to pass. When she came near, he surprised her and attempted to force himself upon her. When she broke away and screamed, he knew that if he allowed her to escape, he would certainly be found out. Pulling out his pistol, he fired five shots, one of which entered her back, killing her instantly.

 

A sketch of Alfred Andrews from Bellefonte's Democratic Watchman newspaper

   April 9, 1890 was set as Andrews' last day on Earth. At 7:00 am, he received his last meal, a breakfast consisting of two eggs, buttered toast, and a cup of coffee. At 10:43 AM. his journey to the scaffold began. After praying and giving advice to fellow inmates, Andrews was led to the scaffold and placed over the trap door. A large crowd had gathered to watch his final moments. Andrews proclaimed his remorse for killing Clara and hoped he would meet her in Heaven. With his last words spoken, the black hood was placed over his head and the noose positioned.


    At 11:03 am, the momentary silence was broken when the trap door opened beneath him. Seventeen minutes later, Alfred James Andrews was pronounced dead. One newspaper article reported that his official cause of death was “strangulation,” a death hanging is supposed to prevent by instantaneously severing the spinal cord. If Andrews expired due to this, he left this world in anything but a painless death. Other papers reported that his departure was more prompt. 


    What exactly happened to Andrews’ body remains a mystery. The last verified location of his mortal remains was at the undertaking business of Solomon Confer of Milesburg the day after the execution. Reports conflict what happened afterwards. One newspaper reported that his body was given a decent burial by Confer, but does not list a location. Another added that his body was interred “on the ridges behind Milesburg” as cemeteries in Bellefonte and Milesburg would not take his body.  Another rumored end involves his remains being disinterred and donated for medical research. Unless a definitive document surfaces or someone stumbles upon his resting place, we will probably never know where Alfred Andrews’ remains lie.

    Clara was buried in Keewaydin Cemetery, a few miles west of Karthaus. Her final resting place received a proper grave marker after $318 was raised from the local community (over $8,500 in today’s money). It was dedicated exactly one year after her tragic death. Inside the corner of the monument was placed the names of those who pledged money for the stone, along with newspaper accounts of the murder, trial, and execution.

 

Clara's headstone in Keewaydin Cemetery
Author's Photo

    A cenotaph, a marker for someone whose remains are elsewhere, was erected at the approximate location where Clara's body was found. This first monument disappeared at some point and another later replaced it. Interestingly enough, the first marker turned up a few years ago in the strangest of places, buried in a backyard in Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

A close up of Clara's headstone in Keewaydin Cemetery
Author's Photo

Another view of Clara's stone
Author's Photo

Visiting the Site: There’s not much room along Rt.879 to pull off to visit the marker. Please use caution when stopping. As you approach the marker, it’s not difficult to imagine the scene of that fateful day. You can pay your respects to Clara at her final resting place by following the signs for Keewaydin from Karthaus. 

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