After the shocking jailbreak, Pennsylvania officials once again found themselves struggling to maintain order in a chaotic atmosphere.
The Pennsylvania Gazette printed a message from John Penn that informed the public of the prisoners’ escape. He stressed that the criminals should again be apprehended, both for “the Preservation of the Peace and Friendship between” English settlers and Native Americans as well as “for the Discouragement of such atrocious Crimes” in the future, which would be accomplished by giving Stump and Ironcutter the “exemplary Punishment” they deserved.
In order to encourage everyone to help the prisoners be recaptured, Penn furthermore offered enticing monetary rewards (200 pounds for Stump and 100 pounds for Ironcutter) for those who found them. Those were enormous amounts of money.
The Assembly passed a law to remove all squatters on Native American land. The Governor did the same. Thomas Gage was not impressed. He wrote to Lord Shelburne in early March, “But after all I must confess my doubts, that either the Law or the Proclamation will have any Weight with that Banditti, unless backed by a strong Military Power, to remove them forcibly.”
For the next few weeks, physical descriptions of the prisoners appeared in the newspaper to help alert locals to possible murderers in their midst. Stump was described as a “stout active Fellow…with a Down-cast Look,” while Ironcutter was described as a “thick clumsy Fellow” who spoke little English and wore “Buckskin Breeches.”
Meanwhile, Thomas McKee wrote to his friend George Croghan in utter panic from the Ohio Country. McKee wrote:
“I Raly begin to fear the Consequence. The Dallaway & Shannas I aperehend themselves Insulted and thire is No prospect of this Government being able to give them thet Satisfaction which Might Convince them this Murder was Nott Commited with Desine fer the perbetraters of itt is Nott Likely to be brought to Justus, and I fear itt will Nott be a Small Expence that will Make them an attonment in presents.”
Two months later, the prisoners had still not been found, and the papers were relatively quiet about the incident. However, a small piece in late May revealed that the Grand Jury of the Supreme Court in Carlisle found bills “against twenty three of the Rescuers of Stump and Ironcutter.” These men, however, were never tried. In the end, both the perpetrators of the crime and their rescuers got away with their dastardly deeds, leaving more questions than answers in their wake.