The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-11-16
KIDNAPPED.

There was nothing new in the plot OF
the desperate Williams who souehtgto OK
tort money from Mr.. Ross by stealing his
son Charley. The kidnapping of children
1or the sake of gain or revenge has been
practised for hundreds of years. There
are doubtless to-day in thi, country a
score OF. more of Charley Ross cases, but
as the parents are not rich and promi-
nent, and the search not aided by leeis.
lat'vc action and the united press, they
are seldom heard of by the great public.
The case of Willie Albright, an Eng
llsh lad, was full of strange adventures.
tic lived at Sheffield with his parents
until five years of age. His father
was employed in a great fac
tory there and his mother was a dress
maker for the neighborhood. They
lived in a cottage in the suburbs of
the town, and at tho age of four the
boy was permitted to run about the
n~elghborhood a good deal. At five.
when he was kidnapped, he was sent to
the stores to make purchases, and knew
the streets clear to the factory in
which his father worked. One day in
1851, about 2 o'clock In the afternoon.
ne was sent l store three blocks away
after some buttons. Before he reached
1t a strange man accostcd him and asked
MS name. He then gave Willie some
and asked him to go and look
at a Punch and Judy show in the town.
promising to return with him in a half
Thee%boy eagerly set off with him,
and was taken to the railroad depot and
placed on = train in charge of a middle
aged woman, who gave him more sweet
meats and was very kindly spoken. She
said the show had moved away and thev
were going after it, and the novelty of
he hild's position prevented him feeling
any anxiety. When the detectives came
take the case up. as they did two DAYS
the boys disappearance, they
got no Glow whatever. Although he
had walked a mile or two hand
n hand with the abductor
along crowded streets, nobody remem-
bered seeing the pair. They had gone
openly to tho railroad station, but no
one there had noticed them. The guard
on the train dimly remembered a woman
md q child In a compartment, but could
give no description. AS the A~llbriphts
were poor and lowly, no great stir was
created, andsno great effort was made by
thed detectives to restore the boy to his
parents. ~ II
The boy was taken from Sheffield toll
being so we'll treated on the
way that he had no thought Of his home.
At Liverpool he was told that his name
was John Manton, and that the woman
was his mother. When he disputed tho
point no was souadly whipped. His
hair was cut close, his dress entirely
changed, and q liquid was rubbed on
his skin which turned it dark. Excent
when he asked to go home, or denied
that his name wss John Manton. he was
kindly treated, and after he had been
seven or eight times he accepted
The now name, and ceased to refer to his
parents. Young as he was this was a
stroke of policy ON his part. He real
izcd that he had been stolen from home.
ne kept repeating to himself the
bis true namc was Willie Albright, and
that he lived at Sheffield.
After a couple of weeks lessons In
tumbling and tight-rope walking were
given to the boy. He was never per-
to 80 out alone or 70 converse
strangers. and il soon came NATURAL
Tor him to call the mother, IL