The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-18

With the abductors by means of per
sonals in the newspapers. Letter afte
letter came in answer TO his personals
they were mailed at widely separate,
points, and the police could not trac,
them.
III was in the summer of 1874 that Gil
bert Mosner told Police Superintendent
Walling of New York that the abduct
ors of Charlie Ross were his brother
William Mosher, and Joseph Douglas
Dotn comparatively we'll known cr,mi-
mails.
Walling obtained other evidence OF
the truth of Mosher's information. and
satisfied himself that William Moshel
J mad written the anonymous letters
Then began the hunt for those two
men, but before they were run to earth
they were killed in the commission OF
| another crime.
Friends of the Ross family had ad-
vanced the amount demanded by the
kldnappers, but the police persuaded
Mr. Ross not TO give the money on
the mere word of outlaw fends that
they would return the child Several
times Mr.. Ross notified them by per-
sonais that he was ready to exchange
the $4,000 for the child, the exchange
to be simultaneous, but they would
not agree to this The authorities
urged that if the money was paid and
the abductors were not punished, an
epidemic of child stealing would sure
" follow, so the police had their way
of It.
Police Superintendent Walling knew
Mosher and knew that he had u broth
ers. In his youth he had worked in the
East river shipyards, where the father
or the Mosher family, and some of the
sons, had also been employed. He
knew, too. that William Mosher had
married Martha WeSterVelt
Martha had brother. William, who
had always been an idle and dissolute
fellow and who made his living by
selling to the fences" on the east side
various articles of merchandise which
his brother-in-law had stolen. WaHing
sent for Westervelt and arranged to
have him appointed a patrolman on
the police force in consideration of
WeStervelt acting as a stool pigeon
and bringing about the return of the
stolen boy. Westervelt, like his sister.
was absolutely loyal TO Mosher He
was willing to sacrifice Douglas, but
was unable TO do so and at the same
time save his brother-in-law So ne
deceived the head of the police force.
1t was proved that on the night of
Dec. y, 1874. Westervelt had inter-
views with MOsher and Douglas, right
under the noses of the police in New
York City. His sister was then the
proprietor of restaurant in the base
ment of the old building at So Grand
street. The basement of this building
had been occupied by a shoemaker
and the upper floors were tenanted
by a pawn broker. partly for business
and partly for residential purposes.
Sut the fact that he was there was
not then known to the police.
Westervelt KEEP Mosher informed of
the police moves to the extent of his
power. but the hunt was getting close
when Mosher and Douglas were killed |
on the night of Dec IS, 1874
KILLING OF MOSHER AND DOUG
LAS.
The burglars had sailed to Bay |
Ridge to rob the untenanted house of
]. Holmes Van Brunt, but the vacant
house was fitted with burglar alarm
wires communicating with the house
of Judge Van Brunt nearby. J. Holmes
Van Brunt, his son and two hired men
responded to the alarm. The burglars
tried to dash by them, firing from re-
volvers as they ran, but they hit no.
body and the return fire from the Van
Brunts mortally wounded Douglas. a
later Mosher, running away,
got bullet in the back and fell dead
Douglas was revived with liquor, and
when asked who he was, he, feeling
nents away, told his name and that
If his companion. When he was told
hat Mosher was dead he voluntarily
declared that he and the other burglar
lad stolen Charley Ross from Ger
nantown, but he asserted that he did
lot know where the boy was, as Mo-
;her had taken charge of him and had /
never told of his hiding place. His last
Intelligent words were:
The child will be returned home
afe and sound within a few DAVIS"
He had spoken freely of himself to
he men who witnessed his dying ago
lies, and had spelled Mosher's name
ut letter by letter, adding:
'Mosher is married and lives in the
ity, but l have no home, / am a sim
lie man and have no relatives except a
,rother and a sister,"
The last part of his statement was
ntrue. He had married Mary O'Brien,
dishwasher in Mosher's restaurant,
nd his wife is now the proprietor of a
otel in Atlantic City, n. J., where
ne changed her name by marriage
our years ago. His brother is work
lg at his trade of ship-caulker in San
francisco. /
The bodies of the burglars were s
AIKEN to the morgue and the widow of
Iosher brought John Henry Mum TO /
ury them. 7
At his undertaking establishment. 100 /
venue d, Mum said to the Journal g
preventative. q
I begged and pleaded with Superin- d
sndent Walling not only to have the T
oman trailed every minute in the day, e
Ut 1 also urged him to arrest her at Il
nee, because l believed she knew S
here the boy was and that she might
? frightened into telling. Walling was c
cry angry at the double dealing of r
Testervelt. and he thought it was best f
arrest him and not Mrs. Mosher. c
Testervelt was a miserable loafer. He d
ever was any good at anything which r
quired the services Of an honest man. "
had made up my mind that if he had n
anted to. he could have brought about a
e recovery of the boy even before O
oSher and Douglas were killed. l 81
elped Walling 60 get him down right, 7
ID the result was that he was taken RI
-er to Philadelphia, put on trial in n
ugust, 1885. on the charge of having n
EN- concerned in the abduction of o.
tie Charley Ross, and in a few weeks -
was convicted and sentenced to o.
ven years in. the eastern penitentiary. r
'WalliDg became satisfied that Char o,
Y Ross died So did J. So did the :;
liladel pflia detectives who were en- a
ged on the case. and so did Christian :,
Ross, the father of the poor, I'M =,
rtunate boy. ii
THE BOYS SKELETON FOUND. q
The building at No. SIS Grand street r,
joined that on the corner of South 81
fifth avenue. About 1880 or 1881 there n
Is a cave-in over there and these two ~
ildings were so badly damaged that w
ey wer torn down. In the walls in or
: basement where Mosher and his IN
fe had carried on the restaurant