The age-herald., 1902-01-05

from Evansville, but they also showed that she had left the institution when old enough to earn her own living, and there the clew stopped.
 Step by step Aaron Williams worked his way on the case, tracing Rachels movements for years until last week, when he found his long-sought niece. She is now Mrs. John Madden, wife of a prosperous resident of Oakland City, Ind, and the mother of three children. Mrs. Madden had an interesting story to tell She was too young, of course, at the time of the occurance to know any thing about the facts of her kidnapping or her abandonment in Evansville, but she remembers distinctly her removal to the institution at Elberf1eld and her sub sequent life. Her identity established Aaron Williams at once wired the news to his mother, who was then living at McKeesport, Pa. The old lady, bent with years, and worn by the sorrow brought on by the loss of her pet, was dying when the news came but joy kept her alive un- til Mrs. Madden reached her. There was an affecting scene when the grandmother greeted Rachel, and few moments later she died. Her last words were: I'm happy; Rachel is back again"
 Result Surprises Detectives.
 The hunt made by Aaron Williams is probably without a parallel, and the re- suit astonishes the smartest detectives The expenses for looking for the child for the first ten years after her disappear ance exhausted the family resources. and then the work became doubly hard. In the beginning the best detectives were employed, and their salaries and ex- penses used up money very fast. There was absolutely no clew to work on and 4I.!x. I;<l.a lfny Hams, the father, his mind befogged by his troubles. had disappeared. Nothing was known of his whereabouts, let alone his suspicious of his second wfe's com plicity in the Kidnapping. This second wifes residence was also unknown. Un- der new name she was lost in the great hive of Chicago One by one detectives abandoned the search, convinced that the child was dead. The generally accepted theory was that Rachel had fallen into the river and been swept out into the lake. There was one person who stood out stoutly against this theory, and that was the loving grandmother.
 'I know my little Rachel is alive" Mrs Williams insisted. Some day wo'll find her Something tells me so. and tells me in a way that makes me believe it.
 It was when he saw that the grief was killing his mother that Aaron Williams LOOK up tnt 0unl TUT tIc iitibSli6 6ni personally. His money gone, he could not hire detectives and had to make the search himself. It was slow work. He would toll for awhile until he had &C., cumulated a little money and then he would devote his time to trying to find clew on which to make an intelligent start.
 Methods of Searching.
 He flooded the country with circulars asking for information about Kidnapping cases that occurred in 1870, and wrote to thousands of postoffices in an effort to locate his missing brother. After a time the Rachel Williams case became a stock joke with police chiefs and postmasters. But 1t was no joke to Aaron Williams. He was terribly in earnest Years of failures and rebuffs did not daunt him. he kept everlastingly at work, spending his money in the search as fast as he earned 1t, and finally got his first tangi- ble clew when he succeeded in establish ing communication with his brother Will liam and got the later to admit hls sus- picion that the second wife might know something about Rachers disappear ance.
 From then on Aaron had increased in- centive and labored with unconquerable purpose. He had come to believe with the detectives that the child was dead. and that the only result of search would be to establish the manner in which 1t died. But the tip from his brother gave him new hope. and 1t was in following this that the surprising result was obtained.
 Recalled by Chicago Policeman.
 "Yes, I have a recollection of the Rachel Williams case, said an old ex- police officer. There's no use looking for the record here in Chicago because such documents as we had were de- stroyed in the. big fire. Police records were never any too good in the old days