Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-16
OHIO KIDNAPPING MYSTERY
Case Of Little Margaret Taylor E1cites
Much Local Interest.
STOLEN BY HER FATHERS RELATIVES
Aversion TO the Mother seems the Mo-
tive for q Crime that Has At
tracted = Great Deal of
Attention.

The people Of Ohio are concerned Just at
present with the aftermath Of a kidnapping
case which for sensational features Is the
parallel Of the Cudahy abduction. The child
was stolen four years ago, but fresh inter-
est is injected into the affair by the con-
%viction, sentencing and r%eprieve Of two OF
the guilty parties. which events have fol-
lowed each other IN quick succession within
the last few days. The whereabouts Of the
child and Of the principal abduetor 10 still
a mystery. All three Of the conspirators
are women. relatives Of their infant Victim.
Various woman's clubs Of the state have
taken the matter up and made martyrs Of
the %convicts, and the question now upper
most in the public mind is: VIII the
Board Of Pardons, in consequence, set them
free?"
Margaret, the 2-year-old daughter Of Al
bert vinton Taylor and his young wife Mary
Of Fernbank, o., was kidnapped August 3,
1898, by her aunt, Clara Taylor, OF the same
village. 1t is supposed that the woman took
the child first to Peoria, ILL.,. and afterward
to New York City, but this is only con-
lecture, as no one, unless It be the two
c~onvicts, has seen or heard of them since
that day.
when the Crime Was Committed.
Vt the time of the abduction the parents
Of the child were in Bellevue. KY, where
the mother was i'll. as a second child had
been born to her. Little Margaret was per-
mitted to 60 to Fernbank to visit her
grandmother, Mrs. Francis L. Taylor, and
her W aunts, Frances and Clara. One day
Frances took her to the woods adjoining
the village fer an outing, and returning
late in the afternoon was met by Clara,
who received the child from Frances and
took her away. On the witness stand
Frances admitted this. but denied all
knowledge as to the whereabouts of either
her sister of her niece. She knew only,
she said, that Clara had a pass to Peoria,
Ill. Since then she has received one letter
from New York City which was in Clara's
handwriting and was signed ok. Y. g."
The motive for the crime seems to be a
little obscure. The convicts say they took
the child away because the mother abused
II. Another, and the more popular theory,
is that the purpose was to extort money
from the parents. 1t is said that the
three women objected to Albert Taylor's
marriage, and that this Is at the bottom OF
the trouble.
The case presents many interesting and
unusual phases. 1t is taken for granted
tnat, conslderlnP ali the newspaper pubic
ity the affair has received, Clara must
know Of her mothers and sisters eonvic-
ton. yet she still persists in secretins the
child, though by producing it she could
save them from prison. The father. In
order to recover his loved one, and spare
the life Of his wife, who is slowly dying
OF grief. Is willing to see his mother and
sister consigned to the penitentiary. The
woman's clubs, instead OF feeling compass
sion for the mother In her anguish, lavish
all their sympathy upon the two convicts.
Both women Up I'm Years.
The grandmother OF the kidnapped child ID
so years old, and the aunt is 50. Both
have been sentenced to one year, and theiI
r~eprieve is good for sixty days. 1t is said
that the two women have male relatives
in Cleveland who have a strong political
influence with Governor Nash.
The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune has
started a fund to assist In prosecuting the
search for the child, and is making an I'M
usual effort to crystaliEe public sympathy
into action.