Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-08-23
UNSOLVED MYSTERY
OF MISSING BOY.
Disappearance of Upper Peninsula Child
Recalls Famous Dickinson Case
No Trace of Lost Lad.

LAKE LINDEN, Mich. Aug. IL
Special. The parents abandoning just
yeaI ago at this time all hope Of ever
seeing the child again, tine mystery of
the disappearance Of the 3year-old son
Of John Karvela, whose home was at
the Allouez location in Keweenaw coun-
", is still unsolved. The child vanished
rs If i'll thin air. Not u trace OF the
youngster has ever been found.
Boys Strange Disappearance
1t was on July 81. 1906, that the boy
disappeared. With others he had start
ed off along u road leading through a
thick woods, happy III the thought of
soon meeting the father returning from
work. Becoming tired, the youngster sat
down, while the others went on, admon-
lShlng the boy to remain where he was
The father was met shortly, but on the
arrival OF the party at the spot where the
child had been left the youngSter was
not seen. For days the woods We're
thoroughly searched by large forces of
men, but without avail. No clue TO the
whereabouts of the boy was ever dis
covered and the fate Of the child doubt
less will never be satisfactorily eX~
planned. The kidnapping theory has the
greatest number Of believers, but there
Is no evidence to support it.
The unsolved mystery of the fate of
this Allouez youngster recalls Il similar
disappearance twenty years ago on
the MenOminCe iron range-a mystery
which has baftied scores of detectives and
the police of many cities and to fathOm
which a fortune has been spent III trac-
ing down clues in following false hopes
and in finding stolen children that proved
to be not the one sought. 1t was as ii
he had been swallowed by the earth that
Willie Dickinson dropped from sight
November l, 1881. He was the son Of
the late Capt. William T.. Dickinson, su-
perintcndent of the Commonwealth Iron
company's mines.
Believe Lad Was Kidnapped
The boy was 6 years old, and was at
tending the Commonwealth village
school, distant about a mile from the
Dickinson home. This latter was at the
mine, between which and the town it
self was a lonely stretch or road. When
the younger children were dismissed at
$3.50 O'Clock in the afternoon, young
Dickinson started for home. He never
reached the mining location. There was
a light fall of snow during the evening,
and Il large force of men from Com
monwealth and the adjoining town of
Florence searched the woods all that
night and for days afterward, but with
out avail. \ band Of 100 or more In
dams We're also employed IN the vain
search. There was not Il foot of ground
for miles around that was not examined,
while every old test-pit was thoroughly
explored, Yet no trace of the boy was
found.
There was strong belief almost from
the start that the child had been kid
mapped. and the mother, who now lives
i'll Milwaukee, has continued steadfast
i'll that theory.
\ few months preceding the young
ii.
had broken up Il disrepurable joint To-
Gated on the company land at the out
skirts of the village. He had prosecuted
the gang and ordered them to leave the
town. The men swore vengeance, it is
said. and it has always been the belief
of Mrs. Dickinson that ner boy was
stolen The child was of too timid Il
nature to wander away, in fact he was
afraid of the woods. she says.
While following one of the hundreds
of clues subsequently developed, the
mother, not long after the disappearance
of her son, learned that a little white
boy, who presumably had been kidnapped,
was in charge of a negro FAMILY in Nir-
ginia She visited the place as soon as
She could get there. The child was gone.
but she found a pair of trousers that she
asserts Willie had worn the day of his
disappearance; in fact, she says she rec
ognized a patch that she herself had
Sewed on the trousers.
Clues to Missing Child.
TIE negro woman said that the hoy
had been brought there a few weeks
previously by strange man who had
paid we'll for the care of the yOungster.
and who had suddenly appeared in a
great hurry and taken the boy away,
only a day or two before Mrs. Dickn-
sons arrival. A little son of the negro
woman described the Dickinson home
and incidents relating to the village of
Commonwealth which he claimed to
have learned from his mothers charge.
Mrs Dickinson has met with many ad-
ventures during her search of Il quar-
ter of a century for her missing son. She
has visited nearly every state in the
Union. following false clues. and has
been Systematically defrauded by per
sons who have worked upon her sympa-
thies. She has personally seen dozens of
boys who were kidnapped from their
homes. and has been instrumental in re-
storing a number to their parents. But
her own son. who if now living would be
& has roll rl,pr, 4