Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-14
CHARLIE ROSS MOTHER
DIES AT THE AGE OF 70
Never Gave Up Search for Son
Kidnapped Many Years
Ago.

PHILADELPHIA, December 14.-Mrs.
Christian Ross. mother of Charlie Ross.
| the victim of one of the most famous kid
naping cases the world has ever known.
died at the home of Rev. c. w. Burns.
High street. Germantown, while attending
a tea yesterday. She lived at $50 East
Washington lane, Germantown
Mrs. Ross had just entered the house
when she was stricken with heart disease
and died almost instantly. She was sew
enty-nine years old, and had long been
associated with charitable affairs through
out the city. She is survived by two
sons and three daughters.
Charlie Ross was stolen July 3. 1874. He
was then four years old. and. with his
brother, Walter L. Ross, few years old.
er, was playing near their home in the
northern suburbs of the city. The other
boy was released by his captors in a few
hours, and made his way back home,
where he told what little was ever known
Of the kidnapping.
Approached by Two Men.
Two men had approached the boys
while they were playing and induced
them to get into a wagon for ride They
drove into the country. but the elder
boy. released before the end of the jour-
ney, could give no idea of the destination
of his captors. Police were notified that
the boy was missing, and started search
which became famous in the annals OF
crime.
A day or two after the kidnapping Mr..
Ross received word from the men that
they were holding the boy for ransom.
Correspondence was carried on through
newspaper advertisements, and $4,000
was demanded.
City police and famous detectives en-
ployed by Mr.. Ross and his friends
strongly advised against paying the
money.
The father and mother, heartbroken.
raised $4,000 in spite Of advice to the
contrary and arranged to pay 1t over to
the man who held their son. The police
began to watch the father almost as
closely as they did for clues to the kid
a crime to ransom the boy and that they
would eventually capture his abductors
and bring him home safely. The boys
captors seemed to be closely in touch
with the progress Of events and checked
every move that the police made.
In Secret Agreement.
Thus the game of hide and seek went
on for months. Finally the father in
secretly agreed to the terms of the kid
money in a satchel, board a train for
New York. stand on the rear platform
and at a certain point, where he should
see q red light, he was to throw the ram
som to the ground. Then he was to pro-
coed to his destination and the boy was
to be returned to him the same night.
Something evidently went wrong with
this plan. for, though Mr.. Ross made the
trip as directed, he never saw the signal.
The captors were in communication with
him once or twice after this but they
were evidently wary of the police. They
were supposed to be William Mosher and
William Douglass who were killed while
robbing house on Long Island.
The battle with these we'll known GRIM
inals took place December IA. 1874, when
they were caught robbing the home of
Judge Van Brunt, at Bay Ridge They
and one was instantly killed, and the
other Oouglass) MORALLY wounded. With
his dying breath Douglass moaned: cit
is no use lying now. We kidnapped
Charley Ross. Mosher knows all about
him." When told that Mosher was dead
Douglass cried, God save his wife and
childreni He knew about Charley Ross.
He will be returned in few days The
promise was never kept
Wrong Body Found.
William Westervelt, brother-in-law
Of Mosher, in the next few days attempt
ed to act as a go-between for the family
of Charley Ross and the family of the
kidnapers. and was finally arrested.
When he was unable to answer questions
regarding the childs whereabouts he was
sent to the penitentiary for seven years.
Reports that the child had been thrown
into the North river were traced. and
the body of golden-haired boy was
found. but it was never fully identified by
Mr.. Ross. Walter Ross. the brother,
who was dropped from the carriage by
the kidnapers, Identified Mosher and
Douglass as the men who had driven
away in the carriage.
For years after the active search was
given up, and indeed until very recently,
there have been fruitless clues to the
long-lost boy. Mr.. Ross never failed to
investigate when there was the slightest
possibility of finding his son. Even in re-
cent years Mr.. Ross would receive a let
ter announcing that a person claiming
to be his son was the writer. Each time
he dropped business packed his grip and
hopefully started of to investigate. Time
after time young men have appeared who
laid claim to being the missing boy. Each
claimant was given every opportunity to
establish his identity.
After Mr.. Ross death his wife, though
old and feeble, continued the search. A
few claimants for her motherly affection
appeared.