On July 1, 1874, four-year-old Charles Brewster "Charley" Ross and his five-year-old brother, Walter Lewis Ross, were playing in the front yard of their family's home in Germantown, a well-to-do section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two men in a horse-drawn carriage, who had visited the boys with candy in the preceding days, offered candy and fireworks in exchange for a ride, and the boys agreed. After being driven through the city, Walter was sent into a store to buy fireworks with twenty-five cents; when he came out, the carriage had left without him. Charley was taken away and never seen again.
In the days that followed, the boys' father, Christian K. Ross, began receiving ransom notes mailed from post offices in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Written in a coarse, semi-literate style with many misspellings, the notes generally demanded $20,000, warned against involving the authorities, and threatened Charley's life. The senders assumed the family was wealthy because of its large house and Christian's dry-goods store, but the Rosses were in fact heavily in debt after the 1873 stock market crash. Unable to pay, Christian went to the police, and the case became national news. Prominent Philadelphians enlisted the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which printed posters bearing Charley's likeness, and a popular song, "Bring Back Our Darling," was written about the crime. Several attempts to deliver ransom money failed when no one arrived to collect it, and communication eventually stopped.
On the night of December 13, 1874, two burglars were shot by armed residents during a break-in at a house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York. One died at the scene; the other, mortally wounded, lived about two hours. Accounts of his dying words differ, but he was understood by some of those present to have admitted that he and an accomplice had abducted Charley Ross. He gave no clue to the boy's location. Charley's brother Walter was brought to New York and identified the two dead men as those who had lured the brothers into the carriage; for many this settled who had taken the boys, but Charley was still missing.
A former Philadelphia police officer connected to one of the dead men was tried in 1875. He was acquitted of the kidnapping but convicted of a lesser conspiracy charge and served six years in prison, always maintaining his innocence and denying any knowledge of Charley's whereabouts.
Christian K. Ross and his wife searched for their son for the rest of their lives (Christian until his death in 1897 and his wife until hers in 1912), following leads and interviewing more than 570 people who claimed to be Charley, all of whom proved to be imposters. In 1934, a carpenter in Phoenix, Arizona, petitioned a court to be recognized as Charley Ross; the uncontested petition was granted in 1939, but the Ross family rejected the claim, and a 2011 DNA study disproved it. Charley Ross's fate remains unknown.
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (abduction site)
Case status
unsolved
Case timeline
1870-05-04
Charles Brewster "Charley" Ross is born.
1874-07-01
Charley Ross, age four, and his five-year-old brother Walter are lured into a horse-drawn carriage outside their family's home in Germantown, Philadelphia; Charley is taken away and never seen again.
1874
Charley's father, Christian K. Ross, receives ransom notes demanding $20,000 and reports the case to police; it becomes national news and the Pinkerton National Detective Agency joins the search.
1874-12-13
Two burglars are shot by armed residents during a break-in in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; one, mortally wounded, is understood to have admitted involvement in the abduction before dying. Walter later identifies the two dead men as the men from the carriage.
1875
A former Philadelphia police officer is tried; he is acquitted of the kidnapping but convicted of a lesser conspiracy charge and sentenced to six years in prison.
1876
Christian K. Ross publishes The Father's Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child to raise money for the continued search.
1897
Christian K. Ross dies, still searching for his son.
1912
Charley's mother dies, having continued the search after her husband's death.
1924
Newspapers revisit the case on the 50th anniversary of the abduction; Walter, by then an adult stockbroker, says he and his sisters still receive letters from men claiming to be Charley.
1934
A carpenter in Phoenix, Arizona, petitions a Maricopa County court to be recognized as Charley Ross.
1939-03
The court grants the uncontested petition and rules the petitioner is "Charles Brewster Ross"; the Ross family rejects the claim.
1943-12
The claimant dies, still asserting that he was Charley Ross.
2011
A Y-DNA study commissioned by descendants disproves the claimant's story, showing he had been born into another family.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Danelle Hallan / 41 min
The FIRST Abduction for Ransom in the US | Charles Brewster Ross
People
Charles Brewster "Charley" Ross
VICTIM
Four-year-old boy lured from his family's home in Germantown, Philadelphia, on July 1, 1874, and abducted for ransom. He was never found and his fate remains unknown; his case is described as the first American kidnapping for ransom to receive widespread media coverage.
William Westervelt
CONVICTED
Former Philadelphia police officer connected to one of the men suspected of the abduction. Tried in 1875, he was acquitted of the kidnapping itself but convicted of a lesser conspiracy charge and sentenced to six years in prison; he maintained his innocence and said he did not know Charley Ross's whereabouts.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
File:Charley Ross.jpg
Credit: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Source
Charley Ross, a four-year-old boy, was lured from his family's yard in the Germantown section of Philadelphia on July 1, 1874, and abducted for ransom in what is often described as the first American kidnapping for ransom to draw widespread press coverage. Despite ransom notes demanding $20,000, a Pinkerton search, and decades of effort by his family, he was never found, and his fate remains unknown.
Where did the disappearance happen?
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (abduction site).
Who was convicted?
William Westervelt (Former Philadelphia police officer connected to one of the men suspected of the abduction. Tried in 1875, he was acquitted of the kidnapping itself but convicted of a lesser conspiracy charge and sentenced to six years in prison; he maintained his innocence and said he did not know Charley Ross's whereabouts.).
