Book about strange local news skims the whole ‘first kidnapping for ransom’ thing

The Forgotten Tales of Philadelphia (The History Press), a slim 2011 anthology by Thomas and Edward White that’s been nestled on the City Paper bookshelf for a while, is an ideal summer book for the ADHD-addled Quizzo master in your life, a collection of a few dozen old newspaper stories about strange happenings and mysteries in the Delaware Valley. 

Unfortunately, that’s all it is — the Whites squandered some opportunities to expound upon some truly interesting Philly folklore that has shaped our modern world.  Their first forgotten tale, the Abduction of Charley Ross, received a brief four-page treatment, even though entire books have been written about its enduring impact.

Four-year-old Charley Ross was abducted along with his older brother from their front yard in Germantown in 1874. Two men lured the Ross brothers into their horse drawn carriage using candy, giving birth to the maternal edict to never take candy from a stranger. Charley’s brother was let go at a nearby store, but Charley was never seen again. 

Charley is widely believed to be the victim of the first kidnapping for ransom in America, a fact glossed over by the Whites. Charley’s father was thought to be wealthy —Germantown was nicer back then — but was actually deeply in debt. Nevertheless, he attempted to pay the $20,000 ransom (equal to $406,000 today), but the kidnappers never showed up to collect.

The botched ransom of Charley Ross inspired the subsequent kidnapping of Edward Cudahy, Jr., which itself inspired the Lindbergh Baby’s abduction, along with a rash of others in the early 20^th century.  It was the Jean-Benet Ramsey case of its time, drawing massive media attention.

Someone even wrote a song about it, called “Bring Back Our Darling,” scaring parents into locking their children inside until they were old enough to work (which, at the time, was around 11).